Can’t buy me love: Not a lot of love for GOP candidates, especially Romney, at GOP focus group in Fairfax, VA… Another focus group finding: a Teflon Newt, though some of the negative comments about him packed a punch… Unemployment rate drops from 9.0% to 8.6%, with employers adding 120,000 net jobs in November  ... Gingrich’s response on child labor is Classic Newt… Two ways to look at Romney’s meeting with Bush 41 yesterday… Romney, Bachmann, Gingrich, Perry, and Paul to attend Huckabee forum on Saturday… And “Meet the Press” to interview David Axelrod and Reince Priebus.

FAIRFAX, VA -- Most of the 12 Republican primary voters who gathered here to participate in a focus group that NBC/WSJ pollster Peter Hart (D) conducted for the Annenberg Public Policy Center believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. They’re not hopeful about the future. And they don’t like President Obama’s leadership. But they didn’t exactly love the GOP candidates. That was especially true of Mitt Romney. When asked who Romney would be if he were a member of their family, they answered, "black sheep," "fun neighbor," "cousin," "second cousin," "dad that was never home." By comparison, the responses for Newt Gingrich were "grandfather," "father," "my favorite uncle," and "uncle who keeps bringing home different wives." When asked who they would like to serve as their character witness if they were in trouble, just one Republican mentioned Romney. And when Hart pressed them to further talk about Romney if he becomes president, one person described him as a "placeholder." Another called him a "safe bet."

*** Concerns and strengths about Romney: More than anything else, this focus group helped explain WHY Romney hasn’t broken through with GOP primary voters, at least not yet. Polls are great for finding out WHERE a candidate stands, but they do not always help tell the story of WHY a candidate is winning/losing etc. That's not to say the respondents didn't have kind words for him. Asked to list his strengths, they responded, "moral character," "strong leader," "rolls up his sleeves," "role model." (It was interesting that businessman wasn't the first words out of their mouths.) But here were their concerns about him: "not strong enough," "RINO [Republican in Name Only]" "wishy-washy," and "RomneyCare." And here were other words they associated with him: “vanilla,” and “manufactured.” In a roundtable with reporters after the focus group, Hart observed that there was “no warmth, no connection” with Romney. Yet Hart cautioned that -- a la Nixon in 1968 -- he could still end up as president. “No passion, but smart, competent enough to be president, good family values, steady.”

*** A Teflon Newt? Meanwhile, Gingrich did surprisingly well with this GOP focus group. "I was surprised how well Newt Gingrich wore throughout the night," Hart observed. For instance, Hart handed out a paper containing oppo on all the Republican candidates. Only two of the 12 had concerns about the $1.6 million Gingrich made from Freddie Mac; just one was concerned about his immigration views; four had concerns about his three marriages; and six had concerns about his flip-flops on Libya, climate change, and Paul Ryan's budget plan. By contrast, NINE had problems with Mitt Romney's Massachusetts health-care law, and seven had concerns about his flip-flops on abortion, global warming, and taxes. (Strikingly, none of them had concerns about Romney's Mormon faith or his Bain Capital layoffs.) When asked to list Gingrich's strengths, they responded, "proven track record," "knows how the system works," "negotiator," "doer," and "good with foreign policy."

*** But “careless and combustible”: But while Gingrich had the most passion in the room and while his oppo negatives weren’t as high as some of Romney’s, members of the focus group said a few negative things about him that contained plenty of punch. His negatives: "morals," "marriages." Another called him “careless and combustible,” and another said of him “same ole ballgame.” One female focus-group member -- the same who called him “careless and combustible” -- said she would probably vote for Obama if Gingrich were the GOP nominee simply over the personal stuff. In a head-to-head match-up between Romney and Gingrich, seven picked Gingrich and five picked Romney. And when you had all eight GOP candidates, three sided with Newt, three picked Romney, and Bachmann, Huntsman, Paul, Perry, and Cain got one each. (One person was undecided.)

*** Other quick points from the focus group: Speaking of Cain, the focus group wasn't fond of him. Words to describe him: "trouble," "has no chance," "damaged," "unelectable." Among the favorable comments: "Outside the Beltway." Also, none of the respondents said GOP congressional leaders had lived up to expectations. What’s more, about half of the respondents said they could change their minds about their GOP preference (as Hart recalls, Fred Thompson was the star of a two-hour GOP focus group in Richmond, VA four years ago). Lastly, the focus group members were informed and knowledgeable about the Republican race. Some of them relished the opportunity of Gingrich debating Obama in a general election. They knew about Cain’s Libya flub, as well as the female allegations against him. And one respondent referred to Rick Perry as a “piss-poor debater.” As Hart later emailed First Read, “This may be a situation where debates with lots of candidates seem like a mess, but these people formed many of their opinions from the debates.”

*** Unemployment rates drops to 8.6%: More green shoots of good economic news. The AP reports, “The unemployment rate fell last month to its lowest level in more than two and a half years, as employers stepped up hiring in response to the slowly improving economy… Employers added 120,000 jobs last month. And the previous two months were revised up to show that 72,000 more jobs added – the fourth straight month the government revised prior months higher. Still, one reason the unemployment rate fell so much was because roughly 315,000 people gave up looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed.”

*** Classic Newt: Turning back to the GOP presidential race, Gingrich comments about the need for poor children in poor neighborhoods to work was Classic Newt. He raised an important point (work ethic in poor neighborhoods, but his rhetoric might have gone a little too far. “Really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits for working and have nobody around them who works,” he said in Iowa yesterday, per NBC’s Alex Moe. “So they literally have no habit of showing up on Monday.” A broad generalization that, to the ears of many, comes across as uninformed about poor communities and a little condescending and dismissive of those in poor neighborhoods who work 12-15 hours and don’t know how to get ahead. Again, it’s Newt: The center is an idea everyone agrees with (get kids in troubled neighborhoods an opportunity to get ahead), but then how he gets to that idea assumes a stereotype that is offensive to some.

*** Two ways to look at Romney’s meeting with Bush 41 yesterday: Also yesterday, Mitt Romney met with George H.W. Bush during a fundraising swing through Texas, and Romney had his picture taken with the former president. There are two ways you could interpret the meeting. One, it helped Romney look presidential and like the inevitable nominee. Or two, he sat down with the last Republican president who wasn’t embraced by his base and who ended up raising taxes.

*** On the 2012 trail: Cain holds a town hall in South Carolina before heading home to Georgia to talk face to face with his wife… Bachmann’s also in South Carolina… And Paul and Santorum stump in New Hampshire... Also, on Saturday, FOX’s Mike Huckabee hosts a forum with some of the candidates. The confirmed participants, per NBC News: Romney, Bachmann, Gingrich, Perry, and Paul.

*** Friday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up: Reaction to the new job numbers with Moody’s Chief Economist Mark Zandi and President Obama’s CEA Chairman Alan Krueger… Rep. Jason Altmire (D-PA) on the fight over a payroll tax cut, the economy, and his bet with one of us (!!!) over last month’s Florida State/Miami football game… Pollster Peter Hart and another one of us (!!!) on what we learned in a Republican focus group in Virginia last night… Plus more 2012 news with the AP’s Liz Sidoti, the Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus and msnbc’s Michelle Bernard.

*** Friday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: MSNBC’s Chris Jansing interviews Nate Silver (to talk about 2012), economist Diane Swonk (on the jobs numbers), and former Gov. Ed Rendell (on 2012).

*** Friday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts has live coverage of President Obama and Bill Clinton’s joint energy announcement. Also, Thomas interviews Bernstein, Politico’s John Harris, and Dem Rep. Charles Gonzales.

*** Friday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner’s guests include former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer, Wes Moore, Imogen Lloyd Webber, and the Huffington Post’s Sam Stein.

*** Friday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews Stephanie Cutter in her first interview in her new role as Obama Deputy Campaign Manager since leaving the White House two weeks ago; MSNBC’s Rev. Al Sharpton; Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and CNBC’s Larry Kudlow on the jobs report,;Salon.com’s Justin Elliott on Occupy Wall Street; New York Times Magazine’s Robert Draper on his Romney profile; and Chris Cillizza with the Daily Fix & Worst Week in Washington.

