Donald Trump formally endorsed Mitt Romney for president on Thursday, describing the former Massachusetts governor as "tough" and "smart" and the best pick in the GOP primary.

Trump and Romney appeared together in Las Vegas to announce the endorsement, which drew heavy media coverage.

"It is a real honor and privilege to endorse Mitt Romney," Trump said in brief remarks. "Mitt is tough, he's smart, he's sharp. He's not going to allow bad things to continue to happen to this country we all love."

Romney said in response: "There are some things that you just can't imagine in your life. This is one of them," adding that it means a "great deal" to have the billionaire's support.

The endorsement follows a bizarre period of time in which several major news outlets -- including the New York Times and Associated Press -- had initially reported that Trump had been planning to endorse Newt Gingrich. The former House speaker had been one of only two candidates to agree appearing at a debate the "Apprentice" host had planned, but which never came to pass. Romney declined attendance.

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Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (R) said he didn't think the Trump endorsement matters, but added on KDWN radio that if Trump "wants to endorse the person who's most in line with his thinking with respect to the major issue of this economic problem that we're involved in, he should endorse Rick Santorum."

For their part, Democrats seemed to take a degree of joy in the Trump spectacle.

"It really wouldn't be surprising if Donald Trump endorses Mitt Romney, because they both like firing people, and they both made millions doing it" Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, said on msnbc. "Donald Trump is such a cartoon character, no matter who he chooses, it's like Bugs Bunny endorsing ... It's really kind of a non-news event."

It's reflective of the media whirlwind to have surrounded Trump's game of footsie with Republican politics over the past year.

Trump had initially thought about running for the GOP nomination last spring. He talked publicly about the possibility of running and even visited New Hampshire. The flirtation coincided with the broadcast of last spring's season of "The Apprentice" on NBC. (NBC is a co-owner of mnsbc.com, along with Microsoft.) Trump had initially promised to make clear his intentions in the show's season finale, but ultimately demurred, and made the announcement separately.

Trump had additionally been one of the most prominent figures to voice suspicions that President Obama had not actually been born in the United States, and, thusly, was constitutionally ineligible to be president. Obama eventually relented and released his long-form birth certificate on April 27, 2011, verifying he was born in Hawaii. Obama made light of the situation at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner on May 1, deriding the media for giving voice to “carnival barkers” like Trump, only to announce the next day that Osama bin Laden had been killed in a daring raid in Pakistan -- planning of which had been ongoing during the annual dinner.

But the discussion of "birther" theories over the course of last spring appears to have harmed Trump in the eyes of the public; Trump had a 26 percent favorable rating in a February 2011 NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, and a 29 percent unfavorable rating. By mid-May, the point at which the real estate magnate announced he wouldn't be running, a Suffolk University poll found that Trump had a 70 percent unfavorable rating, while just 18 percent of Americans had a positive opinion of Trump.

It's also not incredibly clear what, if any, impact the Trump endorsement will have on the trajectory of the race, in Nevada's caucuses on Saturday, or beyond. Romney had already led, at 45 percent, in a poll of likely Nevada caucus-goers released Thursday. He's followed by Gingrich at 25 percent, Santorum at 11 percent and Texas Rep. Ron Paul at 9 percent.

Still, the reality television star continued to play an out-sized role throughout the 2012 cycle. All the Republican candidates visited Trump through the course of last summer with the exception of former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman.

"I think his infusing himself into the dialogue really dumbs down and makes less consequential the very important issues that we must be discussing to get this country back on its feet again," Huntsman said on Fox News in December.

One of the most intensely covered media events of 2011 came when former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin went out for pizza with Trump in Manhattan during a stop on her bus tour of the Northeast, a journey meant to stoke speculation about her own presidential aspirations. When Romney visited Trump, he snuck in and out of the billionaire's headquarters without being captured by staked-out cameras.

Almost one month after abandoning her presidential campaign, Michele Bachmann today announced that she will be running for re-election to Congress in Minnesota.

Word of her plans, first conveyed to the Associated Press during a Jan. 25 interview, puts to rest questions about what Bachmann’s career would hold after her run for the GOP presidential nomination catapulted her into national headlines.

Bachmann was elected to Congress in 2006, during the year that Democrats swept congressional elections and took over majority of the US House and Senate.

Citing “the absolute need” to repeal the federal health-care law and the banking regulations embedded in the Dodd-Frank legislation, Bachmann declared in an email today that she is “not done."

