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Unemployment and the state of the economy have been among the hottest topics during the GOP primary season, and will likely remain so during the general election. There are several potential foreign policy issues that could spike between now and November, which could quickly shift the tenor of the race.

Among some of the potential flashpoints is the continuing possibility that Israel could strike Iranian nuclear production facilities, the U.N. considering its options in Syria despite Russian warnings to stay out, and more outbreaks of violence in Egypt.

Which of the remaining Republican candidates is best equipped to handle these potential issues and why?

Update: Romney has accepted Trump’s endorsement in Trump’s Vegas hotel and, by so doing, made Trump infinitely more newsworthy than he deserves to be. I’m all for endorsements and, obviously, never turning one down. But in the case of a private citizen best known for working the media like kids work a substitute teacher, wouldn’t a simple “thank you” statement suffice? Romney’s embrace of a man America knows as “The Donald” is an embarrassment to him, his lovely wife who had to stand there, and anyone on Romney’s team who thought this was a good idea. Shame on Romney for giving in.

Am I the only one who doesn’t understand the media’s fixation with Donald Trump? This morning Drudge looks like this:

VEGAS SURPRISE: TRUMP TO ENDORSE…
KLAS: IT’S NEWT…
AP, NYT, POLITICO: IT’S NEWT…
DRUDGE: WAIT, IT’S MITT!
BUT WILL HE CHANGE HIS MIND BY NOON?

Why is the media covering a Trump endorsement with such interest? Better yet, why are they covering it at all? Is anyone interested who other reality TV hosts are endorsing? (Seriously, I’m just dying to know who Jeff Probst, Ryan Seacrest and Tom Bergeron are backing.)

How influential are endorsements outside of the political world? Where is the line between genuinely valuable (Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, etc.) and worthless?

If either Romney or Gingrich appears at this fiasco press conference, they deserve to drop 5 points automatically in the PD Composite.

To start off with, I’m by no means a Republican. I was in the streets with a sign during the Bush years so much that I really did start to think that pepper spray was an every day food product. I spoke out against every policy Bush put forth until he announced his going back to Texas policy of 2009. That’s why, after the let down of the Obama candidacy and the continued economic collapse, I was surprised to find myself gravitating towards Ron Paul.

One thing anyone can respect about Ron Paul regardless of where they are on Rossiter’s spectrum is his stubborn devotion to integrity and consistency. An example: Ron Paul is against both gay marriage and abortion. No surprise there, these are among the pet issues of the American right. But Paul’s treatment of the issue is different. When he says abortion or gay marriage should be left up to the states, it’s not because he wants to dodge the question, it’s because he really believes that, and has voted as such before.
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Long ago and far away I was once a defensive lineman. Anyone who has ever strapped on a set of pads and a helmet can tell you there is a lot of trash talking that goes on in the trenches. All of it is uplifting and collegial. If you believe that, you might also believe Ron Paul has a snowballs chance in hell of winning the 2012 Race for the Oval.

But I digress. Where was I? Oh, yeah. Football.

One type of trash talk that is not permitted on the gridiron is anything resembling whining. While there may be no crying in baseball, there is certainly absolutely no whining permitted on the football field. Even the referees won’t tolerate it.
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The concept of “electability” is often a consideration used by voters to evaluate candidates. Fortunately, since December 1, the number of polls taken comparing each candidate head-to-head with President Obama have been increasing significantly. We have used these polls to create the graphic to the left, which compares the four remaining Republican candidates plus/minus differential in polls directly versus the President. On this graph, if a candidate is at 0, it is a tie between him and Obama. If the candidate is above 0, they are beating Obama, likewise, if below zero, they are losing to Obama.
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Herman Cain has endorsed New Gingrich just two days before the pivotal Florida primary. Can Cain’s support help Newt recover his mojo in the Sunshine State?

Meanwhile, both Gingrich and Ron Paul have indicated they are in the primary race for the long haul.

Florida is Tuesday, and the latest polls show Mitt Romney expanding his lead in the land of Mickey Mouse and orange juice. With no more debates scheduled until late February, a decisive Florida win could give Romney the momentum for several weeks and five contests – Nevada, Maine, Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri.

Welcome to Jarret Herrmann, a new contributor to PD!

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, campaigning in Florida detailed his plans to, among other things, colonize the moon and declare the celestial body the 51st state after building, and I believe this is the exact quote, “a sweet-awesome moon fort”. He then challenged the other candidates in the Florida debate by boldly declaring “Everything but the podium is lava.”

In all seriousness, this is a needless provocation towards another space race with infinitely higher stakes at a time when the U.S. can absolutely not afford to fund such an outlandish competition. Could we make it to the moon, and have a sustainable colony there by 2020? Absolutely! If we work together with our allies and, I’m not afraid to suggest this as a Socialist, share. Yes, it might seem tempting to point up at the sky and declare “Dibs” but it’s both childish and insane.
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The Associated Press ‘fact checks‘ last night’s State of the Union address, beginning its article with: “It was a wish list, not a to-do list”.

Recent data shows that ‘America hates Newt Gingrich’. This is not the profile of an electable candidate.

Jake Tapper discusses how the Republican race could very well continue until June. The debate is whether the candidates brutally beating each other for several months will lead to a stronger candidate or simply write the script for President Obama’s campaign team.

CNN’s Roland Martin says: ‘So long to the party of family values‘. The sentiment is correct. Not long after South Carolina threw Mark Sanford to the curb, it picks Newt Gingrich in a landslide when it had three other options without the same type of ‘values’ baggage.
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President Obama will deliver the State of the Union address, as required by the Constitution (though not necessary annually) beginning at 9:00 pm EST. As usual, it will be broadcast on so many stations, it will be nearly impossible to miss.

