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Newt Gingrich (Photo courtesy of newt.org/).

Gingrich Bids Campaign Adieu…Kinda
Newt Gingrich has not run the most conventional of presidential campaigns. And it seems that Newt isn’t going to be changing his ways, even as he exits the election.

In the wake of multiple primary losses last Tuesday, the Gingrich campaign did not publicly say they were stepping aside, but they did say it was “very clear” that Mitt Romney was the nominee, that Gingrich would campaign as a “citizen,” and that “we’re working out the details of our transition.” There is some talk that Gingrich will withdraw on Tuesday or Wednesday.

In the end, it looks like Newt’s campaign is neither completely dead nor remotely alive. This limbo status prompted John Marshall of Talking Points Memo to question: “Newt Of The Living Dead: Is His Zombie Campaign Finally Over?”

Is Obama Too Cool?

SEATTLE — Part of the process of keeping informed while following political campaigns is subscribing to these campaigns’ e-mail listserv’s.

This form of political spam is mostly full of routine reminders to donate money or rally at such and such a location. So it was no surprise that I got another note from Newt Gingrich yesterday morning. But what was different was that it was an ad for the identity-protection company Lifelock, Inc.

“Help Protect Your Identity and SAVE!” the banner proclaimed. It goes on to plug the service without mentioning any official affiliation with the Gingrich campaign, as NPR has reported. The company does not have any political or business connection to Newt Gingrich. (Nonetheless, note that the promo code for the offer is “NEWT.”)

Lifelock ads have been sent out to Newt Gingrich supporters (courtesy of Lifelock, Inc. / UW Election Eye)

SEATTLE — Part of the process of keeping informed while following political campaigns is subscribing to these campaigns’ e-mail listserv’s.

This form of political spam is mostly full of routine reminders to donate money or rally at such and such a location. So it was no surprise that I got another note from Newt Gingrich yesterday morning. But what was different was that it was an ad for the identity-protection company Lifelock, Inc.

“Help Protect Your Identity and SAVE!” the banner proclaimed. It goes on to plug the service without mentioning any official affiliation with the Gingrich campaign, as NPR has reported. The company does not have any political or business connection to Newt Gingrich. (Nonetheless, note that the promo code for the offer is “NEWT.”)

Lifelock ads have been sent out to Newt Gingrich supporters (courtesy of Lifelock, Inc. / UW Election Eye)

Mitt Romney's latest round of endorsements include (from top left, clockwise) Rep. Paul Ryan (WI-R), Sen. Ron Johnson (WI-R), Sen. Marco Rubio (FL-R), and former president George H. W. Bush (photos courtesy of paulryan.house.gov/, ronjohnson.senate.gov/, www.rubio.senate.gov/, and http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/). Romney adding to his list of endorsements In the last few days, Mitt Romney has More

Mitt Romney's latest round of endorsements include (from top left, clockwise) Rep. Paul Ryan (WI-R), Sen. Ron Johnson (WI-R), Sen. Marco Rubio (FL-R), and former president George H. W. Bush (photos courtesy of paulryan.house.gov/, ronjohnson.senate.gov/, www.rubio.senate.gov/, and http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/). Romney adding to his list of endorsements In the last few days, Mitt Romney has More

Robert DeNiro signing autographs at the world premiere of Killer Elite, Toronto Film Festival 2011 (Photo courtesy of Flickr member GabboT).

Illinois holds a noted place in American history when it comes to issues of race and ethnicity.

Abraham Lincoln represented the 7^th district of Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives before he became the President that ended slavery.

Barack Obama represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate before he became the first African-American President.

So it seems almost fitting that today, the day of the Illinois primary, the issue of race is in the news.

At an Obama fundraiser last night, actor Robert DeNiro introduced First Lady Michelle Obama by asking the crowd: “Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?” When someone in the crowd yelled, “No!” DeNiro responded, “Too soon, right?”

In response to DeNiro’s words, a spokeswoman for Michelle Obama said they were “inappropriate.”

Newt Gingrich, at a campaign stop on Tuesday, asked the Obama campaign for an apology and stated, “What DeNiro said last night was inexcusable and the president should apologize for him. It was at an Obama fundraiser, it is exactly wrong, it divides the country.”

The final four Republican Party presidential candidates (photo by Politico)

The Republican Party presidential contest descended into schoolyard name-calling this week.

It began when Newt Gingrich on Sunday blasted Mitt Romney as “probably the weakest Republican frontrunner since Leonard Wood in 1920” — a classic I’m-the-smartest-on-the-playground insult for which Gingrich has no political peer. Romney responded the next day with his best blue-blood neener-neener: he pointed to his greater than 3-to-1 lead in delegates over the Georgian, and said, “If I’m a weak frontrunner, what does that make Newt Gingrich?”

On Tuesday morning before primaries in Alabama and Mississippi, Romney blustered that his closest competitor, Rick Santorum, was at the “desperate end” of his campaign. Santorum won both primaries that evening, and Wednesday morning a Santorum adviser lobbed his best your-mama comeback. He invoked a Romney vacation in which the candidate did something unusual, and said the Santorum campaign wasn’t about to listen to the “value judgment of a guy who strapped his own dog on the top of a car and went hurling down the highway.”

A double-dog dare is next, I’m sure.

This is not helping the GOP. Or any else, for that matter.

Rick Santorum is Roman Catholic. This is not news: he is far from shy about his Catholicism. More generally, he is as outspoken about religious faith as any major presidential candidate who’s had success has ever been.

Santorum swept Republican presidential primaries in Alabama and Mississippi last night. This is no small matter. Catholics don’t win GOP primaries often, and certainly not in the South, where evangelicals make up large percentages of the Republican electorate. Among yesterday’s voters, 74% in Alabama self-identified as evangelical, and 80% in Mississippi self-identified as evangelical.

I study religion and politics in America. I find it almost impossible to believe that Santorum would be winning Republican primaries in the South were his central rival for the nomination, Mitt Romney, not Mormon in religious faith.

Screen shot of PerezHilton.com poll for Republican presidential candidates One of the places I least expected to find a poll about the Republican presidential candidates was on PerezHilton.com. Yet, there it was. PerezHilton.com is a celebrity gossip blog, and its namesake has risen to fame for his biting words and eccentric…

BOISE — “Wow, all the way from Seattle? I knew we were a big deal!” said one Republican at the Ada County caucus. That’s the reaction we heard covering the caucuses this past week from Sandpoint all the way down to Boise, Idaho. Our 1,400 mile trip showed us that not only were Republicans energetic about…