Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

Santorum Edges Romney in Latest National Poll - a CBS/NY Times poll has rick Santorum at 30%, Mitt Romney at 27%, Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.) 12%, and Newt Gingrich 10%. The margin of error is 5 points.

Santorum is the latest to benefit from the "anyone but Romney" votes. But, remember, just a few weeks ago the percentage of the votes were reversed between Gingrich and Santorum. CBS News has more here.

---

House Republicans Try New Tactic on Payroll Tax Extension - House Republican Leaders have agreed to extend the popular payroll tax extension scheduled to expire March 1 without any corresponding cuts in other programs to pay for it.

However, they have separated this extension from an extension for unemployment benefits and a measure to prevent a 27% drop in payments to doctors also set to expire March 1.

Democrats are now faced with explaining to voters why they would not accept the payroll tax extension. The NY Times has more here.

---

Pew Study finds Voter Registration Inaccuracies - across the country, 2 million dead Americans remain active on voter rolls, 3 million are registered in multiple states, 12 million have errors in their addresses and 1 in 4 eligible (51 million) are not even registered. TheHill.com has more here.

---

Will Italy Be Next To Need Bailout? - the financial crisis in Europe extends far beyond Greece and was underscored by the recent cut in debt ratings by Moodys Investment Services of six European countries, including Italy. Bloomberg.com has more here.

---

Assad Continues Crackdown as Arab Leaders Consider Arming Rebels - the violence continues in Syria as President Bashar al-Assad clings to power. Reuters.com has more here.

---

To receive "Daily Email Updates" from Air-it-Out with George Wenschhof, click on "Subscribe to this feed" below.