memeorandum: Mitt Romney Campaign Begins Preparing For Possible South Carolina Loss (Jon Ward/The Huffington Post)

1:10 PM ET, January 21, 2012

Top Items:

Newt expands South Carolina lead — Newt Gingrich heads into South Carolina election day as the clear front runner in the state: he's now polling at 37% to 28% for Mitt Romney, 16% for Rick Santorum, and 14% for Ron Paul. — Gingrich's lead has actually increased in the wake of his ex-wife's controversial interview with ABC.

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Gingrich Is Well-Positioned as South Carolina Votes — Newt Gingrich, who had trailed Mitt Romney by a double-digit margin in South Carolina in several polls conducted just after the New Hampshire primary, may instead be headed to a big victory there, recent polling suggests.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Democratic Daily, americanthinker.com, CBS News, Outside the Beltway, A plain blog about politics, The Mahablog, Balloon Juice, Guardian and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Niall Stanage / Ballot Box:

Doubts creep in as an awkward Romney tries not to lose GOP nod — What's wrong with Mitt Romney? — In the early stages of this cycle's Republican nominating process, the former Massachusetts governor seemed confident and sure-footed. Now he seems awkward and defensive.

Discussion: Riehl World View and Pundit & Pundette

Charles Dharapak / ABCNEWS:

No Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich Throw Down at Tommy's Ham House — ABC News' Emily Friedman and Elicia Dover report: — GREENVILLE, S.C. - It was the Ham House showdown that wasn't. — Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich didn't cross paths this morning at Tommy's Ham House in Greenville …

Discussion: National Review

Chuck Norris / WND:

MY ENDORSEMENT FOR PRESIDENT — Exclusive: Chuck Norris reveals his choice for Republican nomination — Our republic as America's founders created it is under assault from extremists outside our country and anti-constitutionalists inside our country. Combined with the flailing American economy …

Discussion: Wake up America, Big Government, Pat Dollard, Riehl World View, Balloon Juice, Mediaite, Hot Air, Gawker, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Hill, Swampland and The Daily Caller

Ross Douthat:

The Momentum of Ideas — During last night's Republican debate, the candidates were asked to name something from the campaign that they would have done differently. Here was Newt Gingrich's answer: … I have, for my sins, watched Gingrich make his pitch across what feels …

Discussion: americanthinker.com, National Review, Rod Dreher, American Spectator, Swampland, The Atlantic Online and Wake up America

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:

Romney demands Gingrich release contract for Freddie Mac work — GREENVILLE, S.C. — Mitt Romney called on Newt Gingrich to release all correspondence he'd had with mortgage giant Freddie Mac on Saturday morning, the day of South Carolina's primary, while meeting with supporters at his Upstate South Carolina campaign headquarters.

Discussion: CNN

Conn Carroll / Campaign 2012:
America hates Newt Gingrich

Discussion: Politics, americanthinker.com, Outside the Beltway, Booman Tribune, Patterico's Pontifications, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hot Air and FiveThirtyEight

Mark Blumenthal / The Huffington Post:
Newt Gingrich Surges In South Carolina, But Expect The Unexpected

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Power Line, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Riehl World View, Booman Tribune, The BRAD BLOG, Pat Dollard, Guardian, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, 2012 Decoded and Gallup

Dr. Keith Ablow / Fox News:
Newt Gingrich's three marriages mean he might make a strong president — really

Discussion: Indecision Forever, Towleroad News #gay, No More Mister Nice Blog, ThinkProgress, The Political Carnival, Wonkette, Little Green Footballs, Rod Dreher and The Stranger …

Trip Gabriel / New York Times:
A Test for Gingrich as Political Strategist

Discussion: The Caucus and TalkLeft

Dylan Byers / The Politico:
Mitt Romney leaves NBC Florida Republican debate uncertain

Discussion: Washington Monthly, www2.tbo.com, No More Mister Nice Blog, Politics, National Review, Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, The Daily Caller and Naked Politics

Kristin Ford / Faith in Public Life:
Catholic Leaders Challenge Gingrich and Santorum on Divisive Rhetoric Around Race and Poverty

Discussion: ThinkProgress and The American Independent

A.Killough / CNN:
Colbert: Vote for Cain, he's on the ballot

Discussion: The Politico and Hardball Blog

Charles Murray / Wall Street Journal:

The New American Divide — The ideal of an ‘American way of life’ is fading as the working class falls further away from institutions like marriage and religion and the upper class becomes more isolated. Charles Murray on what's cleaving America, and why. — America is coming apart.

Discussion: Eunomia, pandagon.net and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Obama Averages 44% Approval in 3rd Year — Averaged 43% job approval in most recent quarter in office — PRINCETON, NJ — President Barack Obama averaged 44% job approval for his third full year in office, which ended Jan. 19. His third-year average is down slightly from his second-year average …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Don Surber and Campaign 2012

Ron Edmonds / Investor's Business Daily:

Exactly 3 years in, Obama's job approval hits lowest level yet — Exactly three years after Aretha Franklin's hat launched the Obama administration, the Democrat's annual job approval rating has sunk to his lowest level. — That's not normally a good sign after 1,095 days in office. But who's counting?

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative

Tara Siegel Bernard / New York Times:

Blacks Face Bias in Bankruptcy, Study Suggests — Blacks are about twice as likely as whites to wind up in the more onerous and costly form of consumer bankruptcy as they try to dig out from their debts, a new study has found. — The disparity persisted even when the researchers adjusted for income …

Discussion: SSRN and Prairie Weather

Matt Gertz / Media Matters for America:

Huckabee Wants To Know If Obama Got College Loans “As A Foreign Student” — During a Fox News appearance this evening, Mike Huckabee suggested that Mitt Romney, who has come under fire for refusing to immediately release his tax returns, respond by challenging President Obama to release …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and The Raw Story

Mortimer B. Zuckerman / US News:

Barack Obama's Middle East Miscalculation — In Egypt, we are witnessing the democratic election of a dictatorship — A little-noticed event gives a grim insight into what is really happening in the Middle East. The euphoria of the “Arab Spring,” the instant Twitter-style transition …

Kevin Hall / The Iowa Republican:

Former Obama Staffer Busted for Stealing Iowa Secretary of State's Identity — Barack Obama's 2008 Iowa New Media Director was arrested Friday for attempting to use the identities of Secretary of State Matt Schultz, and/or his brother Thomas, with the intent to falsely implicate the Secretary Schultz in illegal or unethical behavior.

Discussion: Hot Air, Des Moines Register, RedState and The Gateway Pundit

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:

Our Mr. Brooks Climbs The Romney Family Tree — The applause came from deep in the plush leather armchairs gathered by the fireplace in the clubroom of the Premature Fogies Club. It was warm and sustaining, as was the morning brandy. People touched the patches on his master's blazer as he walked by.

Discussion: Rod Dreher, The Moderate Voice, Eunomia and New York Times

Jon Ward / The Huffington Post:

Mitt Romney Campaign Begins Preparing For Possible South Carolina Loss … 2012 Election , Mitt Romney , Newt Gingrich 2012 , Elections 2012 , Newt Gingrich , Video , John Sununu , South Carolina Primary , Mitt Romney 2012 , South Carolina Primary 2012 , Politics News