DES MOINES, Iowa -- For Mitt Romney's campaign and supporters, the cavalry has arrived.

Pro-Romney SuperPac "Restore our Future" announced today it has made a massive $3.1-million-dollar television advertising buy in Iowa, instantly dwarfing any other political ad buys this cycle, and simultaneously highlighting one of Romney's greatest strengths: deep-pocketed supporters.

The 30-second ad, which will debut here in Iowa today, focuses on contrasting Romney with President Obama, and does not mention any of Romney's GOP rivals.

To put this buy into perspective, here has been all the other Iowa ad spending to date (as of Tuesday): Rick Perry $3.9 million; Ron Paul $1.2 million; Make Us Great Again (pro-Perry group) $1.1 million; Romney $322,000; Newt Gingrich $233,000; Rick Santorum $17,000.

In the ad, a narrator says President Obama has failed to create jobs, and highlights Romney's record in the private sector, at the Olympics, and in closing budget deficits in Massachusetts.

Restore Our Future, which can accept unlimited contributions from individuals, but is prohibited from coordinating with the Romney campaign by law, was founded in 2010 by former Romney aides and alumni from his previous presidential campaign.

At the last FEC filing deadline in June, the group had raised $12.2 million dollars from just 86 donors, four of whom wrote $1 million checks.

*** UPDATE *** The Obama re-election campaign released this response to the ad: “Before he was a politician, Mitt Romney was a corporate buyout specialist, eliminating jobs and bankrupting companies while pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars. Now, in the final days of the Iowa caucuses, his allies are riding to his rescue, spending millions of dollars in secret, undisclosed donations to promote a candidate who will put Wall Street profit ahead of middle class security.”

*** UPDATE II *** Carl Forti, a 2008 Romney campaign veteran who works for Restore Our Future, correctly points out that his group -- by law -- has to disclose its donors. "The Obama campaign continues to rely on lies and deceit to pull the wool over voters eyes. Restore Our Future is a 527 organization that fully discloses it's donors." 

President Obama tersely dismissed Republican criticism of his national security strategy on Thrusday, referring them to his record of having killed Osama bin Laden and other top al Qaeda leaders.

"Ask Osama bin Laden and the 22 out of 30 top al Qaeda leaders who have been taken off the field whether I engage in appeasement," the president said Thursday at the White House. "Or whoever's left out there, ask them about that."

Obama had been asked about Republican presidential candidates criticism of his record, which stemmed from their speeches on Wednesday to the Republican Jewish Coalition's gathering in Washington.

There, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leveled the appeasement charge.

"Internationally, President Obama has adopted an appeasement strategy," Romney said in his speech. "Appeasement betrays a lack of faith in America, in American strength, and in America’s future."

Updated at 12:01 p.m. ET

The Senate blocked confirmation on Thursday of Richard Cordray, the former Ohio attorney general picked by President Obama to lead the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

Democrats fell short of the 60 votes they needed in a procedural vote to move forward with the nomination of Cordray. Senate Republicans had spoken against the nomination, reflecting their concerns about the creation of the bureau, which was established in last year's Wall Street reform bill.

Fifty-three senators voted for Cordray, while 45 -- all Republicans -- voted against ending debate on his nomination. Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R) voted for Cordray, and Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe (R) voted present.

RELATED: Cordray blocked, now what?

"We have nominated somebody, Richard Cordray ... who everybody says is highly qualified." Obama said in a brief press conference in the White House briefing room. "This morning, Senate Republicans blocked his nomination, refusing to let the Senate even go forward with an up-or-down vote on Mr. Cordray. This makes absolutely no sense."

The president hinted that he would not rule out a recess appoint for Cordray to fill the vacancy at the bureau.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) hammered Republicans ahead of the vote, saying this is the first time in the history of the Senate that a party has blocked a candidate not because of his credentials but because they didn't approve of the agency. 

"They're blocking his nomination, not allowing a vote because they dont like the federal agency he would lead, an agency that has been established by law," Reid said.

Reid added, "without a director, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau doesn't have the tools it needs to get the job done. It's shocking that despite the economic crash in our rearview mirror, its easy to look back and see what happened because of Wall Street greed, Republicans in spite of that would leave consumers without a watchdog to guard against the greed of Wall Street. That's unfortunate."

Most Republicans had ultimately opposed the Dodd-Frank legislation that passed in summer of 2010, which included language to establish the CFPB. The Obama administration had initially eyed Elizabeth Warren, the former bailout watchdog, to head the bureau, and the president named her to an advisory role to help establish the agency. But Republicans sent clear signals that nominating Warren as the bureau's first director was a non-starter. She's now running for Senate as a Democrat in Massachusetts.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) hit back slamming the White House for not addressing Republican concerns about the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The top Senate Republican noted that 45 Republicans had signed a letter months ago outlining their concerns about the CFPB and they have not been addressed by the president.

Republicans want to see a board of directors in charge of the CFPB rather than a single director and more oversight by Congress.

"The president knew about these concerns months ago and he chose to dismiss them. And now he's suddenly making a push to confirm his nominee because it fits into some picture he wants to paint about who the good guys are and who the bad guys are here in Washington," he said.

McConnell also accused Democrats of staging show votes to embarrass Republicans.

"They're setting up a vote they knew will fail so they can act shocked about it later. This is what passes for leadership at the White House right now," he said.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's campaign kicked off its offensive against Newt Gingrich in earnest on Thursday, deploying surrogates who accused the former House Speaker of being "not a reliable or trustworthy" conservative.

The Romney campaign pivoted from its singular focus on President Obama to instead undermine Gingrich, who's surged in the polls and has emerged as Romney's most direct obstacle to the nomination.
 
In an interview on MSNBC, following a conference call with reporters, former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu laid out the Romney campaign's case against Gingrich in two neat sentences.

"I don't think Newt Gingrich cares about conservative principles. He cares about Newt Gingrich," Sununu said.

The interview and conference call were part of a coordinated effort by the Romney campaign to begin to create contrast with the surging Gingrich, both on specific issues -- in this case, Medicare reform -- and on leadership style. They came amidst an email blitz from the Romney campaign, which included touting new endorsements in Romney's backyard of New Hampshire, to Gingrich's neighborhood. Tennesee.

On the call, former Sen. Jim Talent (R-MO), who served in the house under Gingrich, said he was speaking out against Gingrich "reluctantly" but that "the stakes are too high" for him not to weigh in.

Talent, who began the call by highlighting Gingrich's opposition to House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's (R-WI) Medicare plan as "right wing social engineering," said that Gingrich was "not a reliable or trustworthy leader," and "also says outrageous things" that undermine the conservative agenda.

