memeorandum: No One Cares About the Affair — Former House Speaker Newt … (Abby Rapoport/American Prospect)

8:10 PM ET, January 21, 2012

Top Items:

McKay Coppins / Politics:

BYU Students Bus In To South Carolina To Rally For Romney — The campaign has been buzzing about growing energy at recent events. But it turns out, many of the candidate's most energetic fans are actually in from Provo, Virginia, or D.C. — (Reuters / JIM YOUNG)

Discussion: Ricochet Conversations Feed, RedState, FITSNews, The Atlantic Online, Daily Kos and US Politics

Brian Montopoli / CBS News:

South Carolina primary exit polls: 2/3rds say debates mattered — Nearly two out of three South Carolina Republican primary voters say the recent Republican presidential debates played an important factor in their decision, according to early CBS News exit polls - a good sign for Newt Gingrich …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Caucus, Washington Post, TalkLeft, Ballot Box, The Atlantic Online, Hot Air, Don Surber, USA Today, The PJ Tatler, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, FiveThirtyEight, SCVotes.org, The Daily Caller, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and ABCNEWS

Michael O'Brien / msnbc.com:

Gingrich wins SC GOP primary, beating Romney — Newt Gingrich has won the South Carolina Republican primary, capping off a remarkable comeback for his presidential bid that reshapes the trajectory of the battle for the GOP nomination. — Based on early exit polls, NBC News projects Gingrich …

Discussion: Fox News, The Moderate Voice, FITSNews, ABCNEWS, Zandar Versus The Stupid and The Spectacle Blog

Abby Rapoport / American Prospect:

No One Cares About the Affair — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks to a crowd in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. — Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina—One of the larger tourist landmarks in the Charleston-area is a decommissioned warship that's been converted to a museum.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and Eschaton

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.

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:

Final survey suggests Gingrich leads in SC — Columbia, South Carolina (CNN) - A new poll suggests that Newt Gingrich has a double digit lead in Saturday's crucial Republican presidential primary in the Palmetto State. — According to an American Research Group survey released Saturday morning …

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, Pat Dollard, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Telegraph, CBS News and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Richard A. Oppel Jr / The Caucus:
Santorum Says He Will Remain in Race Through Florida

Discussion: The Political Carnival, The Other McCain, New York Times and HotAirPundit

New York Magazine:
Heilemann: USS Gingrich Now Boarding in South Carolina

Discussion: The Daily Dish and Hot Air

CNN:
Gingrich has momentum as South Carolina votes

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Daily Dish, Liberal Values, Telegraph, US Politics, The Stranger …, Wonkette and ThinkProgress

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Romney demands Gingrich release contract for Freddie Mac work

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and CNN

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

Discussion: Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and The Politico

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:
Santorum now the Iowa winner, officially

Discussion: The Iowa Republican, The Stranger …, Mail Online, CNN, Riehl World View, The Other McCain, Telegraph, The Lonely Conservative, Politics and Public Policy Polling

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

Not Just A Democrat Dirty Trick, But A Crime — A few years ago, as part of its strategy of facilitating voter fraud as a means of winning close elections, the Democratic Party undertook a campaign to secure as many Secretary of State offices in swing states as possible.

Discussion: Des Moines Register and Atlas Shrugs

Shane Vander Hart / Iowa Grounds:
Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz Targeted for Identity Theft by Former Obama Staffer

Discussion: Campaign 2012 and The PJ Tatler

Iowa Department of Public Safety:
Man Charged with Identity Theft after Falsely Implicating Secretary of State in Illegal Activity

Discussion: National Review

Kevin Hall / The Iowa Republican:
Former Obama Staffer Busted for Stealing Iowa Secretary of State's Identity

Discussion: RedState, Hot Air and The Gateway Pundit

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:

Gingrich confronted on race, agrees to meet with Sharpton — GREENVILLE, S.C. — Newt Gingrich was confronted by a black man outside Tommy's Country Ham House, who drilled him on his comments on having poor children work as janitors. — The man, who sounded like he had a northern accent …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, ThinkProgress, Politics, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and Weasel Zippers

Fox News:

Sheila Jackson Lee: Newt Using ‘Codewords’ to be Racist — BASHIR: Let me play something that you said about the current GOP debate on the floor of the house on Wednesday. Just listen. I think what you said and what I was hoping to run is we find candidates like Newt Gingrich who simply …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

Charles Dharapak / ABCNEWS:
No Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich Throw Down at Tommy's Ham House

Discussion: National Review

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, The Mahablog, No More Mister Nice Blog, alicublog, pandagon.net and Ricochet Conversations Feed

New York Times:

The iEconomy: Apple, America and a Squeezed Middle Class — When Barack Obama joined Silicon Valley's top luminaries for dinner in California last February, each guest was asked to come with a question for the president. — But as Steven P. Jobs of Apple spoke, President Obama interrupted …

Discussion: Gretawire, Daring Fireball and The Politico, more at Techmeme »

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, Zandar Versus The Stupid, The Political Carnival and The Raw Story

The State:

Rain not dampening turnout in SC GOP primary — Republican presidential primary voter turnout by noon in the Midlands hints at totals similar to the 2008 primary, with the exception of traditionally Democratic precincts. — Party affiliation isn't required to vote, and there's …

Discussion: Indecision Forever, The PJ Tatler and The Politico

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: Don Surber, Hot Air, Campaign 2012, Scared Monkeys and Weasel Zippers