“Our campaign [for president] changed the focus of this presidential election.”

Meanwhile, Bachmann’s presidential campaign still carries debt up to $447,000, according to 4th quarter numbers released Tuesday.

Bachmann ended her campaign on Jan. 4, one day after finishing in sixth place in the Iowa caucuses, last among the candidates competing in the state.

With 48 hours to go until Nevada’s Republican presidential caucuses on Saturday, Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) told Chuck Todd on Thursday’s “The Daily Rundown” that he’d be surprised if Mitt Romney doesn’t win, but added, “I think that Ron Paul could make some real moves in Nevada.”

“I think there is one variable in this and that’s turnout more than anything else,” said Heller, who has not endorsed a presidential candidate and said he doesn’t plan to let anyone know who he supports on Saturday.

Asked if it mattered to him whether Romney or Gingrich topped the Republican ticket in November, Heller said, “I don’t think Obama’s going to do well. I think the Obama economy in Nevada is killing most Nevadans and for that reason I think the Republican candidate will do well.”

Heller was appointed to the Senate last May to the seat vacated by former Sen. John Ensign (R). He’s expected to face Rep. Shelley Berkley (D) in November’s election.
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A group of hawkish Senate Republicans announced their plan Thursday to prevent automatic defense cuts mandated by last summer's debt ceiling agreement, which are set to take effect in 2013.

Arizona Sen. John McCain (R), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, led a group of Republicans in detailing their plan to prevent a planned $110 billion from the 2013 defense budget by offering other offsetting cuts.

"It's time for the president to lead and accept his responsibilities as commander-in-chief and work with us to enact a plan that will reduce our debt and maintain our military preparedness," McCain said at a press conference on Capitol Hill.

The automatic cuts were contained in last summer's agreement to raise the nation's debt limit. The automatic defense cuts were included as an incentive for Republican members of the supercommittee -- the bipartisan panel charged with identifying $1.2 trillion in savings from the budget over the next 10 years -- to reach an agreement.

But the supercommittee failed, and now, Republicans are trying to undo the defense cuts -- the so-called "sequester" -- by offering different savings. McCain, joined by Republican Sens. Jon Kyl (AZ), John Cornyn (TX), Kelly Ayotte (NH) and Lindsey Graham (SC), offered a plan that would replace $110 billion of planned defense and non-defense cuts, and find an additional $17 billion in savings, by freezing federal salaries through mid-2014, and squeezing the federal workforce by 5 percent through attrition. For every three federal employees who leave, only two would be hired to replace them.

Kyl said he hoped Democrats would support these ideas because they won't see cuts to social programs and have previously supported pay freezes and attrition in parts of the government. Kyl also pushed back on any suggestion that Republicans are hypocritical for being "pro-jobs" while pushing for job cuts in the federal government.

"We're not laying anybody off, we're not proposing to fire anybody," Kyl said.

And House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) lended his voice to the fight, questioning the Obama administration's involvement on the issue.

"The defense portion of the sequester, in my view, would clearly hollow our military," Boehner said at his weekly press conference, "The question I would pose is where's the White House? Where's the leadership that should be there to ensure that this sequester does not go into effect?"

That lack of effort by the administration to undo the sequestered stems from President Obama's stiff veto threat of any effort to undo the automatic cuts unless a balanced, comprehensive deal could be reached.

"Already some in Congress are trying to undo these automatic spending cuts. My message to them is simple: No. I will veto any effort to get rid of those automatic spending cuts to domestic and defense spending," the president said on Nov. 21. “There will be no easy off-ramps on this one. We need to keep the pressure up to compromise, not turn off the pressure."

But perhaps as a bit of foreshadowing of the impending fight over the automatic cuts, a group of 127 Democrats signed a letter to the president urging him against bowing to pressure and find other savings to replace the defense cuts.

"We stand ready to work with you over the next year to put America back on a firm financial footing and will vote to sustain your veto of any effort to repeal all or part of the scheduled sequester," the letter reads.

NBC's Frank Thorp contributed.

Newt Gingrich will challenge Florida's winner-take-all allocation system, spokesman R.C. Hammond said.

The campaign is asking Florida to award delegates proportionally based on the primary results. The campaign is sending a letter to the Florida Republican Party and are supposed to post it on Newt.org tonight.

Asked if Gingrich campaign would be doing this if Gingrich had won Florida, Hammond said, "Probably not."

On Tuesday, First Read explained the rules controversy. A Republican National Committee contest committee would have to take up a challenge filed by a Florida resident in August at the convention and determine whether to keep the rules as is or change them.

