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9:50 PM ET, January 22, 2012

Top Items:

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:

Christie: Gingrich ‘embarrassed’ GOP — Gov. Chris Christie called Newt Gingrich an embarrassment to the Republican Party. — “I think Newt Gignrich has embarrassed the party, over time,” Christie (R), who endorsed Mitt Romney, said Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press. “Governor Romney never has.”

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Riehl World View, Naked Politics, NO QUARTER and Scared Monkeys

Sean Trende / Real Clear Politics:

Three Takeaways From South Carolina — 1) There is no good news buried in here for Mitt Romney. None. As of this writing, Mitt Romney is leading in three counties in South Carolina: Charleston, Beaufort (Hilton Head) and Richland (Columbia). He lost fast-growing, coastal Horry County, home of Myrtle Beach, by 15 points.

Discussion: RedState, Big Government, PJ Media, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Hot Air, Reuters, Patterico's Pontifications, Hit & Run, CNN, Conservatives4Palin, Riehl World View and American Power

Washington Examiner:

Why Gingrich won — Why Romney lost — COLUMBIA, SC — They won't say it publicly — they don't want to appear churlish or disrespectful on a night they took a serious beating — but it's no exaggeration to say that even after losing the South Carolina primary to Newt Gingrich …

Discussion: The Other McCain, American Thinker, Power Line, Riehl World View, American Spectator, Don Surber, Instapundit, The Politico, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Wake up America, Ricochet Conversations Feed and Outside the Beltway

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Quick Thoughts on Tonight's Results — Tonight's results — a blowout win for Newt Gingrich — upend all the equations governing the GOP presidential primary. So which variables can we still be relatively sure of? — Let me take a stab at one. Newt Gingrich isn't going to be the GOP nominee.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, The Mahablog, M.JOSEPH SHEPPARD'S …, No More Mister Nice Blog, Guardian and New York Magazine

John Heilemann / New York Magazine:
Five Consequences of Gingrich's South Carolina Win

Discussion: Hot Air, News Desk and Washington Wire

Jeremy Herb / The Hill:
Romney to release tax returns on Tuesday, calls delay ‘a mistake’

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, The Political Carnival and Wake up America

Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Next stop: A brawl at the 2012 Florida primary

Discussion: Reuters, CNN and Washington Monthly

msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: The race is on — The morning after his victory …

Discussion: The Buzz Florida Politics Feed and Taegan Goddard's …

New York Times:
South Carolina's Divisive Message

Discussion: The Caucus, 2012 Decoded, Guardian, Daily Kos, Big Journalism, The Daily Caller, Hullabaloo, Washington Post and The Moderate Voice

Hugh Hewitt / National Review:
The Ball Is in Florida's Court Now

Discussion: Riehl World View, Wall Street Journal, The Daily Dish, Booman Tribune, The PJ Tatler, ABCNEWS, The Moderate Voice and New York Times

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
Newt Gingrich wins South Carolina primary

Discussion: Althouse, Prairie Weather, Harry's Place, Campaign 2012, New York Times, Weekly Standard and Ballot Box

Justin Sink / Ballot Box:
Santorum: ‘No pressure’ to exit GOP race

Discussion: ABCNEWS and Outside the Beltway

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
New Romney surrogate says Gingrich could cost GOP Congress

Discussion: The Politico, CNN, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Post and Daily Kos

Mj Lee / The Politico:
On Newt Gingrich S.C. primary win, Karl Rove says thank John King

Discussion: CNN, PERRspectives, The Moderate Voice, Connecting.the.Dots and The Caucus

Arizona Daily Star:

Giffords to step down from Congress — U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will step down from Congress this week to focus on her recovery, her staff announced Sunday. — “I have more work to do on my recovery, so to do what is best for Arizona, I will step down this week,” Giffords said in a video message.

