Political Whiplash: Santorum wins Iowa, Perry Drops Out, Newt's 'Open Marriage' Request, and Obama Does Disney (PM Note)
Political Whiplash - Santorum Won Iowa… Perry Dropped Out… Marianne Gingrich (for more on her, watch Brian Ross's report on Nightline)… We couldn't keep track of it all today. The politics news came fast and furious on multiple fronts, from South Carolina to Disney World. History we thought Mitt made he really didn't. Newt's second wife spoke out to ABC. And Perry bowed out of the race, choosing Gingrich as his anti-Romney.
Debate Prep - And the day isn't over yet. The final debate before South Carolina's Saturday primary occurs tonight at 8 p.m. ET on CNN. Newt Gingrich has eaten into Romney's lead in South Carolina. The field will be smaller without Rick Perry, but the time to change the dynamic in the race is now for Gingrich, Santorum or Paul. A full preview from Matt Jaffe, who splits his time between ABC and Univision - http://abcn.ws/zNCkLY
Gingrich's Second Wife - Newt Suggested "Open Marriage," says former speaker isn't fit for presidency - Watch Nightline for the full report from ABC's investigative unit - http://abcn.ws/ylfy5Q
Delayed Replay - Mitt Didn't Win Iowa - Mitt Romney's historic win in Iowa and New Hampshire didn't actually happen. Santorum won by 34 votes. But that's like calling back a winning touchdown two weeks later. And the Iowa GOP is in the odd position of saying Romney's eight-vote margin was a win on election night, but Santorum's 34-vote margin is a tie today - http://abcn.ws/AfS2Zl
Mind-bender - An emboldened Santorum could hurt the surging Gingrich in South Carolina and, conceivably, help Romney there if they split the conservative and Evangelical vote.
New Iowa Totals - http://abcn.ws/wcKjnj
Perry Out - Rick Perry suspends his campaign, Endorses Gingrich - http://abcn.ws/wtjRt1
Historical Note from Terry Moran - For the first time neither party will nominate a white Protestant - http://abcn.ws/Af3o2r
Adios! - We'll Miss You, Rick Perry - Top Viral Moments from His Campaign - http://abcn.ws/yRL8Us
Our 2012 Guidebook has gone through some serious changes this week - http://abcn.ws/qlRlfU
2×4 Politics - Ron Paul says you need a 2×4 to Make Congress Listen - http://abcn.ws/Amy2hb
Jobless Claims Lowest Since April 2008 - http://abcn.ws/Ai7lYP
Obama Does Disney - Standing on Main Street USA in Disney's Magic Kingdom, President Obama today promoted the need for a strategy to encourage international tourism and boost job creation in the battleground state of Florida, and across the country, ahead of the 2012 election. Announcing his goal to make America the "top tourist destination in the world," (it's France currently!!!!) Obama outlined plans to speed up the visa process and make it easier for tourists in fast-growing nations such as China, India and Brazil to travel to the United States. http://abcn.ws/weCfth
Fact-Check - U.S. and France can currently lay claim to "Top Tourism Destination" - http://abcn.ws/zChqZA
Tapper interviews Bob Iger - http://abcn.ws/ygl8hr
Romney's Disney-themed one liner - On Obama, per Emily Friedman - "He is at Disney World. Guess where he's gonna be giving a speech? Fantasyland." "Yeah, yeah," said Romney, as the crowd gathered outside his campaign headquarters in Charleston clapped. "He is giving a speech in Fantasyland. (He was actually on Main Street, USA)
on Gingrich - "[Obama] may bump into Speaker Gingrich down there in Fantasyland," said Romney. "I only say that because the speaker was talking about all the jobs that he'd helped create in the Reagan years. He had been in Congress two years when Reagan came to office. The idea that he was the author of Reaganomics, not real likely." http://abcn.ws/yQVbHp
Gingrich's Disney-themed one liner - "But I have to confess, as I thought this morning, as the President flanked one side by Mickey Mouse, and on the other side by Goofy, resembling sort of a cabinet picture of the Obama Administration." (Obama was flanked by neither Mickey Mouse nor Goofy in pictures we saw).
Watch Obama's Disney speech here - http://abcn.ws/x9jfZD
Obama - 1 Fundraisers for Every 2 Days this Year - Obama will spend twice the time fundraising in New York that he spent touting tourism at Disney World - More from Devin Dwyer: http://abcn.ws/A6QgYe
Obama's Bundlers Benefited - Devin Dwyer reports: Dozens of President Obama's top re-election campaign financiers - "bundlers" who give the legal maximum and get their deep-pocket friends to do the same - have received special White House access, appointments to advisory boards and presidential commissions, and other perks over the past two years, according to a new report from the Center for Public Integrity. At least 68 of Obama's 351 bundlers or their spouses have received official posts in the administration, including 49 appointed since January 2010, the CPI investigation found… Mark Gallogy, co-founder of investment firm Centerbridge Partners, Penny Prtizker, president and CEO of Pritzker Realty Group, and Robert Wolf, chairman of UBS Americas, who all sit on the Jobs Council, have raised as much as $2.7 million for Obama in 2008 and 2012 combined, according to estimates provided by the Obama campaign. http://abcn.ws/xHU6AA
The Cain Train Collides with Colbert's Super PAC Satire - http://abcn.ws/AE7sH0
And Herman Cain endorsed "We the People" for President.