Updated at 6:02 p.m. ET

Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) will resign from Congress this week, she announced in a video message posted Sunday. 

Giffords, the victim of a gunshot wound to the head in an attack a year ago in her Arizona district, cited her continued work toward recovery as a reason for stepping down from her seat. 

"I have more work to do on my recovery, so to do what is best for Arizona I will step down this week," she said in a video message posted to YouTube. "I will return and we will work together for Arizona and this great country."

According to a statement posted on her Congressional website, Giffords will attend Tuesday night's State of the Union address as one of her final acts as a member of Congress before submitting her resignation to Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday.  The statement also says Giffords plans to "finish" the Congress on your Corner event where the shooting happened before she leaves office. 

"Gabby Giffords embodies the very best of what public service should be.  She's universally admired for qualities that transcend party or ideology - a dedication to fairness, a willingness to listen to different ideas, and a tireless commitment to the work of perfecting our union.  That's why the people of Arizona chose Gabby - to speak and fight and stand up for them," President Obama said in a statement Sunday evening.  "Gabby's cheerful presence will be missed in Washington.  But she will remain an inspiration to all whose lives she touched - myself included.  And I'm confident that we haven't seen the last of this extraordinary American."

Giffords has enjoyed a remarkable recovery since being shot in that Jan. 8, 2011 incident that left six dead. 

Prior to that shooting, she had been considered a rising Democratic star, and had been considering a bid for Senate this fall. During the course of her recovery, she has been absent from Capitol Hill except for a surprise return to vote in August on an agreement to raise the nation's debt ceiling.

“I salute Congresswoman Giffords for her service, and for the courage and perseverance she has shown in the face of tragedy.  She will be missed,” House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement. 

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi reacted to the announcement in a statement saying Giffords "has been a true bright star - a dynamic and creative public servant.  Gabby's message of bipartisanship and civility is one that all in Washington and the nation should honor and emulate."  Pelosi continued, "I join all my colleagues in Congress in thanking Gabby for the honor of calling her colleague and wishing Gabby and Mark great success and happiness.  She will be missed in the House of Representatives, but her legacy in the Congress and her leadership for our nation will certainly continue."

The percentages last night: Gingrich 40%, Romney 28%, Santorum 17%, Paul 13%.

A roundup of front pages:

The Charleston Post and Courier: “A Gingrich rout.”

The Greenville News: “It’s Newt.”

The Rock Hill Herald: “Gingrich comes from behind to win in S.C.”

The Miami Herald: “Newt’s win sets stage for Fla. battle.”

Tampa Bay Times: “Gingrich takes win into Fla.”

The Atlanta Journal Constitution (Gingrich’s hometown paper): “Gingrich reshapes race.”

The New York Times: “Upset by Gingrich shifts GOP campaign.”

The Washington Post: “Gingrich upends race.” Subhed: “He sails into first place in South Carolina, leaving Republicans without a clear front-runner.”

The Boston Globe: “Gingrich roars to win S.C., upending Republican contest.” Subhed: “Suddenly for Romney, Florida win seems a must.”

The State: “Gingrich routs Romney.” “S.C. Republicans went rogue Saturday, choosing Newt Gingrich for president in the state’s GOP primary. In the process, the primary results threw the 2012 Republican presidential race into chaos and upended 30 years of precedence – of always endorsing the GOP’s establishment candidate.”

And: “The S.C. results also call into question the ability of onetime GOP front-runner Mitt Romney to rally the Republican base in the fall’s general election against Democrat President Barack Obama. … In South Carolina, Gingrich found an electorate clamoring for anyone-but-Romney, and he used two nationally televised debates in the days leading up to the primary to consolidate that vote.”

The State’s Gina Smith: “S.C. Republicans are frustrated, and it showed Saturday… Republican voters statewide found a mouthpiece for their anger Saturday in Newt Gingrich, overwhelmingly handing him a primary victory after he dominated two well-watched debates in the crucial last days before the primary.”

And ahead of Monday’s NBC-National Journal-Tampa Bay Times debate, Smith makes this point: “Debate performance never mattered more… Front-runner Romney may have had the cash, outspending Gingrich in the Palmetto State by nearly 2-1, and the air of inevitability, but he failed to galvanize the GOP base and proved to be lackluster in the debates.”

More: “All in all, it was a bad week for Romney, who was assailed for his role as a venture capitalist at Bain Capital, his offshoring of money in the Cayman Islands and had his Iowa win reversed by a recount that found former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania the winner.

In the end, Romney won the largest number of voters only among the rich, those earning $200,000 or more; the very well-educated, those with post-graduate degrees; those who call themselves moderates; and non-evangelicals in Saturday’s primary, according to exit polling.” This from a GOP primary voter, who voted for Gingrich: “Romney is one of the 1 percent,” said Chester Woodward of Columbia. “But he tries to hide it.”

The New York Post: “Newt Gingrich scored a stunning landslide victory in the South Carolina Republican primary last night, blowing past Mitt Romney and opening up the GOP nominating contest just days after an ex-wife gave a sensational TV interview accusing him of wanting an ‘open marriage.’ … Gingrich’s come-from behind win sets up a recast multistate slugfest — a remarkable turnaround for a candidate once left for dead and dismissed in attack ads as having too much ‘baggage.’”

“To say Newt Gingrich capped an extraordinary comeback with a South Carolina victory doesn't quite capture what happened. It was more like vindication,” AP’s Beaumont writes, adding, “He did it by finding his voice and rallying conservatives with a populist defiance.” More: “It was on the debate stage that the pugnacious Gingrich arguably revived his presidential campaign, not once but twice in the past year, by giving a tea party-infused GOP exactly what it's hungering for -- a no-holds-barred attack dog willing to go after President Barack Obama with abandon.”

Rich Lowry: “Newt Gingrich made history last night. He’s the first presidential candidate to use an ex-wife’s allegation that he requested an ‘open marriage’ to vault to an astonishing, campaign-saving primary victory.” And then makes this point: “If Romney can’t right himself and Gingrich goes on to win Florida, every major elected Republican in the country will panic. Every unlikely scenario to get another candidate in the race will be explored. Because whatever GOP primary voters in South Carolina think about his electability, Gingrich is currently radioactive among the general public.”'

The New York Daily News calls Gingrich’s win a “stunning comeback.” “Newt Gingrich completed a stunning political comeback by winning a do-or-die South Carolina primary Saturday - thrusting the Republican presidential nomination race into turmoil,” it writes, adding, “South Carolina could have been a coronation for Romney, who would have all but locked up the GOP nomination with a win. But the bitter defeat capped of a brutal week for the former frontrunner, whose Iowa caucus victory disappeared days ago in a recount, and who now heads to the Sunshine State bloodied and battered - with questions swirling about whether he can ever truly win over the right-wing core of his party.