Sununu, who served as President George H. W. Bush's chief of staff when Gingrich was a rising star on the hill, was even more harsh in his critique, saying Gingrich's comments on the Ryan plan were "the most self-serving thing you could imagine," and highlighted his penchant for "self aggrandizement"

Asked about whether Newt's leadership style made him unsuitable to be commander-in-chief, Sununu drew on his experience with Bush, as someone who "understood the depth of analysis required" to be commander-in-chief, made him certain Governor Romney was more qualified for that position.

"The off-the-cuff comments are a reflection of [Gingrich's] off the cuff thinking and you do not want that in the commander-in-chief," he said.

Asked on the conference call whether Gingrich's sometimes tumultuous personal life raised concerns as well, the Romney backers did not engage.

"That's not what we're here to talk about," Talent said, before calling for the final question.

Team Romney’s attack on Newt begins… And it’s a two-fold attack, going after Gingrich personally and professionally… New Quinnipiac polls: Gingrich isn’t that far away from Romney’s general election numbers… Huntsman also to jab Gingrich (as well as Obama and Romney)… On the White House’s Plan B decision… And Senate to hold cloture vote on Cordray nomination.

*** The attack on Newt begins: In the last 24 hours, Mitt Romney’s campaign has started its attack -- though in a subtle way so far -- against Newt Gingrich. First, it launched its latest TV advertisement with Romney saying what he mentioned at the November CNBC debate: “I’ve been married to the same woman for 25 -- excuse me, I’ll get in trouble -- for 42 years.” (Hmmm, with whom could he be trying to make a contrast?) Then last night in West Des Moines, IA, as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was stumping for Romney, an undecided GOP voter asked the governor to say something she might not know about Romney to help influence her vote. Christie answered by observing how Romney interacted with Christie’s children. He added, “This is a guy who is a father and a husband and loves his wife and his kids.” And Christie concluded, “When you look at candidates say, ‘Is this the kind of person who’s always going to make me proud in the Oval Office and never have to worry will embarrass America? That I’ll never have to worry will do something that will just make me ashamed?’ [Romney] just won’t.” (Hmmm, who could possibly embarrass the country?)

*** It’s two fold: personal and professional: And today, at 9:00 am ET, two Romney surrogates -- former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu and former Missouri Sen. Jim Talent -- are holding a conference call to discuss Gingrich’s record. This is the first time that Team Romney has held a conference call to engage the former House speaker. And after the conference call, Sununu will appear on MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown.” Meanwhile, on TODAY this morning, Romney backer Dan Quayle said he chose Romney over Gingrich because of leadership. “It comes down to one thing: leadership,” he said. “Mitt Romney would be a much better leader.” So the attack on Gingrich is two fold: personal and professional.

*** Gingrich isn’t that far away from Romney’s general election numbers: This new Romney focus on Gingrich comes as more polls suggest not just CONTINUED strength for Gingrich, but growing (even in the general). A new round of Quinnipiac polls makes three points. One, Gingrich leads Romney -- overwhelmingly -- in the swing states of Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Two, Romney is ahead of President Obama in Florida (45%-42%), essentially tied with him in Ohio (43%-42%), and trailing the president in Pennsylvania (43%-46%). And three, Gingrich doesn’t fare considerably worse than Romney in those swing states. In Florida, it’s Obama 46%, Gingrich 44%; in Ohio, it’s Gingrich 43%, Obama 42%; and in Pennsylvania, it’s Obama 48%, Gingrich 40%.  These are the other headlines from the Quinnipiac polls: Obama approval ratings in these states are all under water -- 41% in Florida and Ohio and 43% in Pennsylvania. Also, just 44% in Florida, 42% in Ohio, and 47% in Pennsylvania believe he deserves re-election. If there is ONE small piece of good news in these polls for Team Obama, it’s that Pennsylvania is starting to look a little more like a state they should win vs. one that’s slipped into the Ohio-Florida pure toss-up category.

*** Huntsman to jab Gingrich (as well as Obama and Romney): The Romney camp isn’t the only one leveling criticism at the new GOP front-runner. Today in DC, Jon Huntsman is delivering a speech on restoring the public’s trust, and he will go after Gingrich – as well as Romney and President Obama. Per excerpts of the address, which he delivers at noon ET, Huntsman will say: “The president came to office with a mandate to restore trust in Washington, yet his inexperience and failure to lead have left us worse off. He promised to change Washington, and then immediately succumbed to the partisanship, corporate handouts, bailouts, and spending that have made it so reviled. My opponents offer no better. Gov. Romney will say anything to earn the voters trust. We are in this mess because there are already enough people in Washington who make a career out of telling people what they want to hear. Newt Gingrich is a product of that same Washington, who participated in the excesses of our broken and polarized political system.”

*** Plan B: While the Obama administration is taking some hits from the left in its decision NOT to allow girls 16 and younger to obtain the Plan B morning-after pill off the shelves, it was a smart move politically. (Why subject yourself to a possible GOP attack that your administration is allowing 14-year-old girls to easily acquire morning-after pills? And that line of attack, in turn, would have potentially created problems for the president in places like Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, etc… places with high concentrations of Catholic Democrats and independents.) When you add this decision to the White House’s punt on Keystone XL, you see that Team Obama is operating under this rule: Don’t create political problems for yourself if you don’t HAVE to, especially over issues that most Americans aren’t paying attention to. Just like in football, sometimes a punt is a smart play – even if it’s not what the fans want to see.

*** The Cordray nomination: Turning to Capitol Hill, the Senate will hold its cloture vote around 10:30 am ET on Richard Cordray’s nomination to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, NBC’s Libby Leist reports. Senate Republicans are expected the block the nomination, because they believe the CFPB needs to be more accountable to Congress rather than run by a single director. Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer has told reporters he’d be open to a recess appointment if that’s what it took to get Cordray into the position.  

*** On the 2012 trail: Gingrich stumps in South Carolina… Romney raises money in Virginia… Ron Paul makes several stops in Iowa… Anita Perry is also in the Hawkeye State… Rick Perry spends his day in South Carolina… And Huntsman delivers a speech at the National Press Club before heading to New Hampshire.

*** Thursday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up: Two Sununus!!! Romney supporter and former Gov. John Sununu (R-NH) on Gingrich’s rise and former Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) joins former Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) to talk about the looming deadline for a payroll tax cut holiday extension… Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition President Steve Scheffler on who’s gaining steam in the Hawkeye State… And more 2012 news with Roll Call’s Shira Toeplitz, NPR’s Ari Shapiro and Neera Tanden of the Center for American Progress.

