PrairiePundit

Daily Mail: College student barely over legal drinking age uses grandfather’s $900,000 inheritance to start pro-Republican PAC His group has been called the Brat PAC but they did have an impact in a congressional race in Kentucky.  John Ramsey is also a big fan of Ron Paul.

Houston Chronicle: Ron Paul urges GOP unity at state convention He has previously said Romney is going to be the nominee, although some of his supporters want Paul's name put in nomination.

Texas Tribune: Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania has a commanding lead among Republican presidential candidates in Texas, according to a new University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Santorum would get the votes of 45 percent of the respondents if the election were held today, according to the survey. The other three candidates in the GOP race — former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and U.S. Rep.  Ron Paul  of Texas — are clustered well behind. Gingrich got 18 percent, Romney received 16 percent and Paul garnered 14 percent. The presidential race in Texas remains highly volatile, and the numbers could change significantly between now and the state's primaries. They were originally scheduled for March 6 — early voting would have started this week — but have been delayed by redistricting litigation. Texas still doesn't have all of its congressional and legislative maps in place, and May 29 appears to be the earliest possible ...

The Hill: A new poll shows President Barack Obama trailing three of the four GOP presidential candidates in the key swing state of Iowa. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leads Obama by 46 percent support to 44 percent among likely Hawkeye state voters in the latest  Iowa poll . The survey shows Rick Santorum, winner of the state's 2012 caucuses, besting Obama 48 percent to 44 percent.  Texas Rep. Ron Paul has the biggest edge over the president leading him 49 percent to 42 percent.  ...  The poll shows Gingrich losing to Obama.  It suggest Obama will have a tougher race than many in the media re predicting.  Iowa is not a particularly conservative state and it has suffered less under Obama than most other states, so the results have to be troubling for Democrats.

Fox has called the race for Mitt Romney, with Paul coming in second and Huntsman third based on the vote of liberals and Democrats.

Washington Times: Paul’s campaign finds big gender gap to bridge Mostly men are showing up at his rallies.

It is an issue where Paul is vulnerable.  It hims him on his Tea Party creds.

NY Times: Iowa Caucus Results » 11:38 PM ET   1:14 Size of Lead County Leaders CANDIDATE VOTES PCT. Santorum 28,895 24.6% Romney 28,841 24.6    Paul 25,008 21.3    Gingrich 15,553 13.3    Perry 12,074 10.3    Bachmann 5,891 5.0    Full Results » 95% reporting This is probably a pretty good snapshot of the turnout.  Santorum appears to be riding a surge.  Paul's surge seemed to ebb as the nigh wore on.  Perry never really recovered from his early debate stumbles despite heavy ad buys and better organization later in the campaign.

Marc Thiessen: Rep. Ron Paul is in  a dead heat  with Mitt Romney for first place in the Iowa caucuses. If he does pull out a win on Tuesday, Iowa Republicans will have chosen as their commander in chief a man who says it was  wrong to kill Osama bin Laden . In a recent interview with a Des Moines radio station, Paul not only came out against killing bin Laden but gave a remarkable reason for his opposition: The operation that took out the man responsible for the massacre of nearly 3,000 people in our midst, he said, showed no “respect for the rule of law, international law.” International law? Back in 2002, Paul  wrote in a column  that “America must either remain a constitutional republic or submit to international law, because it cannot do both.” I guess it is goodbye constitutional republic since Paul now claims that international law constrains us from killing the man behind the most brazen attack on our country since Pearl Harbor — the man who, as we ...

NY Times: Paul’s Stance on Foreign Policy Divides Many Traditional G.O.P. Voters Paul is who he is, but Democrats who want to screw up the Republican primary find it easy to support his foreign policy which is to the left of Obama's.   Every four years they vote in Republican elections for a squish on foreign or domestic policy.  Those voting for Paul are unlikely to vote for a Republican in the general election even if Paul some how got the nomination.

NY Times: Paul’s Stance on Foreign Policy Divides Many Traditional G.O.P. Voters He is the only candidate running to the left of Obama on foreign policy issues.  To most Republicans, his position on the Middle East don't just make no sense, they are an anathema.   His foreign policy positions would fit better with the kook fringe of the Democrat party.

David P. Goldman: Rep. Ron Paul’s  defense  of Iran’s nuclear weapons program should surprise no one. The same resentment motivates Ron Paul and the Iranian leadership — a paranoid hostility toward a world that is swiftly changing and has little mercy, and a Millenarian desire to return to a mythical, untroubled past. Get rid of the Federal Reserve, scourge the bankers, return to a gold standard and erect a wall around the United States — and we will return to when? To 1957, when the Russians launched the first space satellite, alerting the United States to the danger that it might lose the Cold War? Then, as always, we prevailed, but by the skin of our teeth. Ron Paul’s program is an American version of the Iranian desire to return to a world of Islamic purity that never existed, any more than did a golden age of American isolationism. ...  There is much more. Goldman captures the thinking of both Paul and Iran's current rulers.  I am sure Iran would like to ...

Washington Post: The Republican Party’s leader in Iowa’s biggest county says he’s had enough with the negative advertisements blanketing the airwaves across the state. Kevin McLaughlin, chairman of the Polk County Republican Party, called for a moratorium on negative advertisements in an interview Monday, and said he planned to issue a formal call at a news conference later this week. “It’s like drinking salt water,” McLaughlin said. “When you drink salt water, you get a short-term benefit, but long-term it’s worse for you. That’s what we’re doing here, and it’s got to stop.” McLaughlin said the ads were deepening what had been a natural splintering of the party’s base during the hotly contested presidential primary campaign. He added that he fears the rift could cause irreparable harm to the eventual Republican nominee in next year’s general election campaign against President Obama. “They create deep rifts at the base of the party, which make it harder to pull the party tog...

Dorthy Rabinowitz  examines  the Paul foreign policy.  He is much closer to George McGovern than Ronald Reagan on foreign issues.

Rich Lowry: A ‘blame America first’ Republican Ron Paul's foreign policy has become an issue outside just the debates.  Many Republicans  will find his views disqualifying.

Washington Examiner: GOP will take off the gloves if Ron Paul wins Iowa Paul is in the lead because the GOP establishment has tried to take out Gingrich who was in the lead.  Voters are still resisting the establishment choice of Romney and thus Paul is looking like a winner at this point.  They still have time to do to Paul what they just did with Gingrich.

The Insider Advantage poll has Gingrich in the lead at 27.1 percent, Ron Paul at 16.5 percent and Perry at 13.2 percent.  Romney is fourth at 11.9 percent followed closely by Bachmann at 10.3. Rick Santorum has 6.8 percent.  Romney's recent debate performance must not have helped him.  Perry has been more active in Iowa of late.

USA Today: Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich has carved out a clear lead in what's become a three-candidate race in Iowa, according to  The  Des Moines Register 's new Iowa Poll.   Texas Rep.   Ron Paul   has risen into second place, and former Massachusetts Gov.   Mitt Romney   has slid to third with just over a month before the Iowa caucuses kick off voting in the presidential nominating process.   Gingrich has support from 25% of likely Republican caucusgoers, Paul is at 18% and Romney at 16%.Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann ties with retired Georgia business executive Herman Cain at 8%.  The poll was conducted before Cain suspended his candidacy on Saturday .   Rounding out the field: Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania at 6% each, and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman at 2%. ...  Cain's support is seen as likely going to Gingrich.  The poll reflects the slippage of Rom...

The other candidates do seem to have some empathy for Gov. Perry.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy He makes a good argument for cutting government spending and the failure of the Keynesian model.