MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN?

From CNN:

In a move that could again dramatically shake up the Republican primary race, billionaire and major Republican donor Sheldon Adelson is expected to donate an additional $10 million to the super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich, Winning Our Future, a source with knowledge of the donation told CNN.

That contribution is expected soon, before the end of the month, the source said. The timing is important because Gingirch, whose campaign has been lagging, is hoping to do well in several of the upcoming Super Tuesday states that vote on March 6 to boost his effort. His allies will need that money to be in a position to help. Because ten states go to the polls on that one day, money is key in order to do well.

Well, I don't know about that. Why isn't money doing it for Mitt? Why is Santorum still in the race, although his campaign war chest is small?

Adelson has told associates his major motivation is to see Barack Obama defeated in the general election, as CNN previously reported.

I don't know about Gingrich defeating Obama, either. If he is the nominee, I believe even more folks will fall out of love with him when the glare of the spotlight shines steadily on him.

Adelson is blatantly attempting to the buy the nomination for Gingrich. I wonder how the five Supreme Court justices who decided that corporations are people sleep nights as they watch the obscene amount of money being thrown around.

TWO THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Newt Gingrich: "If I have idols," Newt told the crowd, "it's Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher."

Charles Pierce: On, lads! On to the Falklands! Or, perhaps, to the Oscars. Go get 'em, Meryl!

If you're not reading Charles Pierce at The Politics Blog at Esquire, you're missing a lot, and I mean A LOT. He writes like 20 posts a day, and it's hard to keep up, but certainly worth a try.

UPDATE: Thanks to Lapin for the poster.

THEIR MAN NEWT

From Maureen Dowd in the New York Times:

But next to Romney, Gingrich seems authentic. Next to Herman Cain, Gingrich seems faithful. Next to Jon Huntsman, Gingrich seems conservative. Next to Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry, Gingrich actually does look like an intellectual. Unlike the governor of Texas, he surely knows the voting age. To paraphrase Raymond Chandler, if brains were elastic, Perry wouldn’t have enough to make suspenders for a parakeet.

HERMAN CAIN THEN AND NOW

Back in 1994, Bill Clinton debated Herman Cain on health care policy. Why was the president debating Cain in a public forum? I have no idea. Anyway, the right-wingers went crazy over Cain. According to David Remnick, in The New Yorker's "Talk of the Town", Rush Limbaugh played over and over a clip of Cain saying to the president, "Mr. President, with all due respect, your calculation on what the impact would do, quite honestly, is incorrect."

Remnick also reveals that Jack Kemp was so exuberantly admiring that he said, "Here's a black guy with the voice of Othello, the looks of a football player, the English of Oxfordian quality, and the courage of a lion."

Alas, allegations of sexual harassment (Nein, nein, nein, Mr Cain!) have now slowed the candidate's meteoric rise in the polls, but he still leads with 18% to Romney and Gingrich both at 15%. Cain's down but not out just yet. However, CBSNews says:

Cain has lost support among women since late October. Then, he led among women, garnering 28 percent of their support. Now, his support among women is just 15 percent. He has also lost ground with conservatives, from 30 percent to 23 percent now. And there has been some movement among Tea Party supporters as well; their support for Cain has declined from 32 percent to 19 percent. Romney has lost support among men, while Gingrich's support among that group has increased eight points.

The race to the finish line for the Republican nomination may be between Romney and Gingrich. Still, a lot can happen between now and the convention.