*** Thursday’s “Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts interviews Richard Wolffe and Wendy Schiller; Karen Hunter and Matt Lewis; and NAACP Chairman Julian Bond.

*** Thursday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner’s guests include RNC Chairman Michael Steele, BBC America's Katty Kay, the Huffington Post’s Sam Stein, and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Emanuel Cleaver.

*** Thursday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up (guest hosted by Chuck Todd): NBC’s Chuck Todd interviews Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (on the payroll-tax fight), former Defense Secretary William Cohen, NBC’s Pete Williams (on the Fast & Furious hearing), CNBC’s Eamon Javers, NBC’s David Gregory, the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, and National Journal’s Ron Fournier.

Countdown to Iowa caucuses: 26 days
Countdown to New Hampshire primary: 33 days
Countdown to South Carolina primary: 44 days
Countdown to Florida primary: 54 days
Countdown to Nevada caucuses: 58 days
Countdown to Super Tuesday: 89 days
Countdown to Election Day: 336 days

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Gingrich leads in CNN/Opinion Research/Time polls in Iowa, South Carolina and Florida. And he’s narrowed the gap in New Hampshire to just single digits. Here are the results:

Iowa: Gingrich 33%, Romney 20%, Paul 17%, Perry 9%, Bachmann 7%, Santorum 5%.
New Hampshire: Romney 35%, Gingrich 26%, Paul 17%, Huntsman 8%.
South Carolina: Gingrich 43%, Romney 20%, Perry 8%, Bachmann and Paul 6%.
Florida: Gingrich 48%, Romney 25%, Paul 5%, Bachmann 3%, Huntsman 3%, Perry 3%, Santorum 1%

In a round of Quinnipiac polls, Gingrich leads in GOP primaries in Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. In Florida, Gingrich leads Romney 35%-22% with Paul at 8%. In Ohio, it’s Gingrich 36%-18% over Romney, and in Pennsylvania, where Gingrich grew up, he leads Romney 31%-17%. (In a generic head to head with Romney, Gingrich leads 52%-34%.) Romney, however, does better than Gingrich in head to heads with Obama in a general election. Romney leads Obama in Florida 45%-42%, in Ohio 43%-42, but loses in Pennsylvania 46%-43%. Gingrich trails in Florida 46%-44%, leads in Ohio 43%-42%, and trails in Pennsylvania 48%-40%. Romney is better liked than Gingrich as well. He has net positive ratings in all three states, while Gingrich is a net-negative.

Political Wire notes, per Gallup: "Republicans' enthusiasm about voting in the election for president next year has decreased, with 49% of Republicans and independents who lean Republican now saying they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting, down from 58% in September. This narrows the gap between them and Democrats, 44% of whom are more enthusiastic than usual, essentially the same as in September."

BACHMANN: “Minnesota Public Radio reports that Michele Bachmann's memoir has sold just 3,000 copies since it debuted two weeks ago,” per GOP 12. “As of this morning, it's #4,230 on Amazon's best-seller list.”

GINGRICH: “Newt Gingrich met privately with about 70 leading movement conservatives this morning in suburban Washington,” Politico’s Martin reports, adding, in attendance were: “Richard Viguerie, Al Regnery, Mike Farris, Penny Nance and Jim Martin. Viguerie, the direct mail pioneer, helped organized the confab. These are the sort of Republicans who'd prefer a Mitt Romney alternative and have been casting about for some time looking for one. Many of them have sat down with other conservatives in the race.”

He hired two former Cain staffers in New Hampshire, NBC’s Jo Ling Kent reports. Cain's state operations director in New Hampshire Charlie Spano is now Newt's deputy state field director. And Jamie Coughlin, former Cain state director, is heading up social media, phone banking, and "emerging technologies" for Gingrich. And former U.S. Sen. Bob Smith (R-NH) has moved up to NH from his home in FL to work as a "full-time volunteer" at Gingrich headquarters. Gingrich’s total paid staff for in New Hampshire is now 15, outnumbering Romney’s 10.

Rush Limbaugh defends Gingrich’s conservatism. (Hat tip: GOP 12).

Gingrich’s gay half-sisters says she’s voting for Obama.

HUNTSMAN: He speaks this morning at the National Press Club in a speech he calls “Restoring Trust.” He will take shots at President Obama and what he sees as a lack of leadership on deficits, his inexperience, and partisanship. But he will pivot and say, “My opponents offer no better.” He will then take aim at Romney and Gingrich. “Governor Romney will say anything to earn the voters trust,” he will say, according to prepared remarks. “We are in this mess because there are already enough people in Washington who make a career out of telling people what they want to hear. Newt Gingrich is a product of that same Washington, who participated in the excesses of our broken and polarized political system.”

PERRY: “Rick Perry's going big in Iowa, and making no secret of it,” the Texas Tribune reports. “Perry makes a direct play for evangelical Christians, who make up a large share of the Iowa caucus turnout, in an aggressive new ad released Wednesday. … The Perry campaign denies that the ad signals that the governor has turned his focus away from the economy.”

ROEMER: “Roemer’s campaign is spending $100,000 for three 30-second ads, which will air on WMUR for the next few weeks,” the Boston Globe says. “As of Sept. 30, Roemer had raised just $186,000 and contributed another $45,000 to his campaign. The campaign’s New Hampshire state director Chris Buck said Roemer expects to qualify for public funding, and the money behind the ads will be a combination of public funds and donations.”

ROMNEY: “One of Mitt Romney’s highest-profile supporters – New Jersey Governor Chris Christie – tonight portrayed the former Massachusetts governor as a committed family man who won’t embarrass the Republican Party or America,” the Boston Globe notes. “Without directly mentioning Newt Gingrich, who is Romney’s chief rival and has been married three times, Christie said voters should make sure they evaluate the candidates’ personal backgrounds when going into the voting booth.”

Christie said, “He loves his wife, he loves his children, and he has no absolutely no hesitation in showing that affection openly. … Examine his record, absolutely. Examine his position on the issues now, they’re important,” Christie continued. “But first and foremost when you look at these extraordinary candidates, say, ‘Is this the kind of person that is always going to make me proud in the Oval Office -- and I never have to worry whether they’ll embarrass America, that I never have to worry will do something that will make me ashamed?’”

 “If there were a Fox News primary, Mitt Romney would be losing it,” the New York Times writes. “Among Republican voters in Iowa, nearly 40 percent say they get most of their news from the network and its many conservative hosts, according to the most recent New York Times/CBS News poll. And among those viewers, Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, is trouncing Mr. Romney.”