*** Friday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall”: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews GOP pollster David Winston, the Washington Post’s Anne Kornblut, Democratic strategist Keith Boykin, Gen. Barry McCaffrey on Iraq withdrawal, and Danie Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

*** Saturday’s (and Sunday’s) “UP with Chris Hayes” line-up: The guests include Dem Rep. Jerry Nadler, former Biden economic adviser Jared Bernstein, and former Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services head Don Berwick.

*** Saturday’s (and Sunday’s) “Weekends with Alex Witt” line-up: MSNBC’s Alex Witt conducts her “Office Politics” interview with Mort Zuckerman.

*** Sunday’s “Meet the Press” line-up: NBC’s David Gregory interviews Obama political adviser David Axelrod, as well as RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. For the program’s weekly “PRESS Pass” feature, Gregory interviewed Politico’s Mike Allen about his new book about the 2012 campaign.

Countdown to Iowa caucuses: 32 days
Countdown to New Hampshire primary: 39 days
Countdown to South Carolina primary: 50 days
Countdown to Florida primary: 60 days
Countdown to Nevada caucuses: 64 days
Countdown to Super Tuesday: 95 days
Countdown to Election Day: 342 days

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“Political groups representing the left and the right have already spent an eye-popping $35 million to influence the outcome of the 2012 election, according to an investigation by The Hill. Over the last several weeks, The Hill interviewed media advertising trackers and officials representing major outside groups and reviewed Federal Election Commission records. The analysis reviewed groups that are directly spending on elections and those seeking to influence the policy debates.”

More: “The main drivers of the outside-group spending have been American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, Republican-affiliated groups co-founded by Karl Rove. They have dropped an unprecedented $20 million attacking Democratic Senate candidates and President Obama. Liberal and conservative groups have combined to spend more than $10 million on Senate races alone.”

BACHMANN: The New York Daily News wonders if “Michele Bachmann is trying to compete with Rick Perry for best ‘oops’ moment of the year.”

Per GOP 12, The Iowa Republican reports: “The Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators (NICHE) has sent out an email to its members that says Michele Bachmann’s campaign uploaded the group’s email list into their campaign database without permission.”

NBC’s Jamie Novogrod reports that Bachmann won the endorsement of Congressman Trent Franks, a Republican from Arizona’s second district.  It’s the first endorsement inside Congress for Bachmann, a Representative from Minnesota. Romney leads in congressional endorsements, with 44 members of the Senate and House announcing their support, per NBC’s Garrett Haake. Rep. Franks made news in 2009 when called President Obama “an enemy of humanity.”

CAIN: The Boston Globe notes his interview with the New Hampshire Union Leader, in which he notes he paid a woman who is now accusing him of having an affair without his wife’s knowledge, “was one of the most revealing Cain has given since White made the allegation on Monday.” Here’s the video.

Cain claimed to FOX, per PoliticalWire: "Somebody, somewhere is paying them off to try and smear my character in order to slow me down.”

The Des Moines Register is officially out with its latest poll Saturday night, but it released one result: “Herman Cain’s once-surging popularity in Iowa has plummeted in the wake of an allegation of a 13-year extramarital affair, leaving him at single-digit support with the Iowa caucuses just over a month away. Cain is now at 8 percent among likely Republican caucusgoers, The Des Moines Register’s new Iowa Poll shows. That’s down from 23 percent in late October.” (Hat tip: Political Wire.)

GINGRICH: “Newt Gingrich, whose sudden surge in the polls has propelled him to the top of the GOP pack, confidently asserted Thursday that he will be the Republican Party's nominee in 2012,” The New York Post notes. He told ABC: "I'm going to be the nominee," he said. "It's very hard not to look at the recent polls and think that the odds are very high I'm going to be the nominee."

But Politico notes that Gingrich is struggling to create a national campaign team and infrastructure to rival Romney.

RealClear’s McPike reports that Gingrich doesn’t want his team attacking Romney. “According to Gingrich campaign spokesman R.C. Hammond, ‘In response to the dynamics over the last 24 hours about the attacks coming our way, his instructions to us were to not say anything bad about Mitt Romney.’” Instead, “As one informal adviser familiar with the call put it, ‘Newt instructed his team . . . to remain focused on what obviously has resonated: Voters want a nominee who can go toe to toe with President Obama on issues and substance.’”

But it doesn’t look like Gingrich is taking his own advice. He said after a speech in Iowa yesterday: "I'm not interested in distinguishing myself from Romney. I'm happy to be who I am. … I think that distinguishes me from Romney."

The Hill’s headline from Gingrich’s comments about poor kids and their families working habits: “Gingrich: Poor kids have bad work habits ‘unless it’s illegal’.”

ROEMER: “Former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer today became the first candidate to announce that he will seek the nomination of Americans Elect, an advocacy group that is trying to put a third, split-party ticket on the presidential ballot,” the Boston Globe reports, adding, “Voters registering with Americans Elect will choose their nominee via the Internet. If nominated, Roemer will have to choose a running mate from a different party.”

ROMNEY: AP notes that Romney is fighting fights on two fronts – Barack Obama’s reelection team and Newt Gingrich: “With only a month before the Iowa caucuses kick off the nominating fight, Gingrich's rise has forced Romney's campaign to evaluate a new reality: He no longer has the luxury of staying above the Republican primary fray, avoiding tough questions about his own record and hammering Obama at will while essentially ignoring his GOP rivals.”

The Hill: “Mitt Romney’s campaign showed signs of strain this week as Newt Gingrich rose in the polls, Democrats increased their attacks and the former Massachusetts governor stumbled in a national interview.”

The Boston Globe’s Johnson looks at how video-editing technology, available to all of the top campaigns and readily viewable when you walk in the door to a campaign headquarters, is changing the race. One instance, for example, was how Romney’s interview with Brett Baier of FOX was cut up by the Huntsman campaign for a “Mittstant Replay” video and which the campaign said showed Romney was “Scared Mittless” of the press.

A Romney aide says in a Politico eBook, per The Daily Caller: “We didn’t want [opposition research] on him coming out. We wanted him to stay where he is. He keeps Perry down.”

“A veto showdown over the Defense authorization bill appears to have been averted after the Senate agreed today to compromise language on detainees accused of terrorism,” Roll Call reports.

“Democratic and Republican efforts to continue the current payroll tax holiday failed [Thursday evening] in the Senate when both competing proposals did not win the 60 votes needed to end debate,” Roll Call reports.

“House Republicans have launched their most ambitious, pro-business effort yet to rein in Obama administration regulators, triggering a furious debate over the value of new rules for clean air, workplace safety, children's toys and many other categories,” AP writes. “The House was set to vote Friday on the second of two anti-regulation bills, legislation that would impose potentially stifling procedures on federal regulators. Republicans argue that avoiding expensive new regulations would aid businesses in hiring workers, while Democrats counter that Americans' health and safety would be jeopardized.”

And: “The 2012 election year will see a sustained Republican push to repeal the healthcare reform law in bits and pieces, members of both parties say,” The Hill reports.

“Republicans on Capitol Hill are working on a new plan to extend unemployment benefits that would reform the system so prisoners and people making more than $100,000 annually would not be eligible for the payments,” The Hill writes. “GOP members in both the House and Senate have been working on a strategy to extend the benefits, which are politically popular but have attracted criticism by some in the Tea Party.”

“Rep. Carolyn Maloney (N.Y.) said [Thursday] that she would not challenge Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.) for the soon-to-be vacated top Democratic slot on the Financial Services Committee,” Roll Call reports.