The Daily News’ DeFrank writes, “South Carolina’s rebellious Republicans rewarded an improbable, against-the-grain victor — but he wasn’t even on the ballot” – Barack Obama. “Mitt Romney’s disastrous tax meltdown, coupled with Newt Gingrich’s adroit bellicosity, media-baiting and Washington-bashing, have campaign strategists smiling this weekend in the Chicago headquarters of the Democratic nominee.”

Still: “barring cataclysm, Romney remains the odds-on favorite to win the nomination. He’s better organized, better financed and generally better equipped to go the distance. … That table tilts Romney’s way going forward. He’s ahead in Florida and expected to win upcoming contests in Nevada, Colorado, his native Michigan and Arizona, where John McCain has endorsed him. Moreover, the prospect of Gingrich carrying the GOP torch against Obama is anathema to party elders, who know his undisciplined side and personal baggage.”

The Boston Globe also notes, “Now comes the hard part for Newt Gingrich. After winning South Carolina, resource-draining Florida, with its 10 media markets, awaits, and unless his performance here generates a gusher of new cash and bodies, he lacks the infrastructure and money of Mitt Romney, who has plenty of resources to fall back. … In Florida, you cannot run an effective statewide campaign without a heavy television presence, and that can eat up more than $1 million a week for a modest buy.”

The Boston Globe’s Glen Johnson: “The South Carolina primary results have conclusively blown a hole in Mitt Romney’s inevitability strategy. They’ve also presented Republicans with something of a political dilemma as they contemplate their 2012 presidential nominee. Do they rally around their most conservative elements - and risk broader general election appeal - by backing either Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum? Or do they nominate Romney, who may have the GOP establishment support and organizational advantages to win a long primary campaign, but who still hasn’t shown an ability to connect to the hearts - on top of the minds - of the electorate?”

Gingrich won all but three counties.

Despite rain, South Carolina set a turnout record: With 13 of 2,129 precincts  not yet reported, 601,166 South Carolinians voted, according to the South Carolina Election Commission. That beats the 2000 record of 576,000,” The State reports.

“Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) told Bloomberg he will ‘stay neutral’ in the state's Republican presidential primary while warning his party's candidates to leave the ‘circular firing squad’ of their debates behind and start appealing to a broader audience,” Political Wire writes.

Delegate tracker: Gingrich now leads in the delegate count (1,143 are needed for the nomination):
Gingrich 21
Romney 18
Santorum 11
Paul 6

Norm Ornstein on the role of Super PACs and the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. "By giving corporations free rein to meddle in politics without any accountability required, just like in the robber baron days, and by defining money as speech, the court dealt a body blow to American democracy. Candidates no longer can focus simply on raising money for their campaigns against other candidates. Because corporations have almost unlimited sums they can put in with no notice, candidates have to raise protection money in advance just in case such a campaign is waged against them." (Hat tip: Political Wire.)

PAUL: “Ron Paul vowed to press forward with his quest for the Republican presidential nomination on Saturday even as early vote tallies showed him headed for a fourth-place finish in the South Carolina primary,” the L.A. Times writes. Paul said, “The message of liberty is being received by more people every single day.” More: “His volunteers took Paul’s loss as a small setback, if that, for a man whose candidacy is at least as much a movement as a bid for public office.”

AP: “Brushing off his poor last place finish in the South Carolina primary Saturday, Republican Ron Paul promised supporters the momentum around his libertarian-leaning campaign would continue. ‘This is the beginning of a long, hard job,’” he said. And: “[T]he weak fourth-place finish was still a blow to Paul, who came in a respectable second to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in New Hampshire last week and placed third in Iowa behind Romney and Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania. And it raised anew the question of whether he was in the race to win or simply wanted his views to gain maximum influence within the party.”

ROMNEY: Romney will release his tax returns Tuesday, Romney said on FOX News Sunday, per NBC's Garrett Haake.

SANTORUM: “Vowing to go forward, Republican Rick Santorum cast his disappointing third-place finish in this state's primary as a hiccup and pledged Saturday to continue campaigning in a race he called ‘wide open,’” AP writes. Santorum said, “Three states. Three different winners. What a great country," Santorum said.

More: “The disadvantages that plagued Santorum early on -- lack of money, shell operations, negligible advertising -- gave way to a more professional campaign here. He had the money to air ads, hire staff and cover as much ground as possible with a private airplane. Many of his senior advisers had deep roots to the state and in recent days he beamed confidently that South Carolina could give him his second win in an early state. That win didn't come Saturday and his advisers were shuffling to reset the campaign yet again, this time in costly Florida.”

In the Iowa caucuses, Mitt Romney struggled among very conservative GOP voters, Tea Party supporters, and evangelicals. And he ended up losing that race (though we didn't find out until this week).

A week later, however, Romney overperformed with these three groups in New Hampshire, and he won that contest easily.

And in South Carolina tonight? According to the exit polls, it looks more like Iowa than New Hampshire.

Among voters who consider themselves to be "very conservative" -- who make up 36% of tonight's primary electorate -- Newt Gingrich leads Romney, 45%-20%.

Among voters who are Tea Party supporters, Gingrich has a 17-point edge over Romney, 43%-26%.

And among those who describe themselves as evangelical or born-again Christians -- who made up 65% of the GOP primary electorate -- Gingrich is ahead, 42%-22%.

Besides ideology, the exit polls also make it clear that Gingrich benefited -- and Romney struggled -- from the final two debates this week.

Among those who said they made up their minds in the "last few days," Gingrich leads 43%-23%. Yet among those who said they made up their minds earlier than that, Romney leads by two points, Romney leads 35%-32%.

And among those who said the debates were the "single most important factor" or "one of several important factors," Gingrich leads by a wide margin.

NBC News projects that Newt Gingrich will win the SC Republican primary.

That makes history. Never before have there been three different winners of IA, NH, and SC on the Republican side.

Updated 10:04 p.m. ET

Newt Gingrich has won the South Carolina Republican primary, capping off a remarkable comeback for his presidential bid that reshapes the trajectory of the battle for the GOP nomination as the race now heads to Florida and beyond.

The results mark the end of a tumultuous week in politics that saw Gingrich erase and then overcome the lead former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney had in the Palmetto State following his victory in the Jan. 10 New Hampshire primary. Gingrich came on strong in the closing days of the campaign, looking to rally under his banner the many conservatives unwilling to get behind Romney, who had sought to posture himself as the eventual nominee.

