memeorandum: The Winnowing of the Republican Field Will Help Romney, Not Hurt Him (today.yougov.com News)

11:45 AM ET, January 17, 2012

Top Items:

Mitt Romney Routing the GOP Pack in Florida, Sunshine State News Poll Shows — Two weeks away from the Presidential Preference Primary, Mitt Romney holds a commanding lead over the Republican presidential pack in Florida, according to a Sunshine State News Poll of likely primary voters.

Discussion: GOP 12 and Taegan Goddard's …

Emily Goodin / The Hill:

Attacks fly in Republican debate — Newt Gingrich was put on the defensive with the first question of Monday night's GOP presidential debate when he was asked about his recent attacks on Mitt Romney. — The former speaker repeatedly avoided making the same strident attacks on Romney's private-sector record he's made in recent weeks.

Discussion: CNN, CBS News, The Other McCain, Los Angeles Times, Questions and Observations, The Hinterland Gazette, NY Daily News, Don Surber, American Spectator, Daily Kos, Michelle Malkin, The Moderate Voice, Ballot Box, Shakesville and Media Decoder

Kevinliptak / CNN:

Gingrich gets vote from S.C. lieutenant governor — Florence, South Carolina (CNN) - South Carolina's Lieutenant Governor Ken Ard announced Tuesday that his vote in the state's Saturday primary will be for GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. — Ard is the highest office-holder …

Discussion: The Hill

Mark Halperin / The Page:

“Easy Answer,” Hard Ad — FIRST ON THE PAGE: New Santorum South Carolina TV spot finally goes where many conservatives (and commentators) expected Romney rivals to go. — Hits on Palmetto State TV stations Tuesday. — The script: … Watch it here. » — HALPERIN'S TAKE

Discussion: 2012 Decoded, Taylor Marsh, The Other McCain, Hot Air, USA Today and The Hill

Washington Examiner:

York: Final count could show Romney lost Iowa — A pile of counted ballots for the Republican presidential nominee sit on a table in the cafeteria at Kennedy High School during a caucus in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Tuesday, January 3, 2011. (AP Photo/The Gazette, Cliff Jette)

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Nice Deb, Brad DeLong and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Gingrich pushes Romney to release tax returns before SC primary

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Zeke Miller / Politics: Santorum Rattles Mitt Romney

David Brooks / New York Times:
South Carolina Diarist

Discussion: The State and CNN

Frank Newport / Gallup:
Romney Has 23-Point GOP Lead Nationally

Discussion: Washington Post, Opinion L.A., The Reaction, CNN, The Caucus, Outside the Beltway, Scared Monkeys, FiveThirtyEight, Firedoglake, The Moderate Voice, Ballot Box, Daily Kos, Hot Air, Poll Watch Daily, Washington Monthly, Fire Andrea Mitchell! and The Lonely Conservative

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Gingrich: A vote for Rick Santorum is a vote for Mitt Romney

Discussion: The Other McCain, Campaign 2012, The Lonely Conservative, The Politico, Hot Air and ABCNEWS

Wallacegw / CNN:
CNN Poll: Obama tied with Romney & Paul in November showdowns

Discussion: Hit & Run

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
Newt Claims To Be More Electable than Rick . . .

Discussion: Washington Post, msnbc.com and The Politico

A.Killough / CNN:
Santorum's wife: Rick doesn't hate anyone

Discussion: TBogg and Ballot Box

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Obama administration warns the left: You will not like our budget — Top White House officials are warning liberal and labor leaders to brace themselves for President Obama's budget proposal. — Gene Sperling, director of the National Economic Council, sought in meetings last week to lift …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Politico, Pirate's Cove, Prairie Weather and Shakesville

Justin Sink / Ballot Box:

GOP debate: Crowd gets rowdy when candidates talk foreign policy — The crowd at the GOP debate in military-heavy South Carolina got rowdy during a discussion of foreign policy, booing Ron Paul heartily and whooping and cheering when the other candidates took a hard line on foreign involvement.

Discussion: The Mahablog and Weasel Zippers

New York Times:
Forceful Attack Against Romney in G.O.P. Debate

Discussion: Washington Post, The Politico, Outside the Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Caucus, Wall Street Journal, The Page and ThinkProgress, more at Mediagazer »

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Romney way up in Florida — Mitt Romney's in a strong position …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Daily Kos, Prairie Weather, Hot Air and Poll Watch Daily

Congressman Allen West / Facebook:
Mr. President, please don't play the race card in 2012...

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Pat Dollard, Zandar Versus The Stupid, UrbanGrounds, The Hinterland Gazette, No More Mister Nice Blog, Weasel Zippers, The Hill and Campaign 2012

Fox News:
Conservatives talk social issues in South Carolina, but money is still on their minds

Discussion: Daily Kos, NO QUARTER, Washington Post, And So it Goes in Shreveport and Rush Limbaugh

Marie Diamond / ThinkProgress:

Santorum Staffer Says Women Shouldn't Be President Because It's Against God's Will — In an article about the reasons Rep. Michele Bachmann's campaign fizzled, the Des Moines Register points to “sexism among conservatives,” singling out an offensive email written by a staffer to Rick Santorum:

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette and Wonkette

David Edwards / The Raw Story:

GOP debate audience boos Romney's Mexican heritage — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney may be in the lead in the Palmetto state, but that doesn't mean South Carolinians necessarily like him. — During a Fox News debate at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center on Monday …

Discussion: pandagon.net

Jim Morrill / The Charlotte Observer:

Obama to speak at Bank of America stadium — On the final night of this fall's Democratic National Convention, President Barack Obama will deliver his acceptance speech at Bank of America stadium, party sources told the Observer on Monday night. — Convention officials are expected …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Taegan Goddard's … and The Hinterland Gazette

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Obama adviser Jarrett defends church pulpit criticism of GOP — Senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett is defending critical comments she made of the GOP made from a church pulpit. — Jarrett ripped congressional Republcians for blocking President Obama's jobs bill …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Fox News Insider:

TRANSCRIPT: Fox News Channel & Wall Street Journal Debate in South Carolina — Here's a full transcript from tonight's GOP debate in South Carolina: — BAIER: Thanks, Bill, and welcome to the Myrtle Beach Convention Center and the Republican presidential debate.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, ThinkProgress, RedState, Booman Tribune, Hot Air, Daily Kos, Informed Comment and Wake up America

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:

Who will get the ‘Recovery Presidency’? — Julie Schmit reports that the housing market is at, or very near, its bottom. After falling by 9 percent last year, single-family housing starts are expected to jump by 37 percent in 2012. Prices could still fall a bit, but by 2013, we should be in a real housing recovery.

Discussion: USA Today, The Daily Dish and Political Mojo

Brian Maloney / The Radio Equalizer:

Arianna Huffington Critical Of Michelle Obama Over Seeming Indifference To Poverty — HUFF: THAT'S NOT ENOUGH — Arianna To MO: Watch The Bel Air Trips — How will they pin this one on conservatives? — From our establishment media friends, nearly every criticism of Michelle Obama …

Discussion: Connecting.the.Dots, The Hinterland Gazette, nation.foxnews.com and Weasel Zippers