Discussion: msnbc.com, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, Scared Monkeys, Patterico's Pontifications, Mediaite, The Democratic Daily and The Raw Story

James Bennett / KOLD-TV:

Governor will declare April special election for Giffords' seat — Gabrielle Giffords' decision to resign from Congress will force Gov. Jan Brewer to call an April special election to replace her. — The governor will set the date for special primary and general elections to determine …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin and The Gateway Pundit

Amy Bingham / ABCNEWS:

Giffords' Vow: ‘I Will Return’ — Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords will step down from the House this week to focus on he recovery from a gunshot wound to the head, but she vowed in a two-minute video announcement of her decision that she will be back.

Discussion: Zandar Versus The Stupid, Guardian, The Daily Caller, The Political Carnival, WTVM-TV, Wake up America, RedState, CBS New York and The Impolitic

Gabrielle Giffords:

U.S. REP. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS WILL STEP DOWN FROM CONGRESS THIS WEEK — In a video message to her constituents, congresswoman says she will ‘do what is best for Arizona’ as she recovers from shooting a year ago — TUCSON - U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will step down from Congress this week …

Discussion: Healthland

Dan Nowicki / Arizona Republic:
Giffords stepping down from Congress

Discussion: Washington Post and The Moderate Voice

CNN:
Gabrielle Giffords will resign to focus on her recovery

Discussion: This Just In and American Spectator

Daniel Strauss / Ballot Box:
Rep. Giffords to step down from Congress to focus on recovery

Discussion: The Hill and The Politico

Adam Weinstein / Mother Jones:

Gays “Make God Want to Vomit”: Meet Santorum's Honorary Florida Chairman — Rick Santorum's first stop in the Sunshine State is the church of a gay-bashing, Islamophobic pastor. — While the network news shows spend this Sunday marveling over Newtmentum in South Carolina …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Mediaite, Towleroad News #gay, The Raw Story and Joe. My. God.

Andrew Abramson / Post on Politics:

Pastor at Santorum rally: Americans won't vote for Mormon president, Mormon church is racist — Rev. O'Neal Dozier, the conservative pastor of Pompano Beach's Worldwide Christian Center, told the Palm Beach Post Sunday that Mitt Romney cannot win the presidency because Americans won't vote for a Mormon president.

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

An open letter to Republican leaders — Dear Govs. Haley Barbour, Mitch Daniels, John Kasich, Bobby Jindal; Sens. Jon Kyl, Marco Rubio and Jim DeMint; and Reps. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), and Mike Pence (R-Ind.): — You've each declined to run for the presidency or even endorse one of the final candidates.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Patterico's Pontifications, The Gateway Pundit and Booman Tribune

Richard Goldstein / New York Times:

Joe Paterno, Longtime Penn State Coach, Dies at 85 — Joe Paterno, who won more games than any other major-college football coach, and who became the face of Penn State University and a symbol of integrity in collegiate athletics only to be fired during the 2011 season amid a child sexual-abuse scandal …

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay and The Atlantic Online, more at Mediagazer »

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

Romney partially caves on tax returns — Watching Mitt Romney discuss his willingness to disclose his tax returns, it's been hard not to marvel at the rapid evolution. It was only about a month ago when he was asked whether he'd release his tax returns, and Romney replied, “I doubt it.”

Discussion: Associated Press, The Politico and The Impolitic

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Romney to Release Tax Returns on Tuesday

Discussion: BuzzFeed, The Page, Gothamist and HotAirPundit

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Showtime at the Apollo — FOR eight seconds, we saw the president we had craved for three years: cool, joyous, funny, connected. — “I, I'm so in love with you,” Barack Obama crooned to a thrilled crowd at a fund-raiser at the Apollo in Harlem on Thursday night, doing a seductive imitation as Al Green himself looked on.

Discussion: National Review, Don Surber and Weasel Zippers

Candice M. Giove / New York Post:

'God'-awful OWS mob steals sacred item from church — There's no longer room at the inn at a Manhattan church that's sheltering Occupy Wall Streeters after a holy vessel disappeared from the altar last week. — When the Rev. Bob Brashear prepared for Sunday services at West Park Presbyterian Church …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers and Jammie Wearing Fools