"We don't have the kind of money at least one of the candidates has," Gingrich said in his victory remarks. "But we do have ideas and we do have people. And we proved here in South Carolina that people power with the right ideas beats big money."

VIEW full South Carolina primary results

Gingrich spent most of his speech Saturday night lashing out at "media elites" in New York and Washington, D.C., while castigating President Obama. He leaned on wonky explanations of policy to draw contrasts with the president, whom Gingrich accused of representing values antithetical to "classical" America.

"It's not that I am a good debater. It's that I articulate the deepest-felt values of the American people," said Gingrich, who admitted at a Thursday debate to sometimes thinking in grandiose terms.

The evening's second-place finisher, Romney, drew on elements of his stump speech, but also started to preview rhetoric that will become part of his pitched case versus Gingrich in Florida's primary on Jan. 31.

"We're now three contests into a long primary season ... We've still got a long way to go, and a lot of work to do," Romney said in his remarks Saturday night.

Gingrich, Romney said, had joined Obama in launching a "frontal assault on free enterprise," referencing the ex-speaker's attack on Romney's record at Bain Capital.

"Those who pick up the weapons of the left today will find them turned against us tomorrow," Romney said. "If Republican leaders want to join this president in demonizing success...then they're not going to be fit to be our nominee."

The results in South Carolina only raise the stakes for the battle in Florida, a traditionally expensive contest where voting is closed to only registered Republicans, and the winner is awarded all of the delegates.

The Romney campaign is hoping that contest will be its firewall. They appeared poised to make their argument versus Gingrich even more sharply in the state. They circulated a “flashback” video on Saturday reminding voters of the ethics investigation Gingrich had faced during his speakership.

The former speaker made reference to the next primary several times in his victory speech Satuday.

"With your help, we are now moving onto Florida and beyond," he said, later asking for supporters' help in reaching out to Floridians.

Gingrich, who will appear on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday morning, hopes to capitalize there on his finish in South Carolina, which was driven in part by late deciders, who broke decisively in his direction in the last few days of the campaign. That stretch saw two debate performances by Gingrich, on Monday and Thursday nights. Almost two-thirds of voters said the debates were an important factor in their decision, and Gingrich won about half of them.

More broadly, core elements of the GOP base in South Carolina – conservatives, Tea Party supporters and evangelical Christians – broke for Gingrich. And the former speaker even edged Romney in two important constituencies for the former Massachusetts governor: voters who said electability in November was their most important concern in a nominee, and voters who said the economy was their top issue.

The South Carolina results underscore Romney’s lingering inability to overcome skepticism from conservatives about electing him as their standard-bearer against Obama this fall.

RELATED: Conservatives, evangelical Christians rebuff Romney in South Carolina

Gingrich had erased Romney’s lead by abandoning his previous pledge to wage a “relentlessly positive” campaign. The former speaker eventually embraced a strategy of drawing strong contrasts with Romney and benefited from the negative advertising run on his behalf by a super PAC – a practice Gingrich loudly denounced in Iowa, where he saw his poll numbers collapse amid attacks by a pro-Romney super PAC.

His victory provides, if nothing else, a symbolic imprimatur; the winner of the South Carolina primary has gone on to win the nomination in each Republican primary since the contest’s inception in 1980.

The South Carolina results capped one of the most unpredictable weeks in the presidential campaign thus far, a week that saw two candidates leave the race and the veneer of inevitability the Romney campaign had built for itself erode by the end.

Watch Newt Gingrich's appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday

Recertified results in the Iowa caucuses found that he had actually lost the contest by a handful of votes to former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. And Romney has fought to withstand some of the most intense scrutiny he’s faced during the campaign; critics have assailed his private equity career and demanded Romney release his tax returns – demands which only reached a fever pitch after Romney estimated he pays an effective rate of 15 percent of his income in taxes.

Moreover, Romney’s performance in South Carolina will speak volumes about his fractious relationship with movement conservatives. He’s struggled at times to break through a ceiling on his support from those voters, who are skeptical of Romney’s past conversion on abortion rights and his embrace of authorship of a health care law as governor that closely resembles Obama’s 2010 reform law.

Nonetheless, the fact that Gingrich has arrived at the precipice of political resurrection – again – this cycle is itself remarkable.

Political observers had questioned when, not if, he would drop out after suffering missteps at the outset of his campaign that led to the defection of virtually all of his top staff last June. But Gingrich stuck with it and climbed to the top of the polls in Iowa, only to see his numbers implode again after weathering attacks from super PACs and Texas Rep. Ron Paul’s campaign.

In South Carolina, the former speaker has been aided by a variety of factors contributing to his potential comeback. He’s scored major points with voters with a couple of strong debate performances this week, particularly by way of launching acerbic attacks on the media. His angry refusal to answer allegations made by an ex-wife topped headlines coming out of a debate on Thursday – the same day that saw Texas Gov. Rick Perry drop his own campaign and endorse Gingrich.

The winnowed field (Jon Huntsman also ended his campaign and endorsed Romney), only reduced the number of candidates threatening to divide the anti-Romney vote in South Carolina.

Santorum, crowned the winner of the Iowa caucuses upon further review of the vote totals, had doggedly criticized both Romney and Gingrich in hopes of rallying conservatives behind his unflashy, if consistent, record.

"Three states, three winners -- what a great country," he said in remarks Saturday evening, vowing to continue his campaign through Florida and subsequent nominating contests.

NBC’s Jamie Novogrod, Garrett Haake, Alex Moe and Andrew Rafferty contributed.

GREENVILLE, SC –- The much anticipated Ham House showdown that started cooking yesterday never came off the back burner today -- Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich did not cross paths at the popular Palmetto State campaign venue.

“Where's Mitt?” Gingrich asked the crowd after Romney left the restaurant. “I thought he was gonna stay and maybe we'd have a little debate this morning. So I'm kind of confused."

Both the Romney and Gingrich campaigns released schedules late Friday night announcing they would be at Tommy’s Country Ham House at 10:45 am today. Neither campaign would back down and cancel the event, but Romney ended up arriving this morning just before 10:00 am -- 45 minutes earlier then planned.

“We see Newt all the time,” a Romney campaign aide said. “We don’t get to see the voters of South Carolina every day.”

The former Massachusetts governor only took one small jab at Gingrich during his brief remarks.

“If we think we need a Washington insider to run Washington, there are a lot of people to choose from. But I’m the only guy whose spent his life in the real world; I’m going to fight to put America back to work,” he said.

Much of the restaurant never heard Romney's message at all. Standing on a chair, Romney shouted towards the back, but didn't use the microphone that had been set up near him.

“They have a microphone, but I didn’t pay for it,” Romney told the crowd as many were yelling that they couldn’t hear him. The sound system was provided by the Gingrich campaign.