We will also discuss the Republican rebuttal here as well.

Ron Paul reports on Facebook that his son Rand Paul has been detained by the TSA at the Nashville airport. Here are the details.

Newt Gingrich’s win in South Carolina on Saturday opens up a race that might have been over had Mitt Romney won. Florida is now a pivotal state. A Gingrich victory keeps him in the race. However, a Romney win could potentially lead to insurmountable momentum as the following contests are in Nevada and Maine where Romney is unlikely to be defeated. Three wins in a row would have the former governor surging in national polls. Meanwhile, despite not having any money relative to the other candidates, Rick Santorum stays in the race. Santorum certainly understands he has no chance at the nomination and that by remaining in the race he is taking votes from Gingrich. It makes one question what his motives are.

Iowa couldn’t figure out who won its caucus, now South Carolina has found out that more than 950 ballots cast in its primary were cast by persons known to be dead. Unfortunately, this does not surprise me. When my wife was voting at our local polling station, the person in front of her approached the election official to sign in. This person was not on the list of registered voters at our polling place. The official asked him if he had recently changed his address but not changed his voter registration. The man said he thought he had changed his registration, but was not sure. The official looked over the man’s driver license, comparing the photo to the man and and said “we can see that he is who he says he is”, then let him vote.

Finally, Politico says to expect tomorrow’s state of the union address, which is anticipated to have around 50 million viewers, to be all political rhetoric. Expect it to be the speech that unofficially launches President Obama’s full-time reelection campaign.

It’s a whole new ballgame! If you’re a junkie, you have to love this landscape. Santorum wins Iowa on a recount, Romney wins NH, Newt wins SC.

Romney’s people will say it’s a “long slog” and they never expected to wrap it up early.

Newt’s people will say SC has always picked the nominee and 2012 will be no different.

Paul’s people will say, who cares?

Santorum’s people will tell the former Senator to pack it up, but he probably won’t. Not right away, anyway.

How does Mitt Romney remain atop the Republican field? He’s unpopular with fiscal conservatives. Despite his business-friendly reputation, conservatives perceive Romney as a statist wolf in free-market clothing; a classic northeastern moderate if not an outright liberal. He fares even worse with social conservatives. Even with his reformed positions on abortion and marriage, his checkered history on both issues breeds distrust among Republicans. 

Since key elements of the GOP base are aligned against Romney there is opportunity for a reliable conservative with stamina for the long haul. Thus far no one has fit the bill. Read more

ABC’s Brian Ross spoke to the Morning Majority about his interview with Newt Gingrich’s second ex-wife. Ross told WMAL Marianne defended Gingrich against the controversies that defined his tenure as Speaker of the House. The interview will air on “Nightline” tonight.

Rick Perry is leaving the race. Where will both his supporters go? Could this push Newt to a SC win?

President Obama and the State Department have just issued their rejection of the Keystone pipeline that would go from Texas to Canada. The pipeline was expected to create 20,000 jobs on it’s construction and reign in on America’s dependence on foreign oil. This will put Obama on the defense very quickly. You can be sure that this will be brought up in the debate tomorrow for the GOP presidential candidates to frame the president as a job killer.

You can read more about the pipeline here.

The Obama administration is blaming the GOP for not giving the State Department enough time to evaluate the pipeline proposal. Let’s not forget, however, that it was the Obama administration along with Senate Democrats that pushed for a short 60 days extension of payroll tax cuts and decision on the pipeline instead of a full year long extension that the House GOP wanted. Also, it should be noted that Obama is complaining about not having enough time when he delayed a decision on this very same pipeline over a year ago. Times up and the GOP is blasting Obama over his decision.

Who won tonight’s debate? Who was the biggest loser? On a related note, we will release another PD Composite: South Carolina tomorrow.

Republicans and conservatives alike have broadly assailed President Barack Obama’s economic policies that have centered on multiple spending packages intended to stimulate hand-picked sectors of the economy, including the automotive industry, construction, and green energy. Additionally, his policies have provided the unemployed with unprecedented time on the government dole, which some would consider being paid to not work. These policies have wildly failed by most measures, especially by the primary measurement set forth by the Obama administration–that unemployment would not exceed 8%. However, since the first full month of the Obama administration, unemployment has never been below 8%!

Now a prominent Republican has a plan of the same ilk. Rick Santorum would, like Barack Obama, create most favored industries. Any company that claims to “manufacture” would pay no income tax. Much like the current President’s policy of “stimulating”, Santorum’s plan is a de facto stimulus for manufacturing that would cause the limited amount of capital in the market to be used in a less efficient manner as it would be if all businesses were treated equally.

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Well that was sudden. Jon Huntsman participated in the candidate forum on FOX News yesterday and today news is leaked that he will suspend his candidacy in the morning and endorse Mitt Romney. The Huntsman campaign is broke, sits in fifth place in the South Carolina Composite, and, per Politico, daddy stopped funding his campaign.

OK, the jobs numbers are conflicting. The Unemployment Rate is misunderstood. The economic spinmeisters are working overtime. A dizzying array of economic data comes at the public every week, and they don’t know how to interpret what they hear.

The Unemployment Rate was well over 10% not long ago; now it’s down to 8.5%. That’s a pretty significant drop.

In a February 2nd 2009 interview with the very liberal Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today morning program, President Obama was asked what would happen if he wasn’t able to turn the economy around:
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