Afternoon Delights

++The latest Suffolk poll has Romney at 32, which was what he got last time. He keeps plunging in the New Hampshire polls but still leads. Andrew Sullivan is wishing for a three-way tie of Romney, Paul and Huntsman. He likes a New Hampshire surprise.

++Newt gave an interview to Byron York of the Washington Examiner, which actually worth a read. Newt tries to explain why Romney's vulture capitalism goes against Milton Friedman and Hayak. Actually, quite entertaining.

++Newt looks like he will press Romney on another issue. It is rumored that Newt will release his own tax returns and challenge Romney to do the same.

++Andrew Sullivan chastises all of us who pulled Romney's "I like to be able to fire people" line out of context. I'm not sure the context helps much as Romney was explaining how he likes the marketplace of having to fire health insurance companies that don't adequately service his family. But, the catch is that he thinks they should be able to fire unhealthy people--which got us into the problem we have in the first place.

++Rick Perry was campaigning in South Carolina today and having a hoot ,blasting Willard. Perry got off a series of one-liners zinging Romney. Stressing that Romney is probably one of the richest men to ever run for President and a son of a multi-millionaire, he was afraid if running out of pink slips when he ran Bain for all the businesses he was destroying. He said that Romney was "getting rich out of failure" by "looting companies" in South Carolina, which has the winning charm of being true. Bain Capital actually leveraged the debt of several companies in South Carolina, laid of its employees and eventually they declared bankruptcy.

++What was really lame was the Romney Camp's response. Rick Perry is acting like a Democrat (his former party affiliation) by " running against the Private Sector". I think Newt handled that one better--none of the economic icons of conservatism would have acted like Romney. Ouch!

++Jon Huntsman ran his first ad, which was his statement in defense of serving his country and his remark that Romney's attitude was what was polarizing America.

++For some reason, Romney's competitors all found their voice yesterday and today. As if on cue, Romney himself was confronted in New Hampshire by a woman,who worked with the UAW and who challenged him on his opposition to Obama saving the car industry. As Hunnfingtonpost headlined today, Romney was a "punching bag".

++While Romney has commanding leads in South Carolina and Florida, over 50% of those polled say they could change their minds. It's clear the field now senses Romney is not inevitable, even though the hard facts suggest he is.

++Rick Santorum is not finding that his brand of social conservatism is going over well in New Hampshire. Tomorrow is likely to see him disappointed. Remember independents and even Democrats can cast cross-over votes tomorrow.

++The thing to watch is whether Romney gets lower than 32%, whether Obama in the Democratic primary gets more votes than Romney, and whether Huntsman wins second place. Ron Paul will do what Ron Paul does. The flaps over his positions are relatively meaningless because he is not going to be the nominee and not going to run as an independent.