While Romney worked the restaurant, volunteers from his campaign -- including more than 70 college students bussed in from Virginia -- circled the restaurant, chanting and generally raising the energy level well beyond that of your standard saturday brunch.

The former speaker arrived a mere 20 minutes after Romney departed, and he addressed the crowd with a microphone flanked by signs for both him and the governor.

"And let me say to our friends who are holding up Romney signs, we're glad you're a part of the American system; we're glad you have the right in this to express yourself in this country' and we hope in the very near future, you'll see the light and pick up a Gingrich sign,” he said said.

Gingrich, who told NBC News the event was “wild,” shook hands for voters just as Romney did. But the two candidates visited opposite sides of the ham house.

One man stood near the kitchen with a hat on that had a piece of paper on the front reading “UNDECIDED.” Gingrich turned to the man and said, “Why don’t you write Newt?”

In turn, the man handed the hat to Gingrich and the Speaker crossed out “UNDECIDED” and wrote “NEWT.”

“Now he is for me,” Gingrich said with a smile to the cameras as he held up the hat. “One vote at a time.”

Romney and Gingrich are running neck-and-neck in many polls in South Carolina, and this event today proved it -– a split between voters and even some family members.

Both Mary Louise Batson and her stepdaughter sat in a booth to listen to the two presidential contenders each supporting a different candidate. Mary held up a Newt 2012 sign, while Joanie displayed a Romney sign. The two were planning on going to vote just after “hamgate” wrapped up.

Polls in South Carolina close at 7:00 pm ET.

After some earlier uncertainty, the Romney campaign has confirmed that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will participate in Monday's NBC/National Journal/Tampa Bay Times debate moderated by NBC's Brian Williams.

As a result, all four remaining Republican presidential candidates -- Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum -- will appear at the debate, which takes place in Tampa, FL and airs on NBC beginning at 9:00 pm ET. 

The statement from NBC News Senior Vice President of Specials Mark Lukasiewicz:

"All four qualifying Republican presidential candidates have confirmed their attendance for Monday's NBC News, National Journal, Tampa Bay Times debate. Florida has often been the stage for history in politics -- we look forward to hosting a substantive and stimulating forum for the candidates to make their case to the voters in this crucial state and the whole country."

President Obama who has been bashed for weeks by Republicans on the Campaign trail, will attempt to reshape the election-year debate on Tuesday. Obama released a preview of his State of the Union Address in a video to his supporters Saturday morning. 

“I'm going to lay out a blueprint for an American economy that's built to last,” Obama said.

The president said the address will bookend the speech he gave in Osawatomie, Kan.

“I talked in Osawatomie about - this is a make-or-break moment for the middle class and folks trying to work their way into the middle class," he said. "Because we can go in two directions -- one is towards less opportunity and less fairness. Or we can fight for where I think we need to go: building an economy that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few.”

Obama said he will address four topics: boosting American manufacturing, expanding skills for the American worker through education and training and a return to “American Values – of fairness for all, and responsibility from all.”

Some of his proposals may include making college more affordable and providing help to homeowners, according to one official.

On Wednesday, the president will hit the road for a five state, three-day trip to key battleground States including Iowa, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Michigan. It is customary for president’s to sell their State of the Union message in the days after the address. This trip and the address will undoubtedly be scrutinized against the backdrop of the 2012 election which is now less than 10 months away.

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- After days of watching his once-substantial lead in the Palmetto State slowly evaporate, Mitt Romney this morning opened a new front in his battle against Newt Gingrich; calling for the former speaker to release records of his dealings with failed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as Republican voters here headed for the polls.

"Speaker Gingrich worked for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. By the way, Didn't he say he was going to release information about his relationship there? Lets see what report he wrote for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Lets see what the conclusions were, what the contract looked like," Romney said at an event with volunteers at his Greenville headquarters. "I thought he said he was going to do that. Let's have him describe his relationships in Washington. If people think Washington is the answer, if people think someone who spent the great majority of their life in Washington, I'll be surprised."

Outside the event, Romney went even further in hitting Gingrich, repeating a line he first debuted in Thursday's debate meant to undercut Gingrich's role in the Reagan economy.

"I'd like to see what the report was that he provided to Freddie Mac. I'd like to see what he advised. He said he was an historian and just provided historical information, then he said he told them what they were doing was somehow not going to work. I'd like to see the report," Romney told reporters. "He also said that he was one of the authors of the Reagan revolution economically and created these jobs. Now that we've looked at the Reagan diaries and seen he's mentioned only once and in a way where Reagan said he was wrong, I'd like to see what he actually told Freddie Mac. Don't ya think we ought to see it? This is a big issue. We've got Washington insider talking about Freddie Mac, let's see what his report was to Freddie Mac, what he said to them, what advise he gave them."

The "Washington Insider" label Romney has deployed in recent days against Gingrich comes as he also attempts to claim the mantle of "Washington Outsider" long worn by Texas Governor Rick Perry, who dropped out of the presidential race on Thursday.

"In order for us to take a new direction in this country I believe we must step out of Washington," Romney said. "The people I'm running against -- all three -- have spent the great majority of their career working in Washington."

Romney's most prominent endorser in the state, Governor Nikki Haley also took up the call for Gingrich to release more information, making a veiled reference to the speaker while defending Romney's decision to release his own potentially damaging documents, his tax returns, in April.

"All this issue about the tax returns. He's doing it. He's going to do it in April. He's gonna show 'em and what we're going to see is that he was successful," Haley said at at the headquarters event. " We're going to see that he paid on time. We're going to see that he paid at the rate he was supposed to. What I will tell you is that we've got some other candidates who don't want to show things."

And while Haley told reporters after the event that Romney would win South Carolina "without question," the candidate himself looked to tamp down expectations and prod on his volunteers by reminding them of the results of the first nominating contest just two weeks ago.

"It has every indication this will be a very close race, so the work that you do can make the difference between winning and losing," Romney told his volunteers. "As we found out in Iowa, every vote counts."

In the race for tomorrow's South Carolina Republican primary, the campaigns and Super PACs have spent more than $13 million in advertising in the state, according to Smart Media Group Delta, the ad-tracking firm partnering with NBC News.

Leading the pack are the Romney campaign ($1.9 million) and the pro-Romney Super PAC Restore Our Future ($2.5 million). Another pro-Romney Super PAC, Citizens for a Working America, has spent $264,000.

That combined $4.7 million by Romney and his supporters is nearly twice what the Perry campaign and his allies spent in South Carolina ($2.5 million), as well as the Gingrich campaign and his supporters ($2.4 million).