For context, if Florida were proportional, Gingrich would get 16 delegates, given the state has 50 delegates to allocate and he won 32% of the vote. Romney would wind up with 23, Santorum seven to eight, and Ron Paul between three and four. It would, however, lessen Romney's lead from 50 delegates in the state to seven.

The Republican Party Chairman of Florida responded by saying, "It is a shame when the loser of a contest agrees to the rules before, then cries foul after losing."

Pete Marovich / Getty Images

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, speaks during his weekly on-camera news conference on Capitol Hill February 2, 2012 in Washington, DC.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said Thursday that he enjoys a positive working relationship with his top GOP deputy, denying a report that tensions between him and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) had gotten so bad the two had been forced to call a "truce."

Boehner said that he and Cantor hadn't had a disagreement in over a year, though the speaker made veiled reference to behind-the-scenes staff feuds famous on Capitol Hill.

"We are teammates and we have been teammates, and I could tell you that I don't think there's been a disagreement between Eric and I over the course of the last year," Boehner said, "As you're clearly aware there's been a couple of staff rumbles from time to time but, you know, that's to be expected when you're doing big things."

Boehner and Cantor -- and, for that matter, the rest of the GOP leadership team -- are famous for staying in their own lanes, running separate political and press operations. Cantor is seen as the de-facto voice, though, for the more conservative, insurgent crop of House freshmen, who have made forging agreements or finding agreement difficult, at times, for the speaker.

Details of those tensions were contained Thursday in an article published in Politico, which announced that Boehner and Cantor's offices had met in January to call an effective truce between their operations.

"I talked to the whole leadership team this morning, along with the staff, the senior leaders, about our need to continue to work together for our team," Boehner told reporters. "And so, I feel good about where we are, and happy that we've got the team that we have."

Updated 2:54 p.m.

Donald Trump will endorse Mitt Romney in Las Vegas this afternoon.  Upon arriving at the venue for the press conference, Trump was asked about the reasons for his decision to back Romney.

"I think his general attitude but the last two debates were very impressive.  I really thought he did really well plus he’s the one person who speaks strongly about China because China is ripping off this country like nobody is ripping this country," Trump told reporters in Las Vegas. "I thought he did very well in the debates, that was very important ... I think if he debates that well, I don't think Obama will fare well against him."

Trump said the Romney organization had indicated their interest in Trump getting on the campaign trail on Romney's behalf.

Earlier, several news organizations – including Politico, the New York Times, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution – reported that the reality television star would endorse Newt Gingrich.

Trump said he tried twice on Wednesday to get in touch with Gingrich, but had no luck in connecting.

*** Thursday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up: Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) on Saturday’s Nevada caucuses, the economy, Trump, and more… NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski with the latest on Defense Secretary Panetta’s Afghanistan announcement… More 2012 news and analysis with USA Today’s Jackie Kucinich, Bloomberg News’ Josh Green and Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons.

*** Thursday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: MSNBC’s Richard Lui interviews Dem Rep. Jackie Speier (on the Susan G. Komen-Planned Parenthood divide); NV GOP Chair Amy Tarkanian, Slate’s Dave Weigel, Time’s Michael Scherer, Hotline’s Reid Wilson, and Patrick Gavin.

*** Thursday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSNBC’s Thomas talks with DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Richard Wolffe, Politico’s Jim VandeHei, Rep. Loretta Sanchez, Jen Psaki and Boris Epshteyn.

*** Thursday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner’s guests include Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, The Nation’s Ari Melber, former Bachmann spokeswoman Alice Stewart, S.E. Cupp, the Huffington Post’s Jen Bendery, and NBC News-Wall Street Journal pollsters Peter Hart and Bill McInturff.

*** Thursday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, GOP Sen. John Thune, Nancy Brinker of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Time’s Michael Duffy, National Journal’s Beth Reinhard, and the Washington Post’s Anne Kornblut.

*** Thursday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews Michael Smerconish, “Gasland” director Josh Fox, and Ron Paul campaign chairman Jesse Benton.

GINGRICH: GOP 12 notes: “The Washington Post's Amy Gardner with the continuing fall-out from Newt's regularly scheduled implosion: ‘[Gingrich] abruptly canceled a meeting with Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval after his campaign had arranged the photo opportunity at Sandoval's office in Carson City. Not even Gingrich's campaign advisers know why the campaign scheduler called it off, irking them and those in Sandoval's office who had helped set up the event… ‘You're a Republican presidential candidate coming into a state with a Republican governor,’ said one irritated Gingrich adviser who requested anonymity to speak freely. ‘It's common courtesy to meet him.’”