And the Times notes: “Mr. Romney’s attempt to make that closing argument on Fox did not go particularly well during an often tense and combative interview with the network’s Bret Baier in late November. The interview was panned by several media pundits, and Mr. Baier later said that Mr. Romney complained about Mr. Baier’s questions about whether he had flip-flopped on issues.”

The New York Times notes that resolving the European debt crisis could very well be the issue that determines whether or not President Obama gets re-elected. “The American economy has shown signs of life recently, with talk of a double-dip recession fading and job growth picking up. The change has raised the prospect that the economy may not be quite the political weight around Mr. Obama’s neck in 2012 that his advisers had feared — unless Europe goes downhill. Mr. Obama’s aides realize that there is no easy way to plan a re-election strategy for one potential body blow: an implosion of the European currency. Such an event, experts say, would undoubtedly send the American unemployment rate higher and possibly induce another recession. Other than lobbying from the sidelines, Mr. Obama and his administration have little control over the situation.”

“The Obama administration stunned women’s health advocates and abortion opponents alike Wednesday by rejecting a request to let anyone of any age buy the controversial morning-after pill Plan B directly off drugstore and supermarket shelves,” the Washington Post says. “For what the Food and Drug Administration thinks is the first time, the Department of Health and Human Services overruled the agency, vetoing the FDA’s decision to make the contraceptive available without any restrictions. Revealing a rare public split, FDA Administrator Margaret A. Hamburg said her conclusion that the drug could be used safely by women of all ages was nullified by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.”

The Times is the latest to mention how Obama’s re-election team is now taking Newt Gingrich seriously. “Several Democrats said they were also trying to view Mr. Gingrich through a fresh lens, and in particular, trying to understand the dynamics behind his appeal to this electorate. It was once a unanimous sentiment inside the White House that Mr. Romney would be the strongest Republican to run against, particularly because of his well-financed operation and his potential reach among independent voters and women.”

More: “While most advisers still maintain that Mr. Romney has significant advantages — organization, discipline and support of the Republican establishment — Democrats pointed to at least two areas that could make Mr. Gingrich a more difficult candidate to face. First, he could be more difficult to brand as hostile to the middle class, because Mr. Gingrich does not have a history of buying and selling companies as Mr. Romney does from his time at Bain Capital. Second, Mr. Gingrich has a better record of reaching out to Hispanic voters, the fastest-growing segment of the electorate.”

A day after Republicans took whacks at President Obama at the Republican Jewish Coalition, he will host a Hanukkah reception at the White House.

MASSACHUSETTS: Elizabeth Warren leads Scott Brown 49%-42% in a new UMass-Lowell/Boston Herald poll.

 WEST DES MOINES, IA-- On his maiden trip to Iowa as a surrogate for Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was knocked off message tonight by a group of protestors who briefly hijacked his rally here.  

The protestors, who represented a group called Occupy Iowa Caucus, chanted anti-Wall Street slogans as they were led outside by Romney staffers, then escorted off the property by police.   "We're used to dealing with jokers like this all the time," Christie joked as the protestors were removed, "Don't worry about it."

The New Jersey governor quickly recovered, saying that any appearance of his without a "YouTube moment" would be incomplete, and that the protestors would likely be performing at a local hotel after the event. He also said their anger was misdirected, and that they should have been more upset with the White House, not him.

"Their anger is rooted in the fact that they believed this hope and change garbage."

Quickly back on message, Christie looked to make his case for Romney here in Iowa, a state where the latest polls show the former Massachusetts governor trailing Newt Gingrich by double digits.

Christie was asked by an undecided voter to tell her a story about Romney he hadn't told anyone yet -- one that might earn her support. Christie answered by launching into a story about Romney visiting Christie's New Jersey home in the wake of the governor's decision not to run for president. He said Romney's connection with his children helped seal the deal and earn his support.

"Every time they came in, he would call them over and would be having side conversations with them. The reason I tell you that is because you can’t fake that. You know, politicians can be taught to fake a lot of things, you can’t fake that," Christie said. "This is someone who I know has an extraordinary heart. He loves his wife. He loves his children. And he has absolutely no hesitation in showing that affection over them. Now, that’s not what you see on TV all the time, but I sat in my backyard for 2.5 hours and watched him talk to my children."

Christie wrapped up his story by saying he knew Romney was "somebody who I’d be proud to represent my country."

"First and foremost, when you look at candidates, say, 'Is this the kind of person who's always going to make me proud in the Oval Office and never have to worry will embarrass America? That I'll never have to worry will do something that will just make me ashamed? [Romney] won't."

Twice, Christie was asked about serving as Romney's vice president. The New Jersey governor tried on several different denials -- saying he loved the job he was in, that others would be better suited, and that he made a promise to his state. 

"You saw me deal with those Occupy people," Christie joked. "Do I look like somebody's VP?"

But he did not discount the possibility outright, saying it would be "impolite."

"I wouldn't bet on Romney-Christie at the moment," Christie said, wrapping up the topic. "But one never knows."

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A South Carolina political activist, listed as one of Newt Gingrich’s 44 county co-chairs here, asked to have her name removed from that list.

Joanne Burroughs, who serves as the Greenwood County Republican Party executive committeeman, said she told a Gingrich staffer that she would serve as a liaison between her county and the campaign (as she does for all candidates) but that she didn’t know she would also be listed as a county co-chair.

“I was called and asked if I could be a contact person in case anything came up in our county,” Burroughs told NBC News. “That does not mean that I’m endorsing Newt.”

Burroughs added that, as a member of the South Carolina Republican Party executive committee, she would not be making an official endorsement but that she is “a very strong Mitt Romney fan.”

Burroughs said her inclusion on the list might have been a “misunderstanding” between her and DeLinda Ridings, Gingrich’s Midlands director who contacted her.

Ridings told NBC that she asked Burroughs, “will you help me as the county chair in Greenwood,” but that Burroughs “misunderstood what I was asking about.”

Burroughs’ name was removed from the Gingrich website, Newt.org, by this afternoon. Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond said the Gingrich campaign still has “complete leadership” throughout the state, as Beth Taylor of Greenwood County will fill the co-chair position.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry sought Wednesday to assuage concerns about his pledge to reconfigure all foreign aid from a baseline of zero, promising the audience at a Republican Jewish Coalition forum in Washington that "strategic defense aid" to Israel would be increased under his administration.

Perry said at a recent debate in South Carolina that he would start all foreign aid at zero dollars, including Israel's, though he assured that the U.S. ally's funds would be restored. On Wednesday, he said explicitly that "strategic defensive aid, under a Perry administration, will increase to Israel."

Perry, like other candidates speaking at the forum, mentioned recent controversial comments about Israel by both Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and the US ambassador to Belgium, dubbing those part of a "torrent of hostility towards Israel."

