Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

Obama Pre-Super Bowl Interview with NBC Matt Lauer.



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Minnesota and Colorado Up Next For Republicans - Mitt Romney is expected to win both caucus states, but not showing up in Minnesota may hurt him. Romney is relying on former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty to campaign for him. Interestingly, Minnesota is a nonbinding delegate state, meaning the delegates won are free to vote for any candidate at the Republican convention. Public Policy Polling has it Santorum 29%, Romney 27%, Gingrich 22% and Paul 19%. The StarTribune.com has more here.

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Obama Leads Both Romney and Gingrich - in a new national poll released by The Washington Post/ABC News shows President Obama ahead of Mitt Romney 51% - 45% and Obama 54% - Gingrich 43%.

In bad news for Republicans, 55% of the voters who have been closely following the campaign to date, say they disapprove of what the Republican candidates have been saying.

By more than a 2-1 margin, voters say the more they learn about Mitt Romney, the less they like him.

When asked, based on his performance to date, if Obama deserved a second term, the results were split evenly Yes - 49% and No - 49%. You can read more poll results here.

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The Citizens United castastrophe - is a good read by E. J. Dionne on how money in politics is turning democracy upside down. An excerpt: In the short run, Congress should do all it can within the limits of Citizens United to contain the damage it is causing. In the long run, we have to hope that a future Supreme Court will overturn this monstrosity, remembering that the first words of our Constitution are “We the People,” not “We the Rich.”

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Abbas to Lead Interim Palestine Government - Palestinian President Abbas would head the unity government prior to elections in the West Bank and Gaza. How Israel will react to an interim government which includes Hamas, remains to be seen. The Washington Post has more here.

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Egypt To Proceed With Trial of 19 Americans - In total, Egypt plans to try over 40 individuals (including 19 Americans) who worked for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The charge is they were receiving foreign money to influence politics in Egypt. This has led the U.S. to reassess their commitment for 1.55 billion in aid to the country. This comes as the military has been slow to transition to civilian and democratic rule. The NY Times has more here.

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49% of Voters Wiling for U.S. to Attack Iran Over Nuclear Weapons - scary results from a poll released today from TheHill.com. 31% opposed U.S. military action to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and 20% were not sure. You can read more here.

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