“Nearly one year after an aide to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was slain in a shooting at her constituent event in Tucson, Ariz., a House hearing room will honor his memory,” Roll Call reports. “The House today voted 419-0 to name Room HVC 215 the Gabriel Zimmerman Meeting Room. … The chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee and a close friend of Giffords, Wasserman Schultz is the lead sponsor of the resolution. Though final passage was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, it was rescheduled for today to ensure that Wasserman Schultz was able to attend the vote, her spokeswoman Mara Sloan said. ‘We also had asked [Majority Leader Eric Cantor] to delay the debate, originally from Tuesday, to Wednesday, so that more [Arizona] Members could be present,’ Sloan added.”“

The House voted today to end taxpayer financing of presidential elections,” Roll Call reports. “In a 235-190 vote, the House approved a measure to terminate the Presidential Election Campaign Fund and shut down the Election Assistance Commission, a national clearinghouse on the mechanics of voting. … Taxpayer financing of presidential elections was established after the Watergate scandal. Although President Barack Obama opted out of the public financing system for his general election campaign in 2008, he opposed the attempt to end it, saying it should be fixed instead.”

From NBC's Alex Moe
JOHNSTON, Iowa -- Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich told hundreds of Iowans in the state’s largest county that his new front-runner status is “disorienting.”

A crowd of more than 400 Republicans listened as the former House speaker laid out his vision for the country at the Polk County GOP Victory Dinner.

“This is such a rapid change that we’re having to rethink our own internal operation right now and where we are,” he told more than two-dozen journalists following his speech.

“We’re in a mess. We’re in a mess in Washington, we’re in a mess economically, we’re in a mess with radical judges. Just go down the list,” he told the sold-out crowd.

It was a notably different speech than Gingrich typically gives on the trail -- something he acknowledged afterwards.

“I would not have given this speech 2 weeks ago because it wouldn’t have seemed to make sense for this guy who was the underdog to be up here talking about the totality of the future,” Gingrich told reporters.

The former speaker dedicated a larger portion of his speech Thursday to attacks on President Barack Obama, calling him a “Saul Alinsky radical.”

“He believes in a world in which the classic America has disappeared. He believes in a world where the United Nations is more important than the United States Congress. He believes in a world of internationally law rather than of the U.S. Constitution,” Gingrich noted.

But the spotlight was also on Gingrich’s position on a controversial issue – child labor laws. During an earlier stop Thursday, he suggested children in poor neighborhoods should start working. Pressed following the dinner, Gingrich didn’t say what age he thought might be appropriate to get a job.

“I think the country has to decide. Different states may do it differently, different cities might do it differently,” Gingrich said. “I am trying to create a mindset that says the best way to get poor children to have a chance to rise is in fact to help them early on, learn the work ethic.”

During his roughly 45-minute speech, the speaker was interrupted frequently by applause.

“Newt Gingrich is always well organized. He is focused. And his message resonated with this crowd,” Polk Co. GOP Chairman Kevin McLaughlin told NBC News. “Social conservatives and social moderates are coming to Newt. And I think that’s a sign we have a uniter that will go the distance.”

But, the speaker still has a long road ahead. Before getting to Obama, he would have to take on Mitt Romney, whom he didn’t mention during his speech. Gingrich did not take the bait when reporters asked him to distinguish himself from the former Massachusetts governor.

“I am happy to be who I am. I think that distinguishes me from Romney,” Gingrich said. He also stated he would “probably” not attack Romney during the two upcoming debates in the first-in-the-nation caucus state.

But, he added, “If he puts his hand on my shoulder, that might be different,” a reference to a heated exchange during an October debate, when Romney placed his hand on Rick Perry.

The former House speaker, who is leading in many state and national polls, has come a long way since this summer.

“As many of you know, I was supposedly in June and July dead. So it is great to be back,” Gingrich joked during the dinner.

He received three standing ovations as 15 TV cameras rolled.

“I have to confess that while I was hoping for a wave, we’ve had sort of a tsunami,” he said.

Slideshow: Images from Newt Gingrich's career

(NBC's Jamie Novogrod contributed to this report.)

MURFREESBORO, Tenn.  - Herman Cain became the latest candidate to get the "Occupy Wall Street" treatment while addressing students at Middle Tennessee State University tonight.

A hand full of members from the mostly student crowd stood up and chanted "We are the 99 percent" in the middle of Cain's speech, which was to be about leadership and not politics.  Another member of the crowd yelled "sexual abuse is not acceptable."

But the chants were mostly drawn out by booing from other students who told the protestors to "shut up" and leave.  The exchange did not last much longer than a minute, and Cain stood smirking at the podium as the protestors exited the lecture hall.

"I committed to dean that I'm not going to address any political issues today. But do you know how tempting that is?" said Cain.

The presidential candidate was first approached about visiting campus almost a year ago, organizers said.  They commended Cain for keeping the commitment in the wake of the new found attention his bid for the presidency has brought him.

"The way attribute it was, they wanted to disrupt my party because they couldn't attract anyone to come listen to them talk," said Cain. "Don't be embarrassed that those young people wanted to stand up and talk about that they're part of the 99, the 99%.  We have freedom of speech, some people simply abuse it."

Occupy Wall Street protestors similarly interrupted a Michele Bachmann campaign event in South Carolina last month as well as a President Obama speech in New Hampshire.

But the focus of Cain's remarks was centered on his own leadership style and ascent to CEO of Godfather's Pizza.  Though he said he would remain apolitical, the former Georgia businessman generically addressed some of the jabs taken his taken throughout the campaign. At one point Cain said leaders do not have all the answers, but they surround themselves with people who do -- a remark made on the trail when addressing critiques about his lack of foreign policy experience.

The embattled presidential candidate gave no new hints as to the future of his campaign, which he told staff this week he would be reassessing his campaign after a Georgia woman claimed to have carried on a 13-year affair with him.

Earlier today Cain met with the New Hampshire Union Leader, where he said in an interview that he repeatedly gave money to the alleged mistress without his wife's knowledge.  Cain has said he'll need to have a face-to-face conversation with his wife before he decides if and how his presidential bid will continue.

That conversation will likely happen Friday evening when Cain returns home to Atlanta.

Alex Moe / NBC News

This new flier from Rick Perry's campaign lays out his plan to fix Washington, D.C.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa -- Thirty-three days and counting till the Iowa caucuses and Texas Gov. Rick Perry is out with new campaign mailers and another television ad in the state.

“It’s time for a Washington overhaul,” the front cover of the trifold brochure reads. A bulldozer is depicted knocking over the Capitol on the front of the mailer Iowans found in their mailboxes today.

The inside pages explain Perry’s three-part plan to overhaul the nation’s capital:

Part 1: End lifetime appointment of federal judges.

Part 2: Create a part-time Congress, cutting pay and time in Washington in half.

Part 3: Overhaul the permanent bureaucracy.

Despite the governor not having been in the first-in-the-nation caucus state since Nov. 19, his campaign released another new television ad to run in the state Thursday.

The 30-second TV spot is entitled “Energy Jobs,” during which Perry says, “I’m an outsider so I’ll step on a few toes if necessary to reopen our oil and gas fields.”

While other GOP presidential campaigns are mailing out lots of campaign literature, Perry has rolled out by for the most TV ads throughout the Hawkeye State.

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Herman Cain said Thursday that he repeatedly gave money without his wife's knowledge to Ginger White, the Atlanta woman who alleged carrying on an affair with Cain for 13 years.

In an editorial interview with the New Hampshire Union Leader, the former Godfather's Pizza CEO said Mrs. Cain "did not know that we were friends until [White] came out with this story" and he regrets not telling her sooner. Cain acknowledged sending White money for "month-to-month bills and expenses."

Cain said that White sent him about 70 text messages in which, he said, she seemed economically troubled. "She was out of work and had trouble paying her bills and I had known her as a friend," he said. Cain would not elaborate as to how much he gave her.

Cain justified his described behavior as nothing out of the ordinary, saying, "I'm a soft-hearted person when it comes to that stuff. I have helped members of my church. I have helped members of my family."

The newspaper interview had been rescheduled after a scheduling mishap last month that caused Cain to miss a meeting with the influential paper's editors. Since then, the paper endorsed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in the GOP presidential primary.