That "torrent," he added, is not "coordinated" but appears to be "a natural expression of this administration's attitude towards Israel."

Perry, who spoke on the subject of Israel at a New York City press conference back in the days of milk, honey, and high poll numbers for his campaign, said that the issue of Israel is a "personal" one for him, not just a "box to check" on the campaign trail.

He closed with speech about his personal faith, saying that both his faith in God and his faith in the American people would guide him as president.

The president sent a clear warning to the Republicans in Congress today not to tie any “extraneous issues” to the extension of the payroll-tax cut or unemployment insurance when it comes up for a vote. 

During an appearance with Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, President Obama said that if the House Republicans tried to accelerate the Keystone XL Pipeline project by inserting it into a bill to extend the payroll-tax cut he would “reject it.”

Speaker John Boehner's office responded quickly to the threat. “We are working on a bill to stop a tax hike, protect Social Security, reform unemployment insurance, and create jobs," the speaker's office said in a statement. "If President Obama threatens to veto it over a provision that creates American jobs, that’s a fight we’re ready to have.”

The president and the prime minister met today and discussed several issues, including the pipeline. Final approval of the project was postponed by the State Department last month. Some Republicans have alleged the administration is playing politics with the sensitive issue, but the president said the State Department is making sure the pipelines impact on health and the environment is “properly understood.”

Obama said he expects Congress to have “enough sense” to do the “people’s business” and not play politics with the payroll-tax cut extension.

Newt Gingrich received a standing ovation from the audience at a Republican Jewish Coalition meeting on Wednesday for promising to appoint John Bolton to be secretary of state if elected president.

The former House Speaker pledged to appoint Bolton, the controversial former ambassador to the United Nations for President George W. Bush, to the top diplomatic post if he were elected.

Gingrich added that the appointment would be contingent upon Bolton's agreement to help reform the State Department and overhaul the foreign service to replace it with a more "entrepreneurial" organization.

(Ironically, Bolton had halfheartedly expressed interest in running for president, but never followed through.)

Gingrich offered lots of red meat for this pro-Israel audience, also getting a standing ovation for saying he would move the U.S. embassy in the region from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Gingrich also doubled down on his theory of offering janitorial work opportunities to kids, saying that liberals dislike the idea because, if young people are taught the value of money and saving, "You just made country dramatically more conservative." (He also made a pitch for inclusion, saying that he hopes to address the NAACP as president.)
 
Asked about ethics violations against him in the mid-1990s, Gingrich pointed out Nancy Pelosi's self-described involvement in the investigation. "If she was in the middle of it, how nonpartisan and just do you think you think the process was?"

CONCORD, N.H. -- With polls showing Newt Gingrich surging ahead as the first candidate to be within 20 points of Mitt Romney in New Hampshire, Romney is kicking his campaign in the Granite State into high gear, as he hopes to close the deal a month out from the primary.

The former Massachusetts governor's campaign is blanketing the state's 10 counties with its first endorsement-focused mailer. According to the campaign, Sen. Kelly Ayotte -- who recently endorsed Romney -- and her husband will be featured prominently on one side of the all the literature. On the flip side, Romney will appear in a photograph with a Republican leader from each respective county, including sheriffs, state representatives and executive councilors. The postcard is expected to land in mailboxes this week. (Here's the mailer.)

Romney worked with hundreds of volunteers and knock on doors last Saturday in Manchester. The campaign said the volunteers also made thousands of phone calls as part of an effort that Romney hopes will demonstrate he is not taking his support for granted this cycle.

"Our campaign has spent months recruiting and building a strong grassroots organization," Romney spokesman Ryan Williams. "In the final weeks, we intend to activate our grassroots network in order to ensure Gov. Romney wins the primary. Our grassroots is second to none in New Hampshire."

On Sunday, Romney returns to the Granite State to take questions from New Hampshire voters in a town hall-style meeting at the Hudson VFW as part of conservative activist Jennifer Horn's final event in the "We the People Freedom Forum" candidate series.

The mailer and town hall come in the midst of Romney's on-air blitz, featuring a new ad, "Leader," airing across the state.

Meanwhile, other presidential campaigns are also doubling down in the final stretch to the Jan. 10 primary. Jon Huntsman will participate in a town-hall meeting in Milford Thursday evening. Gingrich returns to New Hampshire on Monday for a town hall and Lincoln-Douglas style debate with Huntsman, along with an editorial board meeting with the Nashua Telegraph.

NJ Gov. Chris Christie blasted President Barack Obama as a "self-interested" and "timid" politician who has sat on the sidelines rather than offer a steady hand to a country that is "starving for leadership."

Speaking at a luncheon of the Republican Jewish Coalition, the onetime-possible-presidential-candidate-turned-Romney-backer used characteristically tough-talking rhetoric to respond to  the president's speech yesterday in Kansas.

Christie said that Obama "gave us false hope" on economic matters and "suffers from the need to always be the smartest person in the room" on foreign affairs.

The New Jersey Republican blamed Obama's hands-off approach to the congressional supercommittee on "his own self-interested political timidity."

And he asserted that the president, who yesterday aligned himself with President Teddy Roosevelt, to stop urging other Americans to "meet the moment."
"Get out of your chair and start doing the hard work yourself to make America a better country," Christie said to applause.

Christie did not explicitly mention his preferred candidate, Mitt Romney, but spoke about the need for "true leaders" and decried "blow-dried" political soundbites.

"The era of focus group tested blow-dried answers needs to end. But it cannot be replaced by an era of hyperbole and irresponsible answers," he said after briefly referring to the 2012 presidential contest as "a circus."

Christie heads to Iowa later today to stump for Romney in West Des Moines.

President Obama may delay his holiday vacation to Hawaii if lawmakers on Capitol Hill can't reach a deal to extend an expiring payroll tax cut.

Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett said that the president would stay in Washington if, by Dec. 17, Congress had not reached an agreement to extend the tax holiday.

"He is intending to stay right here in Washington. He intends to hold Congress accountable. Leader Reid made the same commitment," Jarrett said on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports."

That news follows remarks by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) earlier this afternoon, who said that Democrats would stay in session until completing work on the payroll tax and expired unemployment benefits.

Michelle and the girls will have a great time in Hawaii. They don't need me there," Reid said Obama had told him, per NBC's Kelly O'Donnell.

The pronouncements by Obama and Reid have the effect of pressuring Republicans, particularly in the House, to reach an agreement on these year-end issues.

The GOP is somewhat divided over whether to extend the tax holiday, and, what's more, they differ sharply with Democrats over how to finance any extension of the tax holiday. Lawmakers in both parties must resolve their differences on how to pay for the tax cut in order to reach a deal.