Michael Reagan to Gingrich: “I think the party needs to look past Ronald Reagan and look for that next, great leader.... learn from my father. Don't, in fact, try to be my father. Be yourself." (Hat tip: GOP 12.)

PAUL: “Four years ago, an angry and dispirited educational database expert named Carl Bunce walked out of Nevada’s state Republican convention after party leaders shut down the proceedings rather than let Representative Ron Paul’s supporters nominate delegates for the national convention in St. Paul,” the New York Times writes. “Mr. Bunce and a handful of other Paul backers made the trip to Minnesota, but he said that once there they were harassed by other Republicans who threatened to tear off their Paul buttons and even trailed them into bathrooms.  Today, Mr. Bunce, 35, is running Mr. Paul’s Nevada campaign from a strip mall in this Las Vegas suburb. But this time, he and other Paul supporters are in the vanguard of the Nevada Republican Party: After the ugly scene at the state convention, they decided to work with the party that they felt had treated them as pariahs. It took time, and some rivalries remain intense, but now Mr. Paul’s Nevada backers are part of the state Republican machinery.”

Ron Paul to Hispanics in Politics, the oldest Latino political group in Nevada: "I believe Hispanics have been used as scapegoats, to say, they're the problem instead of being a symptom maybe of a problem with the welfare state. In Nazi Germany they had to have scapegoats to blame and they turned on the Jews.” Paul was the only candidate to attend.

“Whether he wins or loses the Republican presidential nomination, Ron Paul is celebrating a milestone. He and his wife, Carol, have been married 55 years on Wednesday,” AP writes. “The Texas congressman ended a press conference by presenting his bride with a bouquet of flowers. The couple shared a kiss and hug. … The couple planned to go out to dinner and attend a performance of “Phantom of the Opera”.

ROMNEY: NBC Nightly News on Romney’s day yesterday and the “poor” gaffe.

NPR sums it up: “Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney likely planned to spend Wednesday basking in the glow of his victory in Tuesday's Florida primary. Instead, he struggled to explain his comment that he's ‘not concerned about the very poor.’”

“The comment captivated the political chatter, at least for the day, because it seemed to reinforce what might be his rivals’ most potent line of attack against him: that Mr. Romney, with a net worth estimated at $200 million, is out of touch and unable to relate to struggling Americans,” the New York Times adds.

A Washington Post-Pew poll on empathy found President Obama beating Romney and Gingrich by a wide margin on the question of how well does the candidate understand the problems of average Americans. It’s Obama: 55% well/41 not well; Romney: 41%/39%; Gingrich: 36%/51%.

“Romney excoriated Obama and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who announced in a speech in Brussels earlier in the day that US and international forces would end their combat role in Afghanistan in 2013 but continue a training and advisory role with Afghan forces through 2014,” the Boston Globe reports. “He announced that, he announced that so the Taliban hears it, the Pakistanis hear it, the Afghan leaders hear it,” Romney said with incredulity. “Why in the world do you go to the people that you’re fighting with and tell them the day that you’re pulling out your troops? It makes absolutely no sense. His naivete is putting in jeopardy the mission of the United States of America and our commitments to freedom. He is wrong. We need new leadership in Washington.”

More with Romney accusing the president of not understanding what it means to be American: “Romney concluded by lauding innovators, pioneers, builders, and others with spirit ‘in their DNA.’ He said, “I don’t think he has the feeling of this American spirit that drives us to be successful and to innovate and to create. And by the way, the success of some does not make the rest of us poorer. The success of some makes us all better off. … The president seems intent on dividing America, on replacing ambition with envy, on poisoning the very spirit of America by causing class warfare. This is wrong.”

The Globe’s Matt Viser: “Mitt Romney, fresh from a resounding victory in Florida, came to a warehouse here outside Minneapolis and, before he launched into his speech, had glitter poured atop his head by a protester.” Then he said, “Oh, I’ve got glitter in my hair. That’s not all that’s in my hair, I’ll tell you that. I glue it on every morning whether I need to or not.”

Viser points out this new phase in the campaign: “After a month in which all the contests were held in concentrated states, the campaign now becomes a more national campaign, with six states scattered around the country planning to vote this month. Romney released new radio ads in Colorado and Nevada.”