Both before and after his interview with the Union Leader today, Cain said that his campaign remains in a state of flux. He will move forward with a "reassessment" this weekend and make a final decision soon.

"I will say something formal over the next several days," he told reporters.

In campaign stops in Ohio and New Hampshire yesterday, Cain said he would be spending the next several days contemplating where his campaign goes from here.  Last night at his state headquarters in New Hampshire headquarters, he told reporters that no decision could be made until he has a face-to-face conversation with his wife.

And while Cain defiantly brushed off any notion he would end his bid for the presidency during campaign rallies yesterday, he was noticeably more measured when taking questions from reporters.

When asked by NBC News if will return to the Granite State, Cain was uncertain, "Well probably, yes. But remember the reassessment." Tonight, he gives a speech Tennessee. Cain will return to Atlanta Friday evening where  his wife resides.

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- During a three-day swing through South Carolina, Newt Gingrich spent a lot of time addressing liabilities for his revitalized campaign, some of which his opponents have tried to peg him over: his career as a Washington insider; his support of a “humane” approach to immigration; and even his personal skeletons, long out of the closet.

But conversations with South Carolinians who came to hear Gingrich speak suggest some voters here would overlook those hurdles, meaning his opponents might have to consider other lines of attack if Gingrich sustains his recent surge.

One such issue -- Gingrich’s 20-year Congressional career -- has become fodder for Mitt Romney, who on Monday called Gingrich a “life-long politician.”

Gingrich pushed back on that claim Wednesday at Tommy’s Ham House in Greenville, saying that he’s been a “lifetime citizen” since he was 15 years old and that he’s “worked every day since August 1958 to understand what America has to do to be successful” as a teacher, small business owner and, yes, politician.

But some voters here indicated that Gingrich’s longtime ties to Washington were actually part of his appeal.

“Because he’s spent so much time in Washington, he knows what it takes to get done,” said Bob Smith, 66, a marriage counselor from the coastal town of Hilton Head, who attended a town hall on Tuesday in nearby Bluffton. “He proved that in ’94 when he helped get rid of the Democratic majority and got America back on track even with a Democratic president.”

Virginia Coker, an 81-year-old former interior decorator from Hartsville, also said she liked Gingrich’s ability to navigate the halls of Congress and the White House. 

“He has been there,” said Coker, as she waited for a Gingrich town hall to start Tuesday night in Newberry. “He’s been in government. He knows the ropes. He knows the good and the bad.”

Gingrich has also been attacked over his views on immigration, most notably by Michele Bachmann who said his proposal to allow some illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S. amounted to amnesty.

On Wednesday morning, Gingrich called Bachmann “factually challenged” for making that claim but stood by his position throughout his trip here.

“I don't believe you'll ever pass a bill that requires us to hunt down every single person who has been here for a quarter century,” he said during a town hall in Charleston on Monday night. “And I think there's a humane, orderly way to do this.”

And some voters here seemed to agree with him, even as South Carolina recently passed a stringent anti-immigration law, parts of which are being blocked by the U.S. Justice Department.

“He’s obviously aware that people aren’t going to go into a church and raid churches and pull people out,” said Bob Deal, 48, who went to Gingrich’s Bluffton town hall on Tuesday.

David Oswalt, who attended the Newberry town hall, said he supported Gingrich’s stance, because illegal immigrants are crucial to many industries in the state. 

“I have a lot of friends in the farming business, and if it weren’t for the immigrants, the crop wouldn’t get picked,” said Oswalt, who owns a moving company in Batesburg. 

Gingrich’s personal baggage also came up during Tuesday’s town hall in Bluffton, when he was asked, “What is it about Newt Gingrich that’s going to come to the surface that’s going to keep us from voting from you?”

Gingrich -- whose two divorces and an affair with a Congressional staffer, now his wife, have been well documented -- answered first by laughing and throwing up his hands, as the crowd cheered him on.

“It’s all there!” a man shouted from the crowd. “It’s all out there!”

In a state where in 2008, 60 percent of GOP primary voters said they were evangelical or born-again Christians, some seemed willing to forgive.

Harvard Riddle, 76, happened upon Gingrich’s town hall at Tommy’s on Wednesday morning, as he was meeting his Bible study group there.

“The Bible says, ‘Judge not lest you be judged.’ So I really can’t say,” Riddle said. “That was he and his wife’s business.”

Riddle, though, added that he thought Romney, who has his own uphill climb in South Carolina because of his Mormon faith, would probably be the best challenge to President Obama.

While Gingrich may have a trickier time explaining his infidelity to female voters, something Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention noted in an open letter to Gingrich Tuesday -- at least one of them, Coker, said she wasn’t deterred.

“Life is made up of problems. And just because he had those problems does not mean that he’s not a wonderful candidate to be president.”

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A statement Michele Bachmann made about Iran Wednesday instantly set off a flurry of activity on Twitter –- and spurred a clarification from the Minnesota congresswoman’s presidential campaign.

Bachmann, speaking at a town hall at a Pizza Ranch in Waverly, Iowa, reacted to news that the British government had shuttered its embassy in Iran after protesters stormed the premises.

"You may have heard that there was a break-in at the British embassy, and the British had to pull their people out,” Bachmann said. “That's exactly what I would do.  We wouldn't have an American embassy in Iran. I wouldn't allow that to be there.  Because they are a state sponsor of terror.”

The U.S. has not had an embassy in Iran for more than 30 years, since relations between the two countries were severed in the wake of the 1979 hostage crisis.

When NBC News relayed that comment on Twitter, it set off a flurry of interest in Bachmann's comment, forcing the campaign to clarify.

“She was agreeing with the actions taken by the British to secure their embassy personnel and was speaking in the hypothetical,” the campaign said in a statement. “If she was President of the United States and if we had an embassy in Iran, she would have taken the same actions as the British.”

Bachmann, a member since January of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, often cites her work on the committee as a distinguishing factor among a crowded field of GOP candidates.

“If we don't have someone as our nominee who gets this, who gets national security,” she mused to the crowd of about 60 people in Waverly, before adding: “No else in this race gets it the way that I do."

Bachmann has made Iran a centerpiece of her foreign policy agenda, calling recently for the Pentagon to develop a war plan with Iran, and for the US State Department to launch a regime of “crushing” economic sanctions on the country, in conjunction with China and Russia. 

She also won praise recently for calling Pakistan “too nuclear to fail,” during a CNN debate Thanksgiving week – drawing a sharp contrast with Governor Perry of Texas, who favors cutting off American aid.

During a town hall in Charles City, Bachmann said she knew "from personal experience" that bias exists in the media.  "I can tell you from personal experience that is 100-percent true.  And it's disgusting to see.  It's absolutely disgusting," she said.

The remarks followed a show of hands from the crowd of about fifty people, after Bachmann asked: "Do you think there's bias in the media?"

Turning to the three journalists in the room, she said, "I think the press corps should take a good look at that.  Because that is what America thinks."

Rick Perry is still trying to laugh off his “oops” moment – and this time he’s going on air with it.

In a light-hearted ad slated to run in Iowa markets before and after his “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” appearance. (The ad was first reported by Politico and then released to via press release email this afternoon.)

The idea appears to be for the candidate to poke some fun at his "human" self and hammer home his "if you want a slick debater in the White House..." schtick. Shades of the strategy in the immediate aftermath of the gaffe, which included a self-deprecating spin room appearance and a “Top Ten” skit with Letterman.

The ad opens with the CNBC debate moment where he forgets the third agency he would cut.

“Department of Energy,” he says assuredly in the ad (while a guitar strums in the background). “You know we’ve all lost our train of thought before, but not many have done it on national TV. If you want a slick debater, I’m obviously not your guy. But if you want to clean house in Washington with a balanced-budget amendment, a flat tax, and a part-time Congress, I’m your man.

The spot closes out with the candidate joshing: "I'm Rick Perry and ... what's that line again?" before nodding, flashing a smile and closing with the "I'm Rick Perry, and I approve this message" tagline.