Looking ahead to the next contest -- Florida on Jan. 31 -- Team Romney and allies are also dominating the Sunshine State, where Restore Our Future has spent $4 million and the Romney campaign has spent $3.3 million. No other GOP candidate or Super PAC is advertising in Florida (though AFSCME has an anti-Romney ad airing there).

***  UPDATE *** A Republican source tells First Read that the pro-Santorum Red, White, and Blue Fund has spent $225,000 in Florida. That amount did not show up in the ad-tracking figures.

In Iowa, the total spending was more than $16 million; in New Hampshire, it was more than $5 million. And $47.5 million has been spent in all states by all 2012 advertisers.

South Carolina breakdown
Restore Our Future PAC (pro-Romney) $2.5 million
Mitt Romney $1.9 million
Make Us Great Again PAC (pro-Perry) $1.9 million
Winning Our Future PAC (pro-Gingrich) $1.7 million
Ron Paul $1.4 million
Rick Santorum $936k
Red White and Blue Fund (pro-Santorum) $775k
Newt Gingrich $640k
Rick Perry $592k
Santa Rita PAC (pro-Paul) $324k
Citizens for a Working America (pro-Romney) $264k
Our Destiny PAC (pro-Huntsman) $50k
Revolution PAC (pro-Paul) $32k

Florida breakdown
Restore Our Future PAC $4 million
Mitt Romney $3.3 million
AFSCME $931k

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- It might have been South Carolina's largest political rally of the 2012 primary season, packed with more than 3,000 people, but with neither of the headlining guests actually a candidate for office.

Comedian Stephen Colbert brought his mock presidential campaign -- for president of the United States of South Carolina -- to his hometown of Charleston to ask voters to support former candidate Herman Cain.

"I want you to vote for Herman Cain because Herman Cain is me," Colbert told a cheering crowd at the College of Charleston. He urged voters to back Cain, whose name is still on Saturday's primary ballot, because South Carolina does not allow write-in candidates.

"We both flout convention when it comes to thinks like taxes and debt and how many '-Bekis' there are in Uz-Beki-Beki-Beki-Stan-Stan," Colbert said as the crowd roared. "I say three, Herman says four. National Geographic is working on it."

Cain eagerly shared the spotlight with Colbert but at times seemed like he didn't understand that the rally was a ruse, telling the audience that he disagreed with the comedian-in-chief on whom South Carolinians should vote for on Saturday.

“Now Stephen Colbert asked you to vote for Herman Cain. I am going to ask you to not vote for Herman Cain and here's why: I don't want you to waste your vote,” Cain said in a serious tone. “I don't want you to waste your vote because one of the things a lot of people failed to really appreciate is that every vote counts. Every vote counts and your vote still matters and you still matter.”

Thus went the dynamic of the massive rally: a wide-eyed, sarcastic Colbert poking fun at a willing but rather serious Cain, who was angling for one last stand. While it was clear that Colbert was mocking campaigns, candidates, campaign finance and ballot access, Cain seemed, at several points, not exactly in on the joke as he repurposed old lines from his presidential stump speech.

Taking full advantage of his captive audience, Cain advertised his new website and 9-9-9 tax plan, then encouraged voters to mobilize for change.

"The way you change [government] from the outside is you become a part of this massive movement that's going on in this country,” Cain said, to a scattered applause. “We have got to change Washington from the outside and it starts with you and every other college campus in America.”

When Cain implored students to “stay inspired,” an audible groan rippled through the audience.

It wasn’t long, however, before Colbert lured Cain back into his web of hilarity, reminding him that a Palmetto State victory is indeed still possible, citing some famous defeats through history.

"Just because you lose, that doesn't mean you surrender,” Colbert told Cain. “Did Napoleon surrender at Waterloo? Did Custer surrender at Little Big Horn? Did Robert E. Lee surrender at Appomattox? Hell no!"

Colbert also seized on super PACs, telling the crowd he “celebrated” the organizations. Super PACs may accept unlimited campaign donations from corporations and individuals, and have operated in support of presidential candidates, although they are legally barred from coordinating with candidates directly.

Playing on the names of major super PACs this season, Colbert joyfully ripped the organizations.

"We had finally arrived at an American Crossroads to Restore our Future Priorities USA and Make Us Great Again. Because Freedom Works. And once upon a time I even had one, Colbert Super PAC,” he said wistfully.

"I had to give up my super PAC just because I formed an exploratory committee to be the president of the United States of South Carolina,” Colbert explained. “Giving up that Super PAC wasn't easy. It was like giving up my baby. Do you know how hard that is?"

"Now imagine that baby had a whole lot of money," he continued. "Imagine how much harder that would be because, God willing, you'll get that baby back, but it might not have all the money so why would you love it?"

Basking in crowds larger than even his biggest rallies as a candidate, Cain happily maintained his swagger, serenading the audience in a solo before executing a rousing duet of “This Little Light of Mine” with Colbert, complete with a backup gospel choir.

The rock show-like atmosphere was one that would make any actual presidential candidate jealous. But it's unclear what, if any, effect the rally will have on Saturday's primary vote. Most of the audience was comprised of students at the College of Charleston, many of whom hail from out of state.

The Obama administration announced today that a rule requiring “non-profit religious employers” to comply with the federal health-care law and fully cover contraception would stand -- albeit with a reprieve.

“Non-profit employers who, based on religious beliefs, do not currently provide contraceptive coverage in their insurance plan, will be provided an additional year, until August 1, 2013, to comply with the new law,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in a statement released today.

This rule does not apply to churches or other places of worship. However, it does affect employers like religiously affiliated hospitals and universities that in the past have not included contraception as part of their health coverage. Such institutions were hoping for an exemption to this rule -- with groups like the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops lobbying the Obama administration forcefully on their behalf. 

The Bishops released a scathing statement that said in part: 

“The Catholic bishops of the United States called ‘literally unconscionable’ a decision by the Obama administration to continue to demand that sterilization, abortifacients and contraception be included in virtually all health plans.”

And Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York was quoted as saying: “In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences.”

Sebelius said that the concerns of religious organizations were taken into account in the decision, and that the rule has no impact on existing conscience clauses. 

“This decision was made after very careful consideration, including the important concerns some have raised about religious liberty,” said the Health and Human Services Secretary. 

She continued, “I believe this proposal strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services.”

Non-religious employers are required to fully cover contraception in their health insurance plans by August of this year.

BALTIMORE, MD -- The second-ranking House Republican suggested Friday he could step into the presidential race and make an endorsement before a nominee is decided.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (VA), during a briefing at the House GOP's retreat this weekend in Baltimore, said that he prefers a speedy conclusion to the presidential primary.

