To the extent Santorum can make this a race, he’s helped by winnowing the field. Michele Bachmann cancelled planned events in South Carolina and will hold a press conference back in Iowa this morning. Similarly, Rick Perry, in his campaign concession speech, said he would go back to Texas and “reassess” the results.

While multiple recent polls have found Newt Gingrich leading in dozens of states, Mitt Romney has managed to retain his big lead in New Hampshire.

Today was the day that challengers in the Republican Presidential primary took out their heavy machinery on the front-runners. In two pretty devastating Web ads, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are filleted, cut down by their own past public statements.

Call it incredible luck, call it determination, call it political skill or call it a sign of the poor state of the modern Republican party. Whatever the cause or set of causes, Mitt Romney has managed to end up basically the last legitimate Republican nominee standing.

Mitt Romney will be receiving the endorsement of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie before tonight’s Republican debate according to The Hill. The main import is not so much on Romney’s front-runner status as what no getting such an endorsement means for other candidates.

The group Protect Your Care has put together a mini-site based on the incident in the Republican debate on Monday, where tea party attendees cheered the prospect of allowing an uninsured man to die. The candidate being questioned during that exchange was Ron Paul. It turns out that he has a particular experience with the hypothetical question asked to him by Wolf Blitzer. In fact, his campaign manager from 2008 died from a lack of insurance.

My stepfather, Fred Karger was a film composer and musical supervisor at Columbia, MGM, for Elvis Presley’s goofball oeuvres (Harum Scarum, Kissin’ Cousins, Frankie and Johnny, etc.) and later for a series of campy independent films like Riot on Sunset Strip. He’s best known for the theme songs he wrote: From Here to Eternity, Magnificent Obsession, Gidget, Gidget Goes Hawaiian, and for his love life: He dated Marilyn Monroe for a number of years and was married twice to Jane Wyman. And once to my mom. Fred, who died in 1979, was super cool and a great stepfather. Every day I give thanks for having him in my life, for all the amazing people I met through him, and for showing me you can live life by following your creative dreams.

So when the name Fred Karger first popped up in my inbox during the Proposition 8 campaign, I did a huge double take, it’s a pretty unusual name.

You cannot let rationality or truth seep into the Republican Party.

The Republican Party used to be an isolationist one, prior to WWII. After a decade of Bush doctrine wars, it seems Republican voters are returning to their roots.

• Ron Paul still has the ability to raise lots of cash, especially if he rips Mitt Romney in the process.
• Frank Gaffney for President would be hysterical.