Here are some of the stories we are following today in the War Room:
Polls, polls, polls. From NBC/Marist, to Quinnipiac, to Gfk/AP, we have a bunch of new national polls to chew over. Let’s start with NBC/Marist:
GOP Primary: Romney 37, Santorum 35, Paul 13, Gingrich 8
President Obama leads all the Republican contenders in the Great Lakes State, and by a healthy margin, too.
Obama 51, Romney 33
Obama 55, Santorum 29
Obama 53, Paul 31
Onama 56, Gingrich 28
NBC’s Mark Murray notes: “What’s more, 51 percent of registered Michigan voters approve of Obama’s job; 63 percent of them believe the auto industry bailout was a good idea (including 61 percent of independents and 42 percent of likely GOP primary voters); and a majority think the president deserves credit for the auto industry’s recovery.”
GOP Primary: Romney 43, Santorum 27, Gingrich 16, Paul 11
Story is a little bit different for President Obama in Arizona. Except for one.
Romney 45, Obama 40
Santorum 45, Obama 42
Paul 43, Obama 41
Obama 45, Gingrich 40
Ahem. Moving on…
Quinnipiac releases its first national poll of the year, and finds that Santorum leads Romney nationally 35-26. The poll also shows that President Obama leads Romney by 2 (46-44) and Santorum by 3 (47-44). But the most interesting question was this:
But if the GOP convention picks a new candidate, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is the top choice of Republicans, with 32 percent, followed by former governors Sarah Palin of Alaska and Jeb Bush of Florida with 20 percent each and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels with 15 percent.
We will let you mull those names over for a bit. Done? OK, next….
AP-GfK Poll: Straight from the story – “Obama tops 50 percent support when matched against each of the four GOP candidates and holds a significant lead over each of them”. When it comes to the GOP Primary, it’s Santorum 33, Romney 32, Gingrich, 15, Paul 15.
And if all those numbers didn’t scramble your brain, here’s some major cognitive dissonance for you: The Huffington Post brings us the story that Rick Santorum told a Philadelphia magazine in 1995 that he “was basically pro-choice all my life, until I ran for Congress.” And Mitt Romney went for the double play when he said that “labor unions play an important role in our society” AND “If you just cut, if all you’re thinking about doing is cutting spending, as you cut spending, you’ll slow down the economy“. Ooo-kay… maybe that’s why Mitt won’t hold press conferences.
But wait! Santorum wasn’t done! The senator wants to claim that Obama is trying to keep gas prices high so you won’t drive, but yet Obama should be blamed for high gas prices. (Thanks go out to Greg Sargent for pointing that out. We think.)
Former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer will run for president as an independent. We had Buddy on the show recently, you can watch it here.
http://youtu.be/q721v1Wy9MI
Pretty sure that NBC owns the rights to the Church Lady, but Rick Santorum is doing his best to dance right up to the line on that copyright. On a serious note, David Corn from Mother Jones takes a look at the deeper meaning behind Santorum’s rhetoric. And yes, it’s a fair question to ask.
http://youtu.be/lX8jo8wIIaU
Let’s leave you today with the dulcet tones of President Obama… You’ve got to give it to the man for taking the mic alongside that star-studded ensemble.
http://youtu.be/hhO1DnNKYbo
Tune in to Current TV tonight for more on ‘The War Room with Jennifer Granholm’ — LIVE at 9/8c.