*** UPDATE *** In the press release that went out this afternoon, Perry Communications Director Ray Sullivan took this shot at the Perry's rivals:

"While the rest of GOP field is busy handling scandals, inconsistencies and contradictions on important issues, Gov. Perry's appearance on Leno and his special Leno ad show he is confident enough to use the attention from last month's Michigan debate to highlight his status as the true outsider conservative in the Republican field."

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich did not back away from his recent comments suggesting young children should be allowed to work.

“Really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits for working and have nobody around them who works. So they literally have no habit of showing up on Monday,” Gingrich told more than 500 employees inside the Nationwide Insurance lunchroom.

This response came after one audience member asked the former House speaker to clarify the remarks he made at Harvard University on Nov. 18 when he called child labor laws "truly stupid." He also suggested students take jobs at schools as janitors.

“I really appreciate you raising it,” Gingrich said. “It’s a good example of how hard it is to take the world that works and bring it over to the world that fails.”

Gingrich said he received letters after his comments in Massachusetts complaining that janitorial work was hard and dangerous.

“Fine,” he said in Iowa’s capital city during a two-day swing of the state, “So what if they became assistant janitors and their job was to mop the floor and clean the bathroom and you pay them?”

He also suggested a couple of other possibilities for putting young kids to work: “But what if you paid them part time in the afternoon to sit in the clerical office and greet people that came in. What if you paid them to work as the assistant librarian?” Gingrich said. Adding, “I’d pay them as early as was reasonable and practical.”

“They have no habit of ‘I do this and you give me cash’... unless it's illegal,” he said Thursday in the Hawkeye State.

Hard work pays off and teaches kids important lessons even at an early age according to Gingrich -- pointing out his granddaughter’s recent accomplishment of buying an iPad with all the money she saved over the last eight months.

“I was pretty proud of her,” Gingrich said.

The Speaker finishes his day with two more events in the first-in-the-nation caucus state. He was in Des Moines to sign a pledge to build a border fence between U.S. and Mexico by the end of 2013 if he's elected.

Despite Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s slide in the 2012 Republican presidential polls, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, one of Perry’s most high-profile supporters, has confidence in his pick.

“Bottom line is, I think Rick has got a great record to run on, a great story to tell,” Jindal said Thursday on MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown with Chuck Todd.”

In the wake of some verbal gaffes this week by Perry in New Hampshire, in which he said the voting age is 21 instead of 18 and the presidential election will be on Nov. 12^th instead of Nob. 6^th, Jindal stressed Perry’s “executive experience” and “track record.”

“We’re not going to have the best debater, the most-polished speaker," Jindal said. "President Obama is probably one of the best speakers I’ve seen in a generation in politics, but I think the American people are tired of the speeches."

Jindal also said he would be comfortable with a choice between former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich if Perry’s campaign ends in failure.

“Absolutely," he said, "I’m going to support whoever our nominee is."

NBC News’ Carrie Dann reports Jindal will join Perry for fundraisers in Texas on Dec. 6th and campaign with him in Iowa later this month.

House Speaker John Boehner (OH) said he was unsure of the impact on the economy if Congress doesn't extend unemployment insurance benefits and a payroll tax holiday on the agenda for lawmakers this month.

The Republican Speaker said that Republicans are interested in moving quickly on legislation to extend jobless benefits, which expired this week, along with a payroll tax cut supported by President Obama, which expires after Dec. 31.

But Boehner said he didn't know what would happen if Congress failed, a distinctly possible outcome given the gridlock that's plagued the House and Senate this year, especially on tax and spending issues.

"I'm not an economist, I don't know what impact it's going to have on the economy," he said in response to a question from NBC News at his weekly press conference. "It's just that I do believe there's enough common ground between where the White House and Democrats are and where Republicans are for us to move this legislation and to do so quickly."

Most economists believe failure to extend the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits would significantly hurt the economy. Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's Analytics who's done work for both Democrats and Republicans, warned that failure to extend those benefits would make "real GDP growth will fall by nearly a percentage point and about one million jobs lost by the end of 2012."

Consensus may still elude Congress, too. Senate Democrats roundly rejected a proposal by their GOP counterparts on Wednesday that would have offset the cost of the extended payroll tax cut by cutting the federal workforce and freezing government employees' pay (while means-testing other benefits, like food stamps). Democrats favor a surtax on millionaires to finance an expanded payroll tax cut in 2012.

Boehner said moments later in the same press conference that he had little doubt that keeping payroll taxes lower would help the economy; the Speaker said his worry was how it would affect Social Security.

"I don't think there's any question that the pay roll tax relief in fact helps the economy. You're allowing more Americans, frankly every working American to keep more of their money in their pocket, that's a good thing," he said. "The concern that we've had is what does it to do the Social Security trust fund and that's why we believe protecting it is critically important."

On a fundraising swing through Texas today, GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney made time for at least one meeting with a prominent Republican who was not cutting him a check, former President George H.W. Bush.

The two men, described by campaign aides as good friends, met at Bush's Houston home. The 87-year old former President did not offer his endorsement today, but has made it clear in the past that he favors Romney as his party's nominee.

In an interview last November with CNN's Larry King, both Bush and his wife, Former First Lady Barbara Bush, praised Romney.

"We like Mitt Romney. We know him well and like him very much," the former president said. "He's a reasonable guy. A conservative fellow, which is good. But, no, I think he'd be a good president, a very good president."

Barbara Bush added, "I'll go with George. Mitt Romney. I like a lot of them. But I like people who feel that you can respect other people's ideas. I like that a lot."

Last cycle, Bush hosted Romney at his presidential library in College Station, Texas for Romney's December 2007 speech about his Mormon faith. Bush did not endorse a candidate during the primary cycle in 2008.

The two men are linked perhaps most directly through Ron Kaufman, a former Bush adviser and long-time aide, who is now a senior adviser for Romney's presidential campaign.

The two New England-style Republicans are also united by biographical similarities. Both are the sons of prominent Republican politicians. Bush's father Prescott was a two-term U.S. Senator from Connecticut, and Romney's father George was twice elected Governor of Michigan.

During the summer months, they're also neighbors. While Bush made his name and political career in Texas, his family's famous Kennebunkport, Maine compound is a mere 50 miles from Romney's summer home on New Hampshire's Lake Winnepesaukee.

As a part of World AIDS Day, President Obama today announced new U.S. commitments to fighting HIV and AIDS. First, he promised $50 million more in funding towards domestic HIV/AIDS treatment, and he increased the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief goal of people treated for HIV/AIDS by from four million to six million by 2013. 

During his speech at George Washington University at an event with the theme, “The Beginning of the End of AIDS” Obama received a standing ovation for the increased commitment.

“The rate of new infections may be going down elsewhere, but it's not going down here in America," the president said. “When new infections among young black gay men increase by nearly 50 percent in 3 years, we need to do more to show them that their lives matter.” According to the CDC, “1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV infection and one in five are unaware of their infection.”

In addition to Obama, former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton spoke via satellite. The event was sponsored by (Red), an anti-AIDS organization started by U2 front-man Bono and One, an organization that helps fight poverty around the world.

Indeed, the United States' fight against AIDS was something Obama was able to site as a bipartisan success. "To Congress, keep working together and keep the commitments you've made intact.  At a time when so much in Washington divides us, the fight against this disease has united us across parties and across presidents," he said. “And it shows that we can do big things when Republicans and Democrats put their common humanity before politics.

We want to answer your questions in the next 'Inside the Boiler Room'! Please post your questions for Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro below.

You can also tweet us, @NBCFirstRead, @mmurraypolitics or@DomenicoNBC, or post on our Facebook page.

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Republican presidential candidates (L-R) Ron Paul , Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, and Michele Bachmann sing the National Anthem gather before a CNN republican presidential debate, November 2011.

In an election cycle expected to focus heavily on the economy, it's been immigration, and how to handle the millions of undocumented immigrants who reside in the U.S. illegally, that has tripped up Republican presidential candidates seeking their party's nomination.

