Brutal Newt Gingrich Ad in the Works  —  Newt Gingrich is responding to last night's debate with a brutal new ad accusing Romney of trying to mislead, deceive, and distort his way to the White House.  —  Here's the money line: “What kind of man would mislead, distort and deceive just to win an election?

Associates: Paul pursued strategy of publishing controversial newsletters  —  Ron Paul, well known as a physician, congressman and libertarian , has also been a businessman who pursued a marketing strategy that included publishing provocative, racially charged newsletters to make money and spread his ideas …

No Need to Panic About Global Warming  —  There's no compelling scientific argument for drastic action to ‘decarbonize’ the world's economy.  —  Editor's Note: The following has been signed by the 16 scientists listed at the end of the article:  —  A candidate for public office …

Elliott Abrams Caught Misleading on Newt  —  As Ronald Reagan used to say: Well...  Yesterday we took note of former Reagan State Department official Elliott Abrams' piece over at NRO that went after Newt Gingrich on his relationship with Reagan.  While voting regularly with Reagan …

Sounding Off  —  At the risk of sounding like the shtetl police, there's a right way and a wrong way for American Jews to argue with one another.  The right way focuses on whose ideas are better—for America, for Israel, for the Jewish community, and for the world.

Obama rallies House Democrats at retreat  —  President Obama looked to super-charge House Democrats at the caucus's annual conference Friday in Cambridge, Md., reframing the critical points from his State of the Union address for the pep-rally-style atmosphere.

Yes, the Romneys Converted Mitt's Dead Atheist Father-in-Law to Mormonism  —  Gawker's substantial Mormon readership has come through for us: Two readers have sent us confirmation that Edward Davies, Mitt Romney's militantly atheist father-in-law, was indeed posthumously converted to Mormonism …

FRC: ‘Rebel Fleet Surrenders to Gay Empire’  —  After first going after Girl Scout cookies, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins is now attacking the game Star Wars: The Old Republic for allowing same-sex relationships.  Stephen Reid of Bioware announced that players in the MMO …

Voters polarized over Barack Obama, poll finds  —  President Obama's third year in office elicited some of the most polarized job approval ratings ever, as the differences between Republican and Democratic views of the president stood at near-record highs, a new survey shows.

Mitt Romney's Tax Problem … This has been interpreted as a dig at Mitt Romney, whose personal wealth and comparatively low tax rate have been front-and-center in the campaign these past weeks.  Romney finally released his tax returns on Thursday, revealing a 2010 income of $27 million and a federal tax rate of 13.9%.

Tyler's grandkid: Newt's a ‘jerk’  —  President John Tyler's grandson Harrison Tyler, 84, says he's not impressed with the state of politics today and particularly thinks Newt Gingrich is a “big jerk” for his three marriages.  —  Incredibly, President Tyler, who was born in 1790 and became …

Senate Dems should force GOP to hold vote on Buffett Rule  —  Picture this scenario.  The Senate holds a high-profile vote on a proposal focused directly on implementing the Buffett Rule, one that would bring the current tax rate for millionaires paying lower rates on investments up to 30 percent.

The economic chart that may doom the Obama presidency  —  In his State of the Union response the other night, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels neatly summed up Mitt Romney's (who has a roughly 90 percent chance of being the GOP nominee according to Intrade) economic case against President Barack Obama …

Reuters laments Marco Rubio ‘fiasco’  —  Reuters is still kicking itself over an article about Republican golden boy Senator Marco Rubio that yielded five corrections yesterday and may have warranted more.  —  One senior staffer at Reuters described the episode to me as a “fiasco,” another as a “disgrace.”

Huntsman steps away from politics in new job  —  Jon Huntsman accepted a new position as chairman at the Huntsman Cancer Foundation on Thursday, the cancer research center announced this week.  —  Huntsman's position was effective immediately on Thursday, meaning he had a new job just 10 days …

Gov. Jan Brewer releases letter she handed to Obama  —  PHOENIX - In a sudden about-face, Gov. Jan Brewer on Thursday evening made public a copy of the letter she handed President Obama during their high-profile encounter a day earlier that dominated national news, the blogosphere and water-cooler conversation.

EXCLUSIVE: Obama Campaign Refunding Money Donated by Federal Lobbyists  —  President Barack Obama's re-election campaign is refunding the donations of five registered federal lobbyists who gave to the committee last year, OpenSecrets Blog has learned.  Some of these refunds were triggered …

Cabarrus lawmaker calls for public hangings  —  A Cabarrus County lawmaker wants to bring back public hangings in North Carolina as a deterrent to crime, and he says doctors who perform abortions should be in the line to the gallows.  —  Republican Rep. Larry Pittman, who was appointed …