"The more we can coalesce around a single nominee the more straightforward the choice will be for the for American people," Cantor said. "I dont know if i'll endorse before it's over. I'm leaving the option open."

Like House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Cantor has remained officially neutral throughout the primary process. Mitt Romney has collected a number of endorsements, though, from high-profile Republicans on Capitol Hill. Newt Gingrich has also won some support, namely from fellow Georgians and a few lawmakers who had served on Capitol Hill during his speakership.

House GOP Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling had previously been the highest-ranking member of the Republican leadership to make an endorsement; Hensarling backed a fellow Texan, Gov. Rick Perry. (Perry ended his campaign this week.)

Cantor suggested that the GOP might be anxious to coordinate its message more closely with a nominee once the race has been decided.

"Ed Gillespie told our conference that the House should be in close coordination with the nominee one that has been decided," referring to the GOP powerbroker, Gillespie, a cofounder of American Crossroads.

Cantor also noted, though, that he hadn't spoken to Romney in "a while."

It was maybe the busiest week of this campaign, leading up to the South Carolina primaries. There were two debates, two candidates dropped out, and the Iowa caucus results were reversed, stripping Mitt Romney of a win and giving one to Rick Santorum.

Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have fought in the closing days of the South Carolina primary to remind voters of the headaches Republicans faced during the speakership of Newt Gingrich, highlighting in particular the ethics investigation that led to his official reprimand.

For his part, Gingrich has dismissed the investigation as an essentially partisan exercise; a spokesman for the former speaker called it "Nancy Pelosi's ethics witch-hunt" on Friday afternoon.

But that hasn't satisfied Gingrich's GOP foes. On Friday, Romney called on Gingrich to release any records relating to the ethics investigation -- a response, in part, to Gingrich's demand that the former Massachusetts governor release his tax records.

"One of the issues that was raised last night by Rick Santorum was the fact that he was pushed out of the House by his fellow members. I think over 80 percent of Republican congressmen voted to reprimand the speaker of the House -- first time in history," Romney said in Gilbert, S.C. "Nancy Pelosi has the full record of that ethics investigation. You know it’s going to get out before the general election."

SLIDESHOW: Newt Gingrich

It cuts to the core of a concern about Gingrich on the lips of many Republicans: While he is credited as a visionary, his speakership was marked by internal Republican discord and personal missteps that made it difficult for the Republicans whom Gingrich had led to Congress to govern. (It's that context which helped give legs to the allegations made Thursday by Gingrich's ex-wife that he had asked for an "open" marriage, or had otherwise asked for a divorce.)

"I don't want a nominee that I have to worry about going out and looking at the paper the next day and figuring out  … worrying about what he's going to say next," Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, said at Thursday night's debate.

But just as Romney's campaign has been reluctant to make public the candidate's tax records, so, too, the Gingrich campaign seems unlikely to release any new documents about the investigation into his actions, which concluded in 1997.

"Unlike Mitt Romney's Tax Returns, the documents and reports from Nancy Pelosi's ethics witch-hunt vs. Newt have been [for] over a decade," Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond wrote on Twitter.

Indeed, the House Select Committee on Ethics has long-posted on its website the entirety of its findings against Gingrich. The Romney campaign is asking for the release of additional documents and details used by the committee as part of its deliberations, a request that goes well beyond what's required of the former speaker. Gingrich has estimated that his office had turned over "1 million pages of material" to the ethics office, much of which may be protected under the private deliberations of the committee.

But a number of other details about the investigation, which culminated in an official House vote to reprimand Gingrich and a $300,000 bill to reimburse the committee's investigation, are a matter of public record.

The investigation was initiated by a complaint filed in September of 1994 by Gingrich's opponent for re-election that alleged a course Gingrich had tought at Kennesaw State College essentially served political purposes despite the class having been advertised as a not-for-profit activity; one that served a primarily educational function.

The investigation was eventually expanded to probe what role GOPAC, the political action committee founded to help train GOP candidates for office, played in support of that college course.

The ethics committee concluded its work in 1997, saying in its findings that Gingrich had misled the committee in its investigations. The eight-member panel stopped short of saying Gingrich had lied, but said the then-speaker had been either "intentional" or "reckless" in his representations of his activities during the investigation. The ethics committee, which is divided evenly on party lines, voted 7-1 in favor of its judgment, and recommendation that the full House vote to reprimand Gingrich and require the reimbursement of $300,000 for extra time spent on the investigation as a result of Gingrich's misstatements.

The House did overwhelmingly approve the reprimand, voting 395-28 to approve the punishment. Twenty-six Republicans broke ranks to oppose the punishment. An official reprimand is a step below censure in severity of congressional discipline.

At the time, as recounted in a Jan. 19, 1997 story in The Washington Post, Gingrich had accepted the penalty and reprimand. But Gingrich ultimately blamed his attorneys for making mistakes that led to the misleading information. "I trusted the law firm to have done the job right. They didn't do the job right and I didn't catch them," he said on Jan. 25, according to a CNN report at the time.

But while the investigation was conducted in a nonpartisan fashion, it's also true that the investigation and reprimand of Gingrich -- the first for a sitting speaker -- was a potent political issue.

According to accounts during the controversy, Republicans were particularly incensed by Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., a member of the ethics committee who leaked audio of Gingrich plotting with aides to combat the charges. The leak fueled partisan rancor over whether Gingrich was being targeted unfairly because of his political stature.

(It's also true that the investigation drove some internal Republican dissent. Throughout the course of the investigation, some Republican members called on Gingrich to step aside temporarily, while others suggested they would not support Gingrich for a second term as speaker. He won a second term with 216 votes, despite some GOP defections.)

The sense, though, that the investigation had been a partisan exercise was rekindled by comments made by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in December. Pelosi was a member of the eight-member ethics panel to conduct the Gingrich investigation.

“I know a lot about him. I served on the investigative committee that investigated him, four of us locked in a room in an undisclosed location for a year. A thousand pages of his stuff," she told the left-leaning news website TalkingPointsMemo.

Pelosi would be barred by releasing that information, since the ethics committee is charged with conducting its inquiries in private. 

That prompted Gingrich to call Pelosi's words in December an early "Christmas gift."

"Just a reminder, that committee was extraordinarily partisan. The job of the Democrats was to get Newt Gingrich," he said on Dec. 6 on CNBC. "They couldn't beat any of our ideas, so they decided to try to beat the messenger. And I think it actually will help people understand what happened in that period and how much of it was partisan."

But it's Pelosi's veiled threat on which Romney's campaign is leaning Friday. "If Nancy Pelosi has this information, Barack Obama has this information," Romney communications director Gail Gitcho said in an email to reporters.

