1.) Romney-Coulter 2012? — On Sean Hannity’s radio show, Ann Coulter defended her support for Mitt Romney and noted that she told the presidential front-runner that he better not take her support for granted. TheDC’s Jeff Poor reports:
“Later in her appearance, Hannity asked Coulter who she thought Romney should surround himself with as president. She said that she ‘better have his ear’ and recalled an encounter with Romney. ‘Did I tell you I met him at a fundraiser?’ Coulter said. ‘I went up to him. I was about to leave. But I said — I just wanted to go up to him and tell him, ‘You owe me and you better be as right-wing a president as I’m telling everybody you’re going to be.’”
Coulter said she also lobbied Romney to choose Chris Christie as his running mate. But forget Christie. Why not Ann Coulter? “The Debate: Coulter v. Biden” could very well get better ratings than the Super Bowl — or at least President Obama’s “enthralling” State of the Union address.
2.) Roseanne Barr for president? This is not a joke — Comedian Roseanne Barr, whose brilliant mind is most radiantly on display when she remains silent, is getting into presidential politics. TheDC’s Steven Nelson reports:
“Roseanne Barr announced Thursday that she will seek the Green Party’s nomination for president. ‘The Democrats and Republicans have proven that they are servants — bought and paid for by the 1% — who are not doing what’s in the best interest of the American people,’ Barr said in a statement. The Green Party will select its presidential candidate during the party’s July 12-15 convention in Baltimore, Md.”
After her less than impressive rendition of the National Anthem in the 1990s, it was hard to imagine Roseanne doing any task quite so badly. In light of her announcement, it is no longer hard to imagine that.
3.) Sarah Palin redux? — Could the Republicans pick another surprise, not-too-well-known woman vice presidential candidate in 2012? TheDC’s Will Rahn reports on dark horse possibility Cathy McMorris Rodgers, “the highest ranking woman on Capitol Hill”:
“First elected in 2004, McMorris Rodgers is now in her second term as vice chairman of the Republican Conference, which makes her the highest-ranking Republican woman on Capitol Hill. She has built a significant amount of behind-the-scenes clout, and has become one of her party’s most influential leaders on issues like international bailouts, earmark reform and the fight against Obamacare. McMorris Rodgers also has the kind of compelling life story that political operatives always look for. The daughter of produce farmers who operated a fruit stand, she was the first member of her family to attend college.”
Though McMorris Rodgers would not be the first woman to run on a Republican ticket, she would be the first woman on a GOP presidential ticket to have kept her maiden name as part of her name — not that there’s neccessarily anything wrong with that!
4.) North Carolina blues — President Obama seemingly believes, perhaps quixotically, that he could actually win North Carolina again in 2012. After all, the Democratic National Convention is being held in the state. But Thursday was not a good day to be a Democrat who believes North Carolina is winnable. TheDC’s Neil Munro explains why:
“’First the Democrats threw a gutter ball when they went Bowles-ing, then former Speaker [Joe] Hackney stepped aside … and now [Rep.] Heath Shuler said ‘no thanks’ to running for re-election,’ said Scott Laster, executive director of the North Carolina GOP. ‘If I were the Obama for America team, I’d look at North Carolina and say ‘ruh-roh!’ he said.”
There’s always Guam — maybe they are not quite as informed about the “successes” of the Obama administration as the good people of North Carolina. On the down side, they don’t have any electoral votes, which some election experts suggest are necessary to win re-election.
5.) Poll of the Day — Las Vegas Review-Journal/8 News Now poll of likely GOP caucus-goers in Nevada: Mitt Romney 45%, Newt Gingrich 25%, Rick Santorum 11%, Ron Paul 9%.
6.) BIRTHDAYS! — Writer Gertrude Stein turns 138 (h/t Ernest Hemingway); American painter Norman Rockwell turns 118; Heimlich Maneuver inventor Henry Heimlich turns 92; Harvard economist and Mitt Romney advisor N. Gregory Mankiw turns 54.