For Congress, it's just another year of crunch-time lawmaking. Members haggled late into December over whether to extend the Bush tax cuts in late 2010, and the Senate voted on Christmas Eve in 2009 on Obama's health care reform law.

Rick Santorum caused some rumblings in the Twitterverse earlier this morning when he criticized President Barack Obama for "not being able to keep a secret" and for too quickly revealing the death of Osama bin Laden.

During the former Pennsylvania senator's remarks to the Republican Jewish Coalition, Santorum accused the president of "not being able to keep a secret on anything good that he did for maybe more than 24 hours" and said the publication of the successful mission harmed U.S. intelligence interests.

"When Osama bin Laden was killed there was, a lot of the intelligence community was hoping the president would keep that close so they could exploit the information that they gained from the computer files and other things that they picked up at that residence," Santorum elaborated to reporters after the speech. "So they could not only exploit them, capture people find some folks based upon what they gathered. But the president just couldn't help himself, he just had to go out and take credit for it, and I think as a result of that we didn't maximize the cache of information that we gained during that mission."

During his remarks to the Jewish group, Santorum offered some aggressive language on Iran, implying at one point that Iranian enemies cannot be negotiated with because they are focused on the "72 virgins" their faith dictates they would receive as martyrs. "The United States will stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon," he said. "Period."

He won laughs for taking a swipe at VP Joe Biden, saying of his foreign policy philosophy: "Find out what Joe Biden thinks and then take the opposite opinion ... You will be right 100% of the time."

Asked about gay marriage and abortion, Santorum pointedly said that some of his rivals "have not been very comfortable talking about those issues."

With less than four hours until Ohio's primary ballot access deadline expires, it appears Newt Gingrich will have another chance to get on the Ohio primary ballot -- even if he misses today's deadline.

The confusing primary situation in Ohio complicates determining Gingrich's prospects for getting on the state's primary ballot. Ohio's primary was previously scheduled to take place in March, but a bill passed in the state legislature and signed by Gov. John Kasich in October moved the primary date to June 12. That bill, however, does not take effect until Jan. 20.

According to the Ohio Secretary of State's office, the deadline for getting on the primary ballot is today, but once the primary bill goes into effect on Jan. 20, it will re-open the filing process until March. So, if the Gingrich campaign does not file today, it will be off the ballot until the new law takes into effect. At that point, Gingrich will have another chance.

It seems the biggest drawback for Gingrich is the optics. If Gingrich misses today's deadline, it does not mean he has lost forever the opportunity to compete for Ohio's delegates (barring any further changes by the Ohio legislature). But he will have to go through the caucuses, primaries, and debates over the next six weeks dealing with the fact that other campaigns made today's deadlines and his campaign did not.

It would be another sign of just how much his campaign is struggling to build a national campaign infrastructure to rival Mitt Romney's.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post incorrectly noted the new date of the Ohio primary as June 20. It is not. It's June 12, and has been corrected above.

Mitt Romney highlighted his 42-year marriage and family life in a new ad released Wednesday.

The 30-second spot, which will air in both Iowa and New Hampshire, highlights the former Massachusetts governor's answer at a Nov. 9 debate, where he described himself as "a man of steadiness and constancy." His words play over a montage of Romney home videos and images of Ann Romney.

Having fallen behind recently in the polls, Romney's campaign is highlighting his marriage and family background in contrast to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has been married three times.

Mitt Romney rapped President Obama hard on Wednesday before a group of Jewish Republicans on the issue of the U.S. relationship with Israel.

Romney, who's been sharply critical throughout the primary campaign of Obama's handling of Israel, fired up attendees of the Republican Jewish Coalition at the group's conference this morning in D.C.

"I don’t think he understands America," Romney said, and promised, as he did in the most recent debate: "I will travel to Israel on my first foreign trip. I will reaffirm as a vital national interest Israel’s existence as a Jewish state."

"In three years in office, he hasn’t found the time or interest to visit Israel, our ally, our friend.” he said of the president.

And in a 30-second, ad-ready soundbite, Romney (the onetime Senate, successful gubernatorial, and twice-presidential candidate) said, "I don't have a political career."

"I am not a creature of Washington, I am a creature of the private sector," he said. "I’m a business guy. I am not in this because I want the next step on my political career. I don’t have a political career – I am in this because I care about America."

Romney followed former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who also spoke this morning at the conference.

Huntsman opened with a shoutout for New Hampshire, where he's staked his campaign, before pivoting to swipes at his fellow candidates.

"New Hampshire is always going to be that state that upends conventional wisdom," he said of what his campaign hopes to be a boomlet of sorts in the Granite State. He said he's the only candidate who won't "pander" or "twist myself into a pretzel" compared to the others on stage, and he won some applause from the audience for saying he wouldn't attend the "Don Trump" debate.

On Iran, a subject on which the candidates so far today have worked to out-hawk each other, he said "If we can't live with a nuclear Iran, and I can't, you have to say all options are on the table."

Asked about the Belgian ambassador's recent comments that many interpreted as anti-Semitic, Huntsman implied that the problem reached far beyond the single envoy alone, saying that critics should work to find out "who higher up is responsible" for the language critical of Israeli leaders.

Rick Perry promised to "end Obama's war on religion" in a new television ad touting his socially conservative credentials.

The Texas governor, who's in the midst of an ad blitz in Iowa, said there's "something wrong with America" when gays and lesbians are allowed to serve openly in the military, but "our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school."

The ad is a play for Iowa's numerous socially conservative voters, who may have an out-sized impact in the state's Jan. 3 caucuses.

Watch a video of the spot below:

Mitt Romney's presidential campaign notched another victory this morning in the battle for support from Capitol Hill.

Romney campaign announced the endorsement of Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) on Wednesday, the vice chairwoman of the House Republican Leadership Conference, and the highest ranking member of the House to endorse Romney yet.

“President Obama’s policies are not working for Washington State or the rest of the nation. Joblessness remains high and businesses are not able to expand. President Obama’s on-the-job training has left millions of Americans disappointed and looking for someone with the experience to get results. Mitt Romney actually knows how the economy works -- he spent 25 years in the private sector -- and knows how jobs are created." McMorris Rodgers said in a statement annoucing her endorsement.

McMorris Rogders, who is also the highest ranking Republican woman in congress, will chair Romney's campaign in Washington State, the 28th state from which Romney has received an endorsement of a sitting member of congress or governor. Yesterday in Arizona, Romney predicted a long primary season, and Washington State's caucuses, which will held on March 3rd, could be a factor in such a contest.