Additional resources on Gingrich's ethics investigation:

• Key Washington Post stories related to the Gingrich investigation
• CNN timeline of Gingrich investigation
• Politifact on Gingrich's claim the ethics investigation was partisan

NBC's Garrett Haake contributed reporting.

Republican nominee John McCain released two years of his tax returns on April 18, 2008. Notably, McCain and wife Cindy have filed separately throughout their more than 30-year marriage.

The wealth in their family belongs to Cindy. On the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, a classic info dump time frame, the McCain campaign released a two-page summary of Cindy's 1040 from 2006 and did not release her full tax return. Sen. McCain's return primarily showed his congressional salary and income from their community property.

In 2004, Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry already had a long practice of releasing his returns while serving on Congress. The greater interest, however, was in the considerable fortune of his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry. 

In October 2004, the Kerry campaign posted a two-page IRS form summary of Heinz's 2003 return. Much of her wealth qualified for the 15% tax rate. Kerry had filed separately and released his full 2003 return months earlier in April 2004. His personal return showed income from his salary and book sales. His wife was able to shield much of her fortune from public scrutiny.

South Carolina Republican voters head to the polls, Next stop for the GOP -- Florida, and President Obama delivers the State of the Union.

Special Thanks, as always, to Drew Fredrickson for your lighting, ingenuity, and... acting.

TAMPA, FL -- The battle over the Latino vote is heating up in south Florida.

Newt Gingrich is out with a radio ad playing on local Spanish-language stations that hits former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for being “the most anti-immigrant candidate.”

“Mitt Romney is a government liberal, from the state of and similar to Kennedy. He is the most anti-immigrant candidate,” the ad charges, according to a translation by the Miami Herald.

Immigration has emerged as a wedge issue between Romney and the former House speaker.  Romney has insisted that illegal immigrants should go to their native countries to apply for permanent residency, while Gingrich has proposed a system of "citizen review boards," by which illegal immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for a certain number of years could win residency status without returning home.

"With regards to those that have come here illegally now, we're not going to round them all up and deport them. But we're also not going to give them a preferential pathway to become permanent residents," Romney said last night, during the CNN debate in Charleston, S.C. 

"Coming here illegally," he continued, "should not give you an advantage being able to become a permanent resident of the United States."

The remarks won applause from the conservative audience.

Gingrich may hope that his own message will play among south Florida's various immigrant communities, where in some cases attitudes may differ. But the ad also clearly aims to discredit Romney among the Cuban community in particular, where another issue -- Cuba’s Castro regime -- is a chief concern.

Resurrecting a gaffe from the last presidential cycle, the ad hits Romney for misattributing a Fidel Castro quote to Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez during a stop in Miami in 2007.

The ad begins with archival tape of Castro using his signature phrase, “Fatherland or Death, we will prevail.”

The narrator says, “Surprising enough, this statement was also made by Mitt Romney.”

(According to the Miami Herald, Romney had mistakenly told voters that “Hugo Chavez has tried to steal an inspiring phrase” that in fact “belongs to a free Cuba.”)

“Unlike Romney, who uses statements from Castro, Newt Gingrich has fought against the regime with Lincoln and Ileana to approve Helms-Burton,” the ad continues, referencing a 1996 act that strengthened the U.S. embargo against Cuba.

That charge won pushback from the Romney campaign today, which points out that the two Florida politicians cited in the ad -– former Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen –- have both endorsed Romney, along Diaz-Balart's younger brother, Mario, who succeeded Lincoln in Congress.

"Mario Diaz-Balart, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln Diaz-Balart all stand with Mitt Romney because he has laid out a clear vision for spreading democracy in our hemisphere. By attacking anyone who supports common-sense border security and immigration reforms as ‘anti-immigrant,’ Newt Gingrich is once again reading from Barack Obama’s liberal talking points," Romney spokesman Alberto Martinez said in a statement to NBC News.

GILBERT, SC -- Mitt Romney said Friday he was "cautiously optimistic" he could still pull out a win in South Carolina's primary, where he's working to withstand a last minute surge by Newt Gingrich.

Romney, who finished fourth in the 2008 primary, has watched Gingrich chip away at his lead in polls here over the course of the week. Voters head to the polls tomorrow to cast their ballots in the first-in-the-south primary.
 
"I sure would like to win South Carolina, but I know that if those polls were right, regardless of who gets the final number, we’re both going to get a lot of delegates. I want as many delegates as I can get -- I want the most delegates coming out of South Carolina," Romney told reporters gathered for a press conference. "But I don’t know what the numbers will be. I’m pretty confident, cautiously optimistic."
 
The former Massachusetts governor also acknowledged the tightening of the race, which has twisted and turned dramatically in the last 24 hours.
 
"I think I said from the very beginning South Carolina is an uphill battle for a guy from Massachusetts. I knew that. We're battling hard. The fact is right now it looks like its neck and neck that's a good spot to be in. I'm pretty pleased and pretty proud about the success of our effort," Romney said.

Romney campaign staffers and surrogates began dialing back expectations of a win in South Carolina in the spin room following last night's debate, with several members of the Romney camp reminding reporters of Romney's distant fourth place finish here in 2008. Romney himself seemed to be trying to lower expectations at times during today's press conference.

"Well just last time around I came in number four. And, and so this time I realized that I had a lot of ground to make up. And speaker Gingrich is from a neighboring state, well-known, popular in the state," Romney said. "I knew that we’d have a long, long road ahead of us. And frankly to be in a neck and neck race at this last moment is, is kind of exciting.
 
Romney, who just days ago looked likely to clinch a third straight primary win here has seen his Iowa victory morphed into a loss to Santorum after the release of certified results in that contest, and his South Carolina lead greatly strained by Gingrich's latest surge. Both of those developments could extend a GOP primary in which states are awarding delegates proportionally for the first time, a fact Romney lamented this afternoon.
 
"You know, I wish it were a winner-take-all state. I wish we had all winner take all states, but we don’t. And so it’s going to be a longer process than, perhaps, than that would’ve suggested. But you know, it looks like we’re going to get real support into South Carolina and then we go into Florida.," Romney said. "You know, I’m still hoping and planning to win here. And I’m sure the Speaker feels the same way I do. But we’re going to go on for a long race and I think I’ve got the staying power and a, and a message that I believe connects with people."
 
After facing another series of questions about his tax returns last night, Romney said again today he would release those documents in April -- and defended his handling of the issue by saying he had not anticipated the level of interest in his returns, which he said provided less information than financial disclosure forms he had already filed.
 
