Afternoon Fix: Perry still running, calls Iowa ‘quirky’
Rick Perry will keep on running, Newt Gingrich will never congratulate Mitt Romney, and Jon Huntsman says no one cares about Iowa or John McCain.
Make sure to sign up to get “Afternoon Fix” in your e-mail inbox every day by 5 (ish) p.m!
EARLIER ON THE FIX:
The 2012 Iowa caucuses and the 10 closest races in history
John McCain, Mitt Romney and the Fix Endorsement Hierarchy
Why Rick Santorum (really) won Iowa
Liljenquist to run against Hatch
Obama team calls Romney the ‘25 percent man’
Bachmann to drop out of presidential race: ‘No regrets’
Eight lessons the Iowa caucuses taught us
Romney and Santorum demonstrate hugely different bases of support
WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:
* Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) is not dropping out, he confirmed today, after he canceled a planned trip to South Carolina to reassess his campaign. He downplayed his fifth place finish in Iowa, calling it a “quirky place” with a “loosey-goosey process.” Earlier today, Perry tweeted that he was headed to South Carolina, but he won’t get there until after this weekend’s New Hampshire debates.
* Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, hours after saying that “nobody cares” about the Iowa caucuses, added that “nobody cares” about Sen. John McCain’s endorsement of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.* In case you didn’t get the hint last night, former House speaker Newt Gingrich still won’t congratulate Romney on his Iowa victory. Asked by a CBS reporter why he congratulated former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum but not Romney, Gingrich said only, “Because I know you would be a man of great professionalism, I know that’s a rhetorical question. And a good one.”
* Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) isn’t pulling any punches — he told CNN today that Gingrich “chickened out” of serving in the military during the Vietnam War. “He got deferments and didn’t even go.”
* President Obama took advantage of the congressional recess to appoint Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Republicans in the Senate blocked Cordray’s appointment, arguing that the agency does not have proper oversight.
WHAT YOU SHOULDN’T MISS:
* Wisconsin Democrats have decided not to release any more updates on how many petition signatures have been collected in their fight to recall Gov. Scott Walker (R). The deadline to turn the signatures in to the Government Accountability Board is Jan. 17, and Democrats need 540,208 signatures to get a recall of the governor on the ballot.
* A federal judge in Virginia today granted a motion from Huntsman, Gingrich and Santorum to intervene in a lawsuit filed by Perry that challenges the state’s primary ballot access law. Right now, only Paul and Romney are on the ballot.
* Former Maryland city council member Duchy Trachtenberg (D) has dropped her congressional bid against Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R), due to a recurrence of breast cancer. “While I undertook the campaign with a clean bill of health, circumstances have now deteriorated to the point where I honestly cannot continue the race,” she said in a statement. State Senate Majority Leader Rob Garagiola is the frontrunner in the race.
* Former New Hampshire GOP Chairman Jack Kimball has endorsed Ovide Lamontagne in the state’s gubernatorial primary. It’s not clear how much this nod helps Lamontagne, who faces conservative activist Kevin Smith in a primary — Kimball was ousted from his post earlier this year.
THE FIX MIX:
So creepy.
With Rachel Weiner and Aaron Blake
- Spam
- Obscene
- Duplicate
Blog Contributors
Chris Cillizza
Chris Cillizza is founder and editor of The Fix, a leading blog on state and national politics. He is the author of The Gospel According to the Fix: An Insider’s Guide to a Less than Holy World of Politics and an MSNBC contributor and political analyst. He also regularly appears on NBC and NPR’s The Diane Rehm Show. He joined The Post in 2005 and was named one of the top 50 journalists by Washingtonian in 2009.
Juliet Eilperin
Juliet Eilperin covers the White House for the Washington Post. She served as the Post's House of Representatives reporter from 1998-2004, covering the impeachment of Bill Clinton, lobbying, legislation, and five national congressional campaigns. Since 2004 she has been one of the country’s leading reporters covering the environment, reporting on science, policy and politics in areas including climate change, oceans, and air quality. She is the author of two books, "Fight Club Politics: How Partisanship is Poisoning the House of Representatives," and "Demon Fish: Travels Through the Hidden World of Sharks." Follow her on Twitter.
Ed O’Keefe
Ed O’Keefe covers Congress and politics for the Washington Post. He previously covered the 2008 and 2012 campaigns and reported on federal agencies and federal employees as author of The Federal Eye blog. Follow Ed on Twitter.
Aaron Blake
Aaron Blake covers national politics at the Washington Post, where he writes regularly for “The Fix,” the Post’s top political blog. A Minnesota native and summa cum laude graduate of the University of Minnesota, Aaron has also written about politics for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and The Hill newspaper. Aaron and his wife, Danielle, live in Annandale, Va. Follow him on Twitter.
Sean Sullivan
Sean Sullivan covers national politics for “The Fix.” Prior to joining the Washington Post in the summer of 2012, Sean was the editor of Hotline On Call, National Journal Hotline’s politics blog. He has also worked for NHK Japan Public Broadcasting and ABC News. Sean is a graduate of Hamilton College, where he received a degree in Philosophy. He lives in Washington, D.C. Follow Sean on Twitter.
Scott Clement
Scott Clement is a survey research analyst for Capital Insight, the independent polling group of Washington Post Media. Scott specializes in public opinion about politics, election campaigns and public policy. He helps design and analyze all Washington Post polls, including the Washington Post-ABC News poll. Follow Scott on Twitter.
Rachel Weiner
Rachel Weiner covers national politics for Post Politics and The Fix. She came to the Washington Post in 2010 as a political web editor and anchored the Post's 2012 election blog. She was previously a web editor at The Huffington Post. Follow her on Twitter.
Latest Tweets
Yes, it is possible that Lois Lerner waived her Fifth Amendment right. (from @eilperin) http://t.co/a1gusXTE7h
RT @washingtonpost: Paul Ryan is writing a book http://t.co/AWHsxsNl2R
Loading...
Comments