The announcement of a new endorsement has become an almost daily activity for the Romney campaign, as it looks to lock down establishment support to hold off the surging Newt Gingrich. To date, Romney's campaign has announced 52 endorsements from sitting members of Congress, and three from sitting governors.

McMorris Rodgers is the second member of the GOP leadership to endorse Romney; Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), who serves as chairman of the House GOP Leadership, has also endorsed Romney, along with a number of influential committee chairmen.

(By contrast, the House GOP Conference Chairman, Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling, has endorsed Texas Gov. Rick Perry.)

Yesterday, Romney received the endorsement of former Vice President Dan Quayle.

While the value of endorsements is debatable in a Republican primary, where so-called "superdelegates" are not a factor, those endorsers who can become effective surrogates for a candidate are the most highly prized. In this vein, it has been two governors who have been perhaps Romney's most valuable supporters.

Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, a former rival for the GOP nomination, now campaigns regularly for Romney -- including last week in New Hampshire -- and serves as a surrogate in television interviews, and on conference calls with reporters.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who earlier this summer was nearly drafted into the race himself, will campaign for Romney today in Iowa, and host a fundraiser for the former Massachusetts Governor in New Jersey next week.

Perry and pro-Perry Super PAC way outspending the field in ads… Don’t overlook how much -- and how -- Paul is spending… Signs of trouble: Bachmann’s spent nothing since August … Do we see a pro-Romney Super PAC going on air soon? … Obama launches his reelect message, but what was missing? … Gingrich scrambles to get on Ohio ballot … Republicans ready to go after Obama at Republican Jewish Coalition event today … Romney will accuse Obama of “appeasement.” … Kaine and Allen debate!

*** Ad war heats up: With less than four weeks until the Iowa caucuses, the TV ad war in the Republican race is underway. Ron Paul went up with the first negative ad; Gingrich is now hitting the airwaves; and so is Romney. But guess who is leading the ad race so far: Rick Perry. In fact, according to a Republican ad-tracking source, Perry appears to be making a last stand of sorts. His campaign has placed a $1 million buy over the next three weeks in Iowa, and the pro-Perry Super PAC Make Us Great Again has booked $1.2 million on broadcast TV in Iowa and South Carolina over that same period of time (but they don’t coordinate, right?). And don’t lose sight of the candidate in second place in ad spending: Ron Paul. Below are the updated ad-spending numbers (and they include money for both TV and radio ads):

-- Overall: Perry: $5.1 million; Paul: $2.6 million; Make Us Great Again (pro-Perry): $2.5 million; Our Destiny PAC (pro-Huntsman): $1.4 million; Romney: $674,000; Gingrich: $233,000; Bachmann $166,000 (but hasn’t been on air since August); Santorum: $23,000.
-- Iowa: Perry $3.9 million; Paul $1.2 million; Make Us Great Again $1.1 million; Romney $322,000; Gingrich $233,000; Bachmann $166,000 (zero since August); Santorum $17,000.
-- New Hampshire: Our Destiny PAC $1.4 million; Paul $430,000; Romney $352,000; Perry $234,000
-- South Carolina: Make Us Great Again $1.4 million; Paul $57,000

*** Ad-scendency: A few other points: Paul might end up spending more on his Gingrich attack ad in Iowa than the Gingrich campaign spends on its first bio spot. … Despite Bachmann’s campaign having denied they had major financial problems at the end of the last quarter, it seems pretty clear they have serious problems. She may have outspent the field at the Iowa straw poll, but now her spending is an asterisk*. … The most surprising absence from this ad spending chart: the Romney SuperPac (Restore Our Future). We’re betting the first place we see “Restore Our Future” ads: Iowa mailboxes.

*** Obama’s opening salvo in Kansas: Perhaps the best way to view President Obama’s speech in Kansas yesterday: It was the opening salvo in his re-election campaign, at least when it comes to economic messaging. He said the phrase “middle class” 20 times; He even adopted the language of the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement (99% and 1%), though tried to rise above their rhetoric while embracing their beefs. And he lamented the inequality gap, which has grown over the last decade. The speech wasn’t always lofty, at times, it had the feel of one of his standard American Jobs Act pitches, but it’s clear we now have a better idea of where the re-election campaign is headed message wise. “We simply cannot return to this brand of ‘you're on your own’ economics if we're serious about rebuilding the middle class in this country,” he said. That’s likely a line we’ll hear again.

*** What was missing: A couple things missing from the speech: Taking credit for accomplishments and a “Kansas” backdrop. In traditional reelect messages laid out fully in convention speeches, president’s usually have a healthy dose of taking credit for accomplishments. Obama’s speech yesterday had just some allusions to those, but there’s still time. And just askin’… For a speech the White House and campaign team is so proud of, can someone explain why they allowed the backdrop to look like it was set up in some school’s basement? Other than him SAYING Kansas, he could have been anywhere. This White House hadn’t really made stagecraft a priority (despite what they did during the FIRST campaign), but had improved with striking backdrops in recent months during the president’s jobs act events.

*** Gingrich scrambling to the get on the ballot in Ohio: Does Gingrich’s campaign have the ability to go toe-to-toe with Mitt Romney’s operation in a long, protracted nomination fight? NBC News has learned that the Gingrich camp is scrambling to meet today’s deadline to submit the proper petitions to the get on the ballot in Ohio (which doesn’t hold its primary until June). In fact, folks from the Gingrich campaign in Ohio have sent out multiple emails with the subject “emergency” looking for help to get on the ballot or simply supporters who are willing to be delegates. NBC’s John Bailey reports that, according to a GOP source in the Buckeye State, Gingrich has not finished filing in Ohio, but is expected to file today. They have until 4 pm ET to do so. Today’s also the deadline to get on the ballot in Oklahoma, which holds its primary on March 6 (Super Tuesday), and the Oklahoma GOP says Gingrich has already filed. The next big test for all the campaigns, organizationally, will be the Virginia ballot. The deadline is in two weeks -- Dec. 22. It’s a complicated petition process. First Read friend Frank Lavin remembers vividly the Reagan ’76 campaign’s inability to get on the Ohio ballot with a full slate of delegates. Lavin reminds us Reagan received some 40%-plus of the primary vote, but only about 20% of the delegates. 

*** All GOP candidates -- except Paul -- speak at Republican Jewish forum: Today, six of the seven GOP presidential candidates will address the Republican Jewish Coalition forum in DC. Rick Santorum speaks at 9:15 am ET, Jon Huntsman goes at 9:45 am, Romney at 10:25 am, Gingrich at 2:05 pm, Perry at 2:45 pm, and Bachmann at 3:25 pm. The one candidate who was NOT invited is the man who is either tied for second or in third place in most of the polls: Ron Paul. “His views [on Israel] are what we feel are way outside the mainstream of the Republican Party,” Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matt Brooks said of Paul, per the Boston Globe. “He has consistently articulated positions that are antithetical to those in the organization.”