The leading Republican contenders are being forced to balance hawkish posturing on immigration in the Republican primary against maintaining their electability against President Obama, whose campaign is all-too-happy to highlight the GOP candidates’ effort to outflank each other.

It’s been former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney who has used immigration the most as a cudgel against fellow candidates, particularly Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, each of whom Romney has portrayed as soft on illegal immigration.

Perry said opponents don't "have a heart" if his primary opponents didn't favor, as he did, in-state college tuition for the children of illegal immigrants who had long established residency in Texas.

Fellow candidates, namely Romney, pounced, and Perry's "heartless" moment, as it came to be known, contributed to his slide in the polls.

Conservatives are now murmuring about Gingrich, who said at a pre-Thanksgiving debate that he favored a "humane" policy that wouldn't expel undocumented families that had laid down roots in the U.S. for decades. Gingrich hasn't backed down from that comment.

VIDEO: Gingrich's immigration remark front-and-center

The end result is that immigration – less so than tax plans, differing approaches to foreign policy or even jobs plans – has emerged as a stumbling block in the primary campaign, with just less than five weeks to go until voting begins.

Perry and Gingrich have responded by trying to prove their conservative bona fides other ways. Perry rolled out an endorsement, for instance, by Maricopa County, Ariz. Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a vocal opponent of illegal immigrants. And Gingrich has said he would make English the official language of the U.S., and fully secure the border by Jan. 1, 2014.

Romney’s used immigration to fend off surging who have tried to emerge as his alternative. The former Massachusetts governor assailed Perry’s college tuition plan, and he accused Gingrich of having "offered a new doorway to amnesty" with his immigration plan.

But Romney has also struggled to manage immigration as an issue; he said Tuesday evening on Fox News that illegal immigrants "should get in line with everyone else" who's applying for U.S. citizenship, and be given no special preference. But he hedged on what he would do with the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants currently in the U.S. Romney said it "makes more sense for them to go home" and apply, but wouldn't address whether he would seek the deportation of illegal immigrants while they're awaiting citizenship.

FIRST READ: Deciphering Romney on immigration

Hispanic Republican strategists express concern that the would-be nominees’ courting of the right could undercut their standing in the general election.

“This is only vote-moving issue for people who vote against you because they think you hate immigrants,” said Mario H. Lopez, the president of the Hispanic Leadership Fund.

The problem, said Mercedes Schlapp, a former Spanish-language spokeswoman in the Bush administration, is that none of the candidates have mastered finding a tone that satisfies both Hispanics and conservatives.

“We can all say secure the border, but what are you going to do about the 12 million people here?” she asked. “Really, everyone's giving these simplistic answers to this very complex issue.”

Obama’s campaign is poised to make an issue of it, too. “We may just run clips of the Republican debates verbatim,” the president told Univision about the GOP candidates’ stance on immigration. (The Democratic National Committee has attacked Romney on immigration, too.)

Sharon Castillo, a former Republican National Committee (RNC) official in charge of Spanish-language outreach, said she was skeptical of Obama’s ability to court Hispanic voters since he’d failed to advance the DREAM Act or comprehensive immigration reform.

But, she said, the GOP contenders must still work to craft a policy that didn’t ward off Latinos.

“I think it should be pretty obvious to most Republican candidates in the field right now that they need to have a large and welcome tent,” she said. “And Hispanics being the largest minority in the country, it would be less than strategic to alienate them.”

Romney’s stance in particular frustrates Hispanic Republicans, who see the same kind of shape-shifting on immigration that Romney’s been accused of when it comes to other issues.

“For Romney it's been interesting to watch, because I think people are still trying to figure out where Romney's at,” Schlapp said. Romney said in a 2006 interview with Bloomberg News it would be impractical to track down and deport illegal immigrants – a position remarkably similar to Gingrich’s. Lopez calls Romney’s position now “disingenuous.”

Of course, Romney’s foes have also tried to make immigration an issue for him. Perry accused Romney of hiring a landscaping company that employed illegal immigrants at a debate this fall, something Romney rejected doing because, as he explained, “I’m running for office, for Pete’s sake!”

That’s not to say that Romney’s stance will necessarily hurt him in the primary. Republicans lean strongly – 71 to 27 percent, according to a mid-November CNN/ORC poll – toward developing a plan to stop illegal immigrants and deport the ones who are in the U.S. versus allowing them a path to citizenship.

The public as a whole leans toward deportation, too, but a hardline stance could alienate independent and Latino voters, especially in crucial swing states like New Mexico, Colorado or Nevada, and even Florida.

Obama leads Romney and Perry among Hispanic voters, according to an Univision/Latino Decisions poll conducted in early November; moreover, Hispanic voters said they are more likely to support candidates who support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and they identified Democrats as the party that most closely fits that view.

But that’s still a shift for the GOP, which tried to claim a share of the Latino vote under President George W. Bush, who had pushed for supporting a plan that would have provided a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.  But conservatives in Congress broke with the Republican president and derided the plan as “amnesty” and helped defeat the plan.

It’s not clear, though, whether support for anything less than a hardline stance for a Republican candidate is a poison pill. Arizona Sen. John McCain managed to secure the GOP nomination in 2008 despite his support for Bush’s program.

Romney, after all, scored three endorsements this week from three influential Hispanic Republicans in Florida – Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart, along with former Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart – who brushed off his immigration positions.

“I don’t agree with Gov. Romney’s position on immigration, but I agree with him solidly on the economy, and for me that’s the driving force in this election,” Ros-Lehtinen told the Washington Post.

And Gingrich, the GOP strategists suggested, might also stand to benefit in the general election – if his immigration stance doesn’t torpedo his primary campaign.

“One could argue that Newt is best positioned to get that vote, but the jury's still out,” Castillo said.

PORTSMOUTH, NH -- Texas Rep. Ron Paul is doubling down on his criticism of ascendant GOP candidate Newt Gingrich, saying that the former House Speaker is a "flip-flopper" who is "getting a free ride" on his changing positions.

Speaking to reporters at a health food store in Portsmouth, NH, Paul said his campaign produced a harsh new anti-Gingrich web video to underscore that he's "a flip-flopper" whose political evolutions have been inadequately covered by the media. 

"I think that he's getting a free ride," the Texas congressman said of Gingrich. "And I've worked with him for a long time. And I think the points I made on the various issues, he's a flip-flopper, so he can hardly be the alternative to Mitt Romney."

"What I find is a shame is look at the amount of energy the media put into talking about sex," Paul said, alluding to the ongoing controversy about Herman Cain's alleged extramarital affair and sexual harassment claims. "And how much does the media put into exposing what Newt Gingrich believes and what he's done?"

Asked whether he believes Cain should drop out of the presidential contest, Paul declined comment but hit the former Kansas City Fed member on his 9-9-9 tax plan.

"i have no opinion about that. That's his own business," he said. "If he drops out I wish he'd drop out because he's proposing a national sales tax and he used to work for the Federal Reserve. That should have been enough from him to lose support and need to drop out."

Romney’s play for Iowa, and what his new TV ad in the Hawkeye State means… Gingrich says the GOP race is coming down to Newt vs. non-Newt… Cain will make a decision about his candidacy after talking with his wife (face to face), which he hasn’t done yet… Bachmann gets unwanted attention for remarks about Iran… Wrapping Obama’s day in Scranton… And it looks like Cuccinelli will run for VA GOV in 2013.

*** Romney’s play for Iowa: Over the past several months, Mitt Romney has dipped his toes in the Iowa waters, but hasn’t fully jumped in. He would bypass Iowa cattle calls (like the recent Family Leader one) only to visit the Hawkeye State days later. And when asked about his strategy in the state, he’d say things like, "I'd love to win Iowa; any of us would." But his decision to air his first TV ad in the Hawkeye State -- which is essentially the same ad he’s now airing in New Hampshire -- signals he’s now playing in Iowa. Romney might not be all-in, a la Hillary Clinton at this point in ’07 or even Romney himself at this point in ‘07, given that he’s campaigned in the state just four times since officially announcing his bid. But this ad means two things: 1) it makes Newt Gingrich (or any other Republican) beating him in Iowa a significant event, and 2) it allows Romney to essentially win the nomination in January, if he ends up carrying both Iowa and New Hampshire. Risk and reward.