"I know you guys do and the Democrats would like to and my opponents would like to, but in order for me to defeat President Obama I have to do what I think is the absolute right way to run a campaign and provide information, consistent with the public interest.  And I know there is interest and so I have indicated that I will release my tax returns," Romney said. "I'll do so when they are prepared. Which would be April, first middle part of April, and then they’ll all come out at one time. It'll be more than one year, I don’t know the exact number, but people can take a look at it."
 
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who appeared with Romney at his rainy outdoor rally and flanked him at the press conference, also defended Romney's handling of the tax returns, saying they were effectively a non-issue.
 
"The people of South Carolina are not talking about tax returns. They're not. They're talking about jobs, spending, and the economy," Haley said. "They want to know how you're gonna bring jobs. So, that's me talking as the governor of South Carolina, talking to my people -- everybody knows someone without a job. Everybody is touched by somebody that doesn't have a job. That's what they care about. They don't care about tax returns."

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The real headline at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference did not come from anything said there, but rather the event's dismal attendance, which prompted at least one candidate to cancel his appearance.

There were about 25 people in the space set aside for the conference at 9 A.M. when Newt Gingrich was scheduled to speak. But his campaign cancelled his appearance despite the traveling press being brought into the event space, which would have seated about 800 people.

"The campaign came to a mutual agreement with the organizers that based on attendance, we would go ahead and spend more time with the children of Charleston at the children's hospital," said campaign press manager Nathan Naidu, referring to Gingrich's next campaign stop at the Medical University of South Carolina children's hospital.

Erin Callanan, the press liaison for the conference, attributed the cancellation to "conflicting schedules."

"We're disappointed but we wish him well in the rest of his candidacy," she said to reporters after the cancellation was announced. "He's a presidential candidate. It's what comes with the schedule. You've got to be flexible."

The attendance picked up around 10 A.M. when Texas Rep. Ron Paul spoke, his supporters bringing the total attendance up to at least 100 people.

While Paul did not acknowledge the sparse attendance during his speech, he did talk about last night's CNN debate.

"The debates last night were very interesting and sometimes distracting, but overall I thought the debate went quite well," he said.

After Paul, and about 40 supporters, left the arena, Sen. Jim DeMint addressed, via pre-recorded video, the approximately 40 remaining audience members, urging them to rally behind the eventual Republican nominee.

"Vote for whoever you want. You find the best of the best and vote for them. But when we have a nominee as a party let's be united and recognize that we need to win this election," he said.

DeMint also praised the conference's "critical mass of principles and power in Charleston" and urged the attendees to "leave and go work for your candidate" after the event concluded.

The low attendance rate suggested, however, that Republican activists had already heeded DeMint's message, given that the critical masses were certainly not at the Southern Republican Leadership conference.

NBC's Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro discuss the list of potential Republicans Mitt Romney could pick as his running mate if he wins the GOP nomination.

Thanks to Feisty Redhead Roselle, IL and Bob-1887910 for their questions!

Video edited by NBC's Matt Loffman.

TRANSCRIPT:

MARK MURRAY: Welcome to the latest edition of Inside the Boiler Room, I’m joined by my esteemed colleague Domenico Montanaro. Domenico, we actually haven’t done this since Iowa and New Hampshire—

DOMENICO MONTANARO: I know—

MARK MURRAY: --the first Inside the Boiler Room in a while. And since then, Mitt Romney in a lot of respects looks like he is going to be the clear frontrunner in clenching the Republican nomination. And relating we have two questions one from Feisty Redhead Roselle and also from Bob and they pretty much ask about the same thing. Feisty asks, “Given the fact that it looks like Romney has the nomination sewn up, who do you think are the top contenders and what strengths would they bring to a Romney ticket?” and Bob asked essentially, “What actions would Romney take to make peace with the conservative wing on making a vice presidential pick?”

DOMENICO MONTANARO: Well, I guess you can combine them because you figure, well- maybe there is a way he could make a pick for VP that could help bring over some of those Tea Party supporters who might lack some on the enthusiasm that Romney would want and the obvious person that comes to mind, it is kind of a Sarah Palin pick that John McCain made, is Chris Christie, Chris Christie of New Jersey. You know he may be more socially moderate than the party likes which may be a reason that Romney doesn’t ultimately pick him but the energy, the enthusiasm, the ability to speak plainly. That is something that Romney lacks and has a hard time with, and Chris Christie would automatically give him a little bit of juice. 

MARK MURRAY: I agree, and certainly if he and Christie have a very good rapport on the campaign trail, Christie has been campaigning for Romney in Iowa and New Hampshire, that could be a pick. I do think there is a very big top three. You have Christie, you have Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio and I think that all three of those guys would end up giving Mitt Romney a little bit more juice with the Tea Party,  a little more enthusiasm with the base. 

DOMENICO MONTANARO: Yeah, they bring separate things. So Christie brings energy and enthusiasm with the base, Rubio- some people hope he will carry Florida because of being Hispanic, speaking Spanish, large growing block. And McDonnell is kind of the safe choice. You know, high approval rating, popular in the state, smart guy, socially conservative --but with a moderate tone. So those are the things  they bring to the table. There are some dark horses we can quickly run through. Tim Pawlenty, he was the runner-up in 2008, he has done everything he can for Mitt Romney so he is someone who could be on that list. I doubt this next one but Jon Huntsman, some people have talked about— 

MARK MURRAY: --No, you saw that tepid response. I doubt… 

DOMENICO MONTANARO: I doubt that is going to happen. We haven’t mentioned a woman, so let’s mention one. Susana Martinez, in New Mexico, popular governor, Hispanic- that would be very diverse look for a ticket for a party that is criticized for being too white, too male. Brian Sandoval, Governor in Nevada, also popular Hispanic. Rob Portman, John Thune, maybe Nikki Haley, maybe Mitch Daniels but now we are going pretty far down the list— 

MARK MURRAY: --I think we pretty much have the whole field. What is going to be fascinating is that if Romney essentially gets this nomination we could have a veepstakes that could last six, seven months. But it is important to note that a vice presidential pick has rarely gone on to decisively help someone in a presidential contest. The last time that a veep pick made an huge impact was 1960 with LBJ helped JFK win in Texas but often times more than not a vice presidential pick can actually hurt you rather than helping you. 

DOMENICO MONTANARO: That’s right, that is why a safe pick is often the better pick. 

MARK MURRAY: Thanks guys for the question!

In an unsigned opinion, the Supreme Court has thrown out a map created by a federal court in Texas that drew new congressional districts in response to the state's gain of four new seats in the House.

"Because it is unclear whether the District Court for the Western District of Texas followed the appropriate standards in drawing interim maps for the 2012 Texas elections, the orders implementing those maps are vacated,and the cases are remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion," the Supreme Court said today.

This will make it very hard for Texas to have its primary in April. It's already been delayed a month, from March.