Gingrich vs. Romney: Whose website got the most hits?

Up until mid-January, Gingrich was clearly leading in online hits from Floridians. It wasn't until the week of Jan. 15 that Romney started to take the lead.

Why American 'democracy promotion' rings hollow in the Middle East

Egypt's crackdown on Republican and Democratic organisations is hardly surprising: they're widely seen as stooges of US empire

"The IRI is an international arm of the US Republican party, so anyone with the stomach to watch the Republican presidential debates might doubt whether this would be a "democracy-promotion" organization. But a look at some of their recent adventures is enough to set the record straight: in 2004, the IRI played a major role in overthrowing the democratically elected government of Haiti. In 2002, the head of the IRI publicly celebrated the short-lived military coup that overthrew the democratically elected government of Venezuela. The IRI was also working with organizations and individuals that were involved in the coup. In 2005, the IRI was involved in an effort to promote changes in Brazil's electoral laws that would weaken the governing Workers party of then President Lula da Silva."

Imperial errors cost US the Middle East

Designed to demonstrate the United States' post-Cold War military dominance and create a foothold in the Middle East, nine years later the 2003 Iraq invasion achieved the opposite. The US's biggest error was not drawing from colonial Britain's playbook. Rather than "regime change", free elections and withdrawal, Washington should have rebadged the existing regime and refused to leave.

The brain-dead GOP

Richard Cohen

The party has only itself to blame for rejecting reason.

"The Republican establishment acts as if this season’s goon squad of presidential candidates has come out of nowhere, an act of God — a tsunami that hit the party and receded, leaving nothing but nitwits standing. In column after column, conservative commentators lament the present condition, but not their past acquiescence as their party turned hostile to thought, reason and the two most important words in the English language: It depends."

Analysis: Gingrich's campaign is dead

However, Gingrich can still make a mess of Mitt Romney's coronation as GOP nominee.

"decapitated chickens flap about awhile before succumbing to the obvious"

Claims of Drudge bias are unfounded

Despite unfair rumours of Romney bias, The Drudge Report remains the king of conservative websites

Matt Drudge is the Howard Hughes of the Internet. Like Hughes, he lives in splendid isolation, communicating only through a small group of trusted friends. Like Hughes, his influence has quietly helped shape Republican politics for a generation. But while the eccentric Hughes used money to put his pals in the White House, Drudge has always relied on blogs and Tweets. The Drudge Report, which started life as an emailed gossip column, now receives millions of unique visitors per month. One study found that it drives more traffic than Twitter and Facebook combined.

U.S. officials see growing threat of attack from Iran

 Iran well prepared for the worst

Iran has been preparing for a possible military confrontation with the United States for decades and instead of engaging in a direct military competition, which would be pitting its weaknesses against US strengths, it has developed an asymmetric "hybrid" strategy that mixes advanced technology with guerilla tactics to deny US forces access to bases and maritime freedom of maneuver.

The G.O.P.’s Own 1972

Falkland Islands: Royal Navy sends warship as tensions rise

HMS Dauntless will set sail for Falklands in coming weeks armed with battery of missiles that could "take out all of South America's fighter aircraft let alone Argentina's," according to one Navy source.

"It can shoot down Argentine fighters as soon as they take off from they bases," said another Navy source. "This will give Buenos Aires serious pause for thought."

The end for Gingrich?

Dana Milbank

"But Gingrich is going down in his own style, leaving fabrications, insults and scorched earth all the way from Miami to Pensacola."

Who in God’s Name Is Mitt Romney?

Frank Rich

Back in the thick of the 2008 Republican presidential race, I asked a captain of American finance what he had made of Mitt Romney when they were young colleagues at Bain & Company. “Mitt was a nice guy, a smart businessman, and an excellent team player,” he ­responded without missing a beat. Then came the CEO’s one footnote, delivered with bemusement, not pique: “Still, whenever the rest of us would go out at the end of the day, we’d always find ourselves having the same conversation: None of us had any idea who this guy was.”

Joe Biden advised against bin Laden raid

Vice President admits he said Barack OBama should wait for more information.

"Every single person in that room hedged their bet, except Leon Panetta"

New anti-Obama themes: 'European socialism' and 'Saul Alinsky'

With the economy mending, Republicans find more ways to attack the president by casting him as a left-wing radical.

The realities of a ‘Buffett Tax’

Robert J. Samuelson

A look at the math behind the push against the super-rich.

"It’s also a myth that all the ultra-rich enjoy low tax rates. In 2007, the richest 1 percent of taxpayers paid an average tax rate of 29.5 percent and provided 28.1 percent of federal revenues, reports the CBO. On their wages and salaries, many of the ultra-rich pay the top income tax rate of 35 percent plus a Medicare tax of 1.45 percent.

Lupica: Newt is a sad, old clown

Gingrich cries about everything now, from the mean things Mitt Romney is saying about him, to Romney’s money, to the “Republican establishment” trying to stop him.

Is Obama most polarizing president?

Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake / WashPost

His pledge to unite the country meets hyper-partisan reality

"For 2011, Obama’s third year in office, an average of 80 percent of Democrats approved of the job he was doing in Gallup tracking polls, as compared to 12 percent of Republicans who felt the same way. That’s a 68-point partisan gap, the highest for any president’s third year in office — ever."

Miami's Cuban vote shifting, but still strongly Republican

Members of a younger generation care less about Castro and are more liberal, but many are disappointed in President Obama.

"In Miami-Dade, the state's most populous county, 74% of registered Republicans are Latino."

Facing Second Loss to Gingrich, Romney Went on Warpath

In the hours after Mitt Romney’s double-digit loss to Newt Gingrich in South Carolina, the Romney team hatched a two-part plan to win in Florida: make Newt mad and Mitt meaner.

"Find lines of attack that could goad Mr. Gingrich into angry responses and rally mainstream Republicans. Swarm Gingrich campaign events to rattle him. Have Mr. Romney drop his above-the-fray persona and carry the fight directly to his opponent, especially in two critical debates scheduled for the week"

Newt May Be Mad and Mental Enough to Fight On Long After Florida

Waging a protracted fight would likely be an act of futility for Gingrich, but it could turn out to be something much worse for Romney. That is why it's so important for the latter not just to win on Tuesday but to win big — very big.