*** Newt vs. not-Newt: Boy, it has been entertaining to watch and listen to Gingrich with the political winds now at his back. Just check out what he said to FOX’s Hannity last night: “And so I think, whereas I would have thought originally it was going to be Mitt and not-Mitt, I think it's going to -- it may turn out to be Newt and not-Newt. And that's a very different formula than, frankly -- I mean we're having to redesign our campaign strategy because we're at least 60 days ahead of where I thought we'd be.”

*** Cain says he’ll make a decision about his candidacy after talking with his wife face to face (which he hasn’t done yet): At a press conference in New Hampshire yesterday, Herman Cain admitted that he hadn’t talked – face to face – with his wife since the Ginger White affair story came out earlier this week. “Since I've been campaigning all week, I haven't had an opportunity to sit down with her and walk through this with my wife and my family. I will do that when I get back home of Friday.” When a reporter followed up to ask if this meant Cain hadn’t spoken with his wife, he responded, “I have, I have discussed this with my wife many times since Monday. You are making an accusation, quite frankly that is not true. Now, I said, I said face to face.” Cain added, “This is another reason why I'm not going to make a decision until after we talk face to face.” Bottom line: Cain is returning back home on Friday, and he’ll make a decision about the state of his campaign after talking with his wife.  

*** Iran, Iran so far away: Meanwhile, in Iowa yesterday, Michele Bachmann attracted unwanted attention for these comments she made about Iran. "You may have heard that there was a break in at the British embassy, and the British had to pull their people out,” she said, per NBC’s Jamie Novogrod. “That's exactly what I would do. We wouldn't have an American embassy in Iran. I wouldn't allow that to be there, because they are a state sponsor of terror." The reason for the unwanted attention: The U.S. has not had an embassy in Iran for more than 30 years. The campaign later released this statement: "Congresswoman Bachmann is a member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence and is fully aware that we do not have an embassy in Iran and have not had one since 1980. She was agreeing with the actions taken by the British to secure their embassy personnel and was speaking in the hypothetical, that if she was president of the United States and if we had an embassy in Iran, she would have taken the same actions as the British.”

*** Wrapping Obama’s day in Scranton: Turning to President Obama’s stop in Scranton, PA yesterday, the White House can’t be pleased with its political prospects in Pennsylvania. But it can be pleased by the coverage his visit got from the state press. Here’s the headline from the Scranton Times-Tribune: “‘I don’t quit.’” From the story: “Showing hints of a feistiness that a friendly audience urged Wednesday and that Democrats say is required to win re-election, President Barack Obama pushed for renewal and expansion of an existing Social Security payroll tax cut to benefit the middle class…” Here’s the lead from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (although the story didn’t make the paper’s front page): “In a fiery bid to identify his policy agenda with the nation's values, President Barack Obama urged voters Wednesday to press Congress to extend and expand a payroll tax cut.” Remember, while the national press largely ignores many of these campaign-style policy events (since they are repetitive talking points), they work on the local level, which is what the White House is more concerned about.

*** A little 2013 news: It seems that Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) could very well end up running for governor in 2013, which could produce a primary fight between him and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R), whom term-limited Gov. Bob McDonnell has endorsed. The Washington Post: “Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) will reveal his plans next week to run for governor in 2013, according to well-placed Republican sources. Cuccinelli, a tea party hero who garnered national attention for suing the federal government over the health-care law, expects to make a formal announcement after the legislative session in the spring.” The Post adds that Cuccinelli would likely defeat Bolling in a primary. “Political observers say that Cuccinelli would easily win a nomination contest but could have a more difficult time in a general election, where successful Republicans often play down their conservative credentials.” McDonnell and Bolling cut a deal in 2009 and prevented a primary. Don’t expect Bolling to cut any sort of deal with Cuccinelli.

*** On the 2012 trail: Gingrich spends his day campaigning in Iowa… Cain, Huntsman, and Paul are in New Hampshire, and Cain meets with the Union Leader editorial page (which has already endorsed Gingrich)… Cain then heads to Tennessee to speak at Middle Tennessee State University… Bachmann holds a media avail in Florida… And Perry, in California, tapes an interview with Jay Leno.

*** Thursday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up: Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) from the RGA meeting in Orlando… The Economist’s Greg Ip and National Journal’s Jim Tankersley on the market’s rise this week… NBC News Campaign Embed Alex Moe on Gingrich’s Iowa swing… NBC’s Kristen Welker with the latest on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s trip to Myanmar… Rep. Scott Rigell (R-VA) on whether he thinks some in his party aren’t living in reality when it comes to the economy… And more 2012 news with TIME’s Mike Duffy, the Washington Post’s Perry Bacon and syndicated columnist Cynthia Tucker.

*** Thursday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: MSNBC’s Chris Jansing interviews Politico’s Mike Allen and the AP’s Liz Sidoti, as well as National Journal’s Josh Kraushaar.

*** Thursday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSNBC’S Thomas Roberts interviews DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz; Karen Hunter and J.P. Freire (on Newt vs. Romney); and Melissa Harris Perry on Cain.

*** Thursday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner’s guests include The Nation’s Ari Melber, the AP’s Kasie Hunt, Politico’s Ben White, and MSNBC analyst Richard Wolffe.

*** Thursday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum, Joe Klein on TIME’s cover story “Why Don’t They Like Me” about Romney, GOP Sen. Bob Corker (on the failure of the Super Committee and payroll taxes), NBC’s Chuck Todd, Ambassador Martin Indyk, MSNBC political analyst Karen Finney, former Rep. Susan Molinari, and ONE Campaign’s Michael Elliott on World AIDS.

*** Thursday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall”: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews Politico’s Nia-Malika Henderson and MSNBC contributor Michael Smerconish.

Countdown to Iowa caucuses: 33 days
Countdown to New Hampshire primary: 40 days
Countdown to South Carolina primary: 51 days
Countdown to Florida primary: 61 days
Countdown to Nevada caucuses: 65 days
Countdown to Super Tuesday: 96 days
Countdown to Election Day: 343 days

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"Even as experts predict that the 2012 presidential race will be the most expensive in U.S. history, a funny thing is happening on the way to the Republican nomination: It’s becoming one of the cheapest primaries in a more than a decade," Bloomberg reports. "The top nine Republican candidates spent $53 million through September, compared with $132 million spent at the same time four years ago. The sum is even lower than totals reported during the same period in the 2004 and 2000 primaries -- when most candidates still were abiding by campaign spending limits in order to receive public matching money."

AP looks at some of the best, er, worst GOP presidential campaign flubs this cycle.

CAIN: He declared yesterday, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over!’ And it ain’t over yet,” NBC’s Jo Ling Kent reports. But he said he acknowledged he hadn’t yet talked to his wife face to face about the latest allegations of an affair and that he would make a final decision on whether he stays in the race in a few days, after he sees his wife Friday.

The AP picks up on that this morning: Cain “says a heavy emotional toll on his family -- particularly his wife, Gloria, who he has not seen since the charge surfaced -- could force him to call it quits. The shift comes as a growing chorus of would-be allies suggests he is no longer a viable presidential contender and Cain himself says fundraising has suffered.”

The New York Post: “Supporters are leaping off the Herman Cain train, but the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO insists he’s moving forward with his run for president.”

GINGRICH: Gingrich said on FOX of who’s more conservative between him and Romney, per GOP 12: "I'm clearly the more conservative candidate by any rational standard… Take whatever your list of conservative is. There are places in my career where I've done that stuff, and I've been consistent about it. I was for Ronald Reagan long before people began just to quote him. So that part of it -- there's no contest."

Conservative Andrea Tantaros, writing in the New York Daily News, backs Gingrich for his position on immigration: “[T]he former speaker is right. This country has become the greatest in the world thanks to immigrants who left their nations in search of America's promise. If you want to come here and work hard, there should be a process in place for you to do that. And if you've been here for, say, 25 years and pose no threat, you should be allowed to stay, not forcibly be sent back.”

“Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill are nervous about Newt Gingrich’s rise in the polls, with one member saying, ‘Newt’s hand is always six inches from the self-destruct button,’” The Hill writes.

Richard Land wants Gingrich to apologize for his marital infidelity and give a speech about it. Gingrich’s biggest problem, Land writes, if with Evangelical women, who seem to be far less forgiving on the subject than Evangelical men. “You need to make it as clear as you possibly can that you deeply regret your past actions and that you do understand the anguish and suffering they caused others including your former spouses,” he writes, adding, “Such a speech would not convince everyone to vote for you, but it might surprise you how many Evangelicals, immersed in a spiritual tradition of confession, redemption, forgiveness and second and third chances, might.”

HUNTSMAN: At the New Hampshire state House yesterday, Huntsman said, “Did I tell you we’ve changed our campaign motto to ‘live free or die?’ … I want your vote. And if I don’t get your vote, I want a fee for services rendered.”

Jon Stewart pranked Huntsman on Twitter. Huntsman took questions via Twitter with the hash tag, “#Q4Jon” yesterday. So Stewart Tweeted the hash tag out to fans telling them to use it to ask Mad Men actor Jon Hamm questions. Huntsman even replied to question for Hamm: “Asked whether he sees himself following actors George Clooney's or Tom Selleck's career path, Huntsman replied,” per The Hill, “ ‘I definitely want Clooney's career path. But I think that Q was for Jon Hamm.’” He also tweeted, “Funny prank @TheDailyShow!”

ROMNEY: After downplaying the Iowa caucuses, Romney is set to begin airing his first ad there. “The former Massachusetts governor's decision to start spending money on paid advertising in Iowa five weeks before the Jan. 3 caucuses signals a belief that he can fare well in Iowa even though the state tripped up his 2008 bid,” AP writes. “The move comes as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has emerged as the chief GOP challenger to Romney nationally and in Iowa.”

More: “While advisers say Romney's increasing Iowa presence is part of a long-planned effort to surge heading into the must-win New Hampshire primary, the ad and a more aggressive December campaign schedule in Iowa come as the race for the caucuses has remained fluid.” And: “In addition to accepting invitations to Iowa's Dec. 10 and 15 debates, Romney also dispatched his son Josh to Iowa and is sending New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to campaign in the state next week.”

“Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says his faith’s prohibitions on premarital sex, alcohol consumption, and caffeine use have had a ‘liberating’ effect on his life rather than an inhibiting one,” the Boston Globe reports of Romney’s interview with PARADE. “In a companion interview, his wife reveals his vice: chocolate milk. And when he needs to kickstart his day, he resorts to hot chocolate, she says.”

And he declared: “Americans have looked to people like Dwight Eisenhower, F.D.R., and the Kennedys, who all had unusual experiences that were needed for the times they served. In the US, the very poor are provided a safety net, which must be maintained. The very rich are doing fine. The middle class is suffering. It is for the great majority of Americans, the 90 percent in the middle, that I’m running for president.” He also insists that his wife pushed him to run this time and that he was “reluctant after 2008 to run again.”

FOX’s Brett Baier said last night that Romney – twice – told him how unhappy he was with his interview Monday night: "He just made it clear at the end of the interview. We had a little talk. He said he thought it was overly aggressive.... after we finished, he went to his holding room; then came back and said he didn't like the interview and thought it was uncalled for."

“Senate Republicans countered a Democratic plan to tax millionaires and billionaires Wednesday with a proposal that implicitly acknowledged the strength of the Democrats’ message but fell short of its substantive goal,” Roll Call writes. “In a $111 billion framework aimed at extending President Barack Obama’s payroll tax cut, the GOP’s proposal mentioned the word ‘millionaires’ five times, noted ‘billionaires’ twice and misspelled the name of one of the world’s richest men — investor Warren Buffett — three times. But the plan to pay for a one-year extension of the payroll tax cut finds most of its savings from placing a three-year pay freeze on federal workers and cutting the government workforce by 10 percent, or by about 200,000 job.”

“Democrats have unleashed a concerted, coordinated effort to undercut GOP candidates in competitive Senate and House races by charging them with blocking an extension of a payroll-tax cut — even though the Republican leadership has made it clear that it supports it,” The Hill reports.

“The House Ethics Committee on Wednesday indicated that it may need to extend the contract of the independent counsel it hired to examine the botched investigation of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), carrying the investigation into next year,” Roll Call writes.

“President Obama went on a buckraking blitz through the city Wednesday, tapping wealthy donors at three coffer-boosting fundraisers,” The New York Daily News writes.

And check out what he said, per the Daily News: “ ‘It's time for us to refocus and make sure that we understand that 'change we can believe in' was never going to be change overnight,’ Obama said at the glitzy Gotham Bar and Grill in the East Village, where donors forked over $25,800 each to hobnob with the commander-in-chief. ‘Rather it's gonna be a slow, steady progression during which this aircraft carrier that we call United States of America slowly shifts in a direction that promises more opportunity.’” And: “I’m going to need another term to finish the job,” he said.

Per NBC’s Kristen Welker, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today met with Myanmar’s president, Thein Sein, telling the president: “I am here today because President Obama and myself are encouraged by the steps that you and your government have taken to provide for your people.” President Thein Sein called Clinton visit “historic” and a “new chapter” for Myanmar. Clinton presented Maynmar’s president with a letter from President Obama. The meeting took place at the presidential palace in Nay Pyi Taw and lasted several hours.

In her remarks to reporters after the meeting, Secretary Clinton said while the progress that Myanmar has taken is welcome, it is just a start, Welker adds. She called on the country to release all political prisoners, hold free and fair elections, and sever its “illicit ties with North Korea.” The U.S. has long suspected that Mynamar might be working with North Korea to obtain nuclear weapons. Taking a frank tone, Clinton said, “The most consequential question facing this country is not its relationship with America or any other nation. It is whether leaders will let their people live up to their God-given potential and claim their place at the heart of a Pacific Century? Or will this country, once again, be left behind?”

Spin-meister: “Sen. Charles Schumer says the political landscape has shifted dramatically from the 2010 election and predicts that Senate Democrats will hold their majority and might even expand it next year,” The Hill reports. He said, ““I think we’re very, very likely to keep the Senate and I think there’s a darn good chance we stay the same or pick up seats.”

NEBRASKA: “Majority PAC boosted vulnerable Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) with an ad buy in his home state this week,” Roll Call writes.

NORTH DAKOTA: Stu Rothenberg on why the North Dakota Senate race isn’t a toss-up: “With two polls showing Berg as unpopular, why not rate the race as a tossup? The simple answer is that race ratings aren’t merely a reflection of the latest polls. They are based on current information and projections of what the race and the political environment will look like as Election Day nears. The problem for Democrats in North Dakota is that Heitkamp might well be at her strongest before the North Dakota Senate race really engages, so the two early Democratic surveys may be measuring her appeal at its apex, not over the long term.”

TEXAS: “Texas officials have filed a request with the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the implementation of the state’s new Congressional map,” Roll Call reports. “Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) asked the country’s highest court for a stay to stop the interim map that will likely deliver three House seats to Democrats in 2012.”

VIRGINIA: Controversial state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli will run for governor.

WISCONSIN: “The toughest opponent Tommy Thompson may have to overcome in next year’s U.S. Senate race is Tommy Thompson himself,” the AP writes. “The former Wisconsin governor and U.S. Cabinet secretary was set to formally launch his Senate bid with a rally Thursday, 13 years since he last appeared on a ballot. Early in the campaign, Thompson has found himself under criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike over his shifting position on President Barack Obama’s health care reform law. And conservatives in his party say his record as governor and as President George W. Bush’s first health and human services secretary was far too moderate… But Thompson has some things the two more conservative GOP candidates in the race don’t: More than 40 years in public life, unparalleled name recognition, and a vast reservoir of good will.”