*** Romney to accuse Obama of ‘appeasement’: Romney’s campaign has already released excerpts of his remarks to the Republican Jewish Coalition, and they appear to be a response to President Obama’s economic speech in Kansas. “President Obama is replacing our merit-based, opportunity-based society with an entitlement society,” Romney is expected to say. “In an entitlement society, everyone is handed the same rewards, regardless of education, effort and willingness to take risk. That which is earned by some is redistributed to others. And the only people to enjoy truly disproportionate rewards are the people who do the redistributing -- the government.” Romney will add, “President Obama has adopted an appeasement strategy. He has embraced an Entitlement Society. He has put America on a path toward decline.” And Romney will also say, as he has done before, that President Obama has “chastised” Israel. Expect all of the Republicans at today’s event to hit President Obama hard.

*** Kaine vs. Allen debate: One of the most watched Senate races in the country has its first debate today – the Virginia Senate race at 1:30 pm ET. The Richmond Times-Dispatch says it’s “shaping up to be the battle over which set of ‘failed policies’ failed harder. Allen will take aim at Kaine's former role as Democratic National Committee chairman in which he touted President Barack Obama's stimulus plan, health-care overhaul legislation and other legislation considered disastrous by Republicans. Kaine, on the other hand, will go after Allen's record as a U.S. senator, contrasting it with his own record as governor, top advisers said Tuesday in a conference call.” NPR notes: “It's a race likely to revolve around two key issues: President Obama and the economy.” Virginia and Massachusetts could be lynchpins to whether the Senate changes control.

*** On the 2012 trail: Outside of the today’s Republican Jewish Coalition forum, the only activity on the campaign trail is New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) stumping for Romney in Iowa at 6:50 pm ET.

*** Wednesday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up: A debate between former Gov. Buddy Roemer (R-LA) and former Gov. Gary Johnson (R-NM)… CNBC’s Larry Kudlow on the economy, 2012 and his chat last night with Gingrich… more 2012 headlines with USA Today’s Jackie Kucinich, the Chicago Tribune’s Clarence Page and msnbc.com’s Vaughn Ververs.

*** Wednesday’s “Jansing & Co. line-up: Jansing & Company -- Chris Jansing welcome’s DNC Chair Rep Debbie Wasserman Schultz to discuss Obama’s fight for the middle class, Also, the New York Times’ Charles Blow and author Richard Wolffe weigh in on Rove vs. Trump. National Journal’s Major Garrett, and C. Nicole Mason, executive director of the Women of Color Policy Network at NYU on a new poll.

*** Wednesday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” Line-Up:  Thomas Roberts talks with Karen Finney and J.P. Freire about Newt’s Surge and Romney bucking Trump. Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich will discuss President Obama’s populist message. Maria Teresa Kumar and Earl Ofari Hutchinson react to a new poll on black and Latino voters.

*** Wednesday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner’s guests include New York Magazine’s John Heilemann, former GOP Rep. Susan Molinari, Roll Call’s Christina Bellantoni, and the Washington Post’s Melinda Henneberger.

*** Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: Andrea Mitchell will speak with Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) who will be discussing the payroll tax, as well as Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD, ranking member of the Budget Committee). Also: Former Pennsylvania Gov. and NBC News political analyst Ed Rendell on Battleground Pennsylvania, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) on the pending Consumer Financial Protection Board director vote, NBC’s George Lewis from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the 70^th anniversary of the attack, as well as Craig Shirley, author of “December 1941.”

*** Wednesday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall”: Tamron Hall anchors from DC today with guests A.B. Stoddard from The Hill, Republican strategist Alberto Martinez and radio host Michael Smerconish, as well as Amanda Terkel from the Huffington Post on the effort to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

Countdown to Iowa caucuses: 27 days
Countdown to New Hampshire primary: 34 days
Countdown to South Carolina primary: 45 days
Countdown to Florida primary: 55 days
Countdown to Nevada caucuses: 59 days
Countdown to Super Tuesday: 90 days
Countdown to Election Day: 337 days

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A New York Times/CBS poll is the latest to show Gingrich leading in Iowa. He’s at 31%, Romney’s at 17%, and Paul is at 16%. “Mr. Gingrich is rated more favorably than any of the other six remaining candidates in the race among voters who say they are likely to attend the Republican caucuses in Iowa. He would be supported enthusiastically as his party’s presidential nominee by more voters than any of his rivals, the poll found, and is leading in the head-to-head competition as the campaign here builds. But two-thirds of likely voters remain open to changing their mind.”

BACHMANN: Michele Bachmann’s campaign announced the support of 19 former Herman Cain supporters in South Carolina, including state Rep. Ralph Norman. 

GINGRICH: “Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich took aim at President Obama, denied ever doing any lobbying and called out House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in a wide-ranging interview with Larry Kudlow Tuesday,” CNBC writes.

“The idea that Mitt Romney ought to thank Gingrich for passing legislation to create an environment where Romney and Bain Capital could flourish just dawned on Newt tonight during an appearance on CNBC's The Kudlow Report,” New York magazine writes. “Gingrich told Larry Kudlow that ‘[Romney] should be thanking me. He should be thanking me because I did the macroeconomic things necessary to make his career possible!’”

Reuters profiles Callista Gingrich.

Gingrich Productions sent out this morning to a list that included political press an email with the subject: “Gifts Under $10.00!” NBC’s Brooke Brower reports. It promotes a novel Gingrich wrote called, “Gettysburg: a novel of the civil war.” (It’s just $5.99, but for just $4 more, you can get it autographed.)

ROMNEY: “Massachusetts will make available to the public hundreds of boxes of documents from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's term as governor that have long been locked away, the state said Tuesday. The same agency that is opening the files said it would not pursue an inquiry into the purge of electronic records at the end of Romney's term,” the Boston Globe reports. “The moves come after disclosures that Romney had authorized the purging of emails and other closely-held electronic records at the end of administration.”

The DNC has another web video, called “What is Mitt Hiding?”, hitting Mitt Romney for the $100,000 tab it reportedly cost to replace computers and data removed by the Romney administration in 2006.

“Mitt Romney vows to make his ‘closing argument’ for the GOP presidential nomination, including drawing some sharp distinctions with new front-runner Newt Gingrich,” USA Today writes.

Romney said no to the Donald Trump debate.