1.) When is someone going to take Chris Matthews off the air for his own good? — During a radio interview Tuesday promoting his book on JFK, Matthews spouted lunacy. TheDC’s Jeff Poor reports:
“On Tuesday’s broadcast of Washington, D.C. radio station WMAL’s “Morning Majority,” MSNBC ‘Hardball’ host Chris Matthews denied applying a double standard to his treatment of the tea party and ‘Occupy’ movements. He also claimed he never saw hate-speech protest signs directed at former President George W. Bush — only at President Obama. ‘There is a real level of national hatred of the president [Obama] that I hadn’t seen before, certainly not under Clinton, or under Dubya,’ Matthews said. ‘The hatred, the Hitler mustaches — I hadn’t seen that before.’”
Where does one begin? During W’s tenure in the White House, the “George Bush is Hitler” industry was probably the most profitable in the country if you take into account its international export wing, with the possible — and I do emphasize possible — exception of the “George Bush is the Real Terrorist” industry. Yet somehow Chris Matthews missed that. Just like he has apparently missed the fact that the tea party has only been responsible for imagined violence — mainly imagined by the voices in Chris Matthews and his fellow MSNBC hosts’ heads — while the “Occupy” movement has been responsible for enumerable examples of actual violence.
2.) Where did all the girls go? — That’s what Newt Gingrich must be asking himself after Mitt Romney’s 14-point drubbing of him in Tuesday’s Florida primary. Women, who fueled Newt’s victory in South Carolina, abandoned him in Florida. TheDC’s Caroline May reports:
“Gingrich, who won the women’s vote in South Carolina earlier this month, lost the female vote Tuesday night to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney by a 22 percentage point margin. Romney also won men, but by a much smaller 5-point margin. According to exit polls by Fox News, females accounted for 49 percent of the vote, males made up 51 percent. Among women, Texas Rep. Ron Paul won six percent, Gingrich won 29 percent, Romney won 51 percent and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum 13 percent.”
3.) After losing big in Florida, Newt naturally looks toward his inauguration — Newt may have lost Florida by a wide margin, but rest assured, his ego didn’t take a hit. Newt took his concession speech Tuesday night as an opportunity to outline an 8-point plan he would accomplish within the first few hours of being sworn in as president. TheDC’s David Martosko reports:
“With complete GOP control established on Capitol Hill, Gingrich promised, he would ‘ask them to immediately pass the repeal of Obamacare. I will ask them to immediately pass the repeal of the Dodd–Frank bill which is killing housing, killing small business, and killing independent banks. And I will ask them to pass the repeal of Sarbanes–Oxley, which is crippling American businesses with no net profit.’”
Now all Newt has to do is actually win the Republican nomination and defeat President Obama.
4.) From Florida to Nevada — As the sun fades on the Sunshine State, the political world turns to Sin City, where the candidate arguably least likely to indulge in what Vegas has to offer apparently has the advantage. TheDC’s Alexis Levinson reports:
“After winning the caucuses with 51 percent of the vote in 2008, Romney remains very popular. The state also boasts a large Mormon population, making his religion a boon, rather than a potential problem as some suggested it was in states like South Carolina. Romney’s organization has been all but in place since 2008, and he has the support of the Republican establishment in the state. He has been endorsed by Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, the state’s two Republican congressmen, most of the Republican members of the state assembly, as well as many former Nevada politicians.”
Fun fact: The federal government owns about 90 percent of the land in Nevada.
5.) Poll of the Day — RealClearPolitics GOP primary national polling average: Newt Gingrich 30.3%, Mitt Romney 27.8%, Rick Santorum 16.8%, Ron Paul 12.5%.
6.) BIRTHDAYS! — Canadian fiddler Joseph Allard turns 139 (h/t the fiddler on the roof); the late vodka drinking Russian president (redundant?) Boris Yeltsin turns 81; Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi turns 68; alleged comedian Pauly Shore turns 44.