Heading for a blowout? “A new Las Vegas Review-Journal poll in Nevada finds Mitt Romney leading the GOP presidential race with 45%, followed by Newt Gingrich at 25%, Rick Santorum at 11% and Ron Paul at 9%,” Political Wire writes.

SANTORUM: “A super-PAC supporting Rick Santorum's presidential campaign went up with the first ad in what the group describes as a series of ad buys Wednesday in Missouri, airing a commercial arguing that the former senator is the best ‘proven conservative’ to take on President Obama in the general election,” The Hill writes. (Note: Missouri’s upcoming contest doesn’t actually award delegates.)

“Former Republican presidential hopeful Tom Tancredo endorsed Rick Santorum on Wednesday at an event in Lakewood, Colo.,” The Hill reports, adding, “Santorum also received the endorsements of former Rep. Bob Schaffer (R-Colo.) and former Colorado Lt. Gov. Jane Norton (R), according to The Associated Press.”

The Weekly Standard writes that February could matter for Rick Santorum. “There's lots of speculation as to Gingrich's chances to mount a comeback against Romney, the clear frontrunner. But what if Newt's campaign collapses? What if he's simply jumped the shark with the ‘Holocaust survivors’ robocall? … What if Santorum does as well or better than Gingrich in the Nevada caucuses Saturday, or in the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses next Tuesday? What if Santorum is competitive with Romney in the Missouri beauty contest primary next Tuesday, where Gingrich isn't on the ballot? Couldn't non-Romney voters begin to move nationally from Gingrich to Santorum? Couldn't populist and Tea Party leaders like Sarah Palin do so as well?”

There are lots of photos attached to stories today about Obama’s housing policy event yesterday with him holding up his one-page mortgage application form. (Here, here, here.)

Bloomberg/Business Week: “Obama Uses Housing as Foil to Romney’s ‘Hit Bottom’ Strategy.” “Opponents said the president’s plan, announced yesterday, was as much about politics as the policy goal of easing access to refinancing for homeowners with negative equity. It helps the White House frame differences with Republican presidential candidates and with Congress, which for two straight years has rejected a bank tax that he said would be used to finance the program.”

National Journal: “President Obama’s housing proposal reflects campaign strategy more than a viable policy agenda, as the administration tries to flip the struggling housing market from economic liability to political asset with a long-shot plan that Chicago can argue is better than the GOP alternative: no plan at all.”

The Washington Post: “The United States hopes to end its combat mission in Afghanistan by the middle of next year, more than a year earlier than scheduled, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Wednesday. His remarks reflected a growing sentiment within the Obama administration that its approach to Iraq, where the official end of U.S. combat operations came 16 months before the final U.S. troop withdrawal in December, may provide a useful model for winding down operations in Afghanistan.”

“President Barack Obama attends the National Prayer Breakfast this morning in Washington, along with the first lady and Vice President Joe Biden,” the AP writes.

WASHINGTON: “Senators voted 28-21 to approve a bill to legalize gay marriage in the state. Four Republicans crossed party lines and voted with majority Democrats for the measure. Three Democrats voted against it,” msnbc.com writes. “The measure now moves to the House, where there is enough support for the bill to pass. Gov. Chris Gregoire says she will sign the bill if it makes it to her desk, Seattle TV station King 5 reported. Legislators debated the measure for two hours Wednesday night at the capitol in Olympia before voting.”

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “The Washington state Senate, in an historic action, voted 28 to 21 on Wednesday night to legalize marriage between same-sex partners.”

The Seattle Times front page: “Historic vote clears way for same-sex marriage.”

WOODLAKE PARK, Colo. -- In what was billed as a major address on health care, presidential hopeful Rick Santorum took a hard line on Wednesday against government getting involved in offsetting the cost of drug prices.

Before exiting the stage, Santorum was prodded by members of the 300-person crowd to take one last question from a young boy standing in the front row. The child asked what the candidate would do to lower the cost of medicine. But the former Pennsylvania senator said it was the cost of drugs that allowed for the innovation that keeps Americans with life-threatening illnesses alive.

"People have no problem going out and buying an iPad for $900. But paying $200 for a drug they have a problem with -- that keeps you alive. Why? Because you've been conditioned in thinking health care is something you should get and not have to pay for. Drug companies, health care companies need to have a profitability, because if they don't, then how are we going to regulate costs?  We're going to ration care," said Santorum. "And you may be someone who gets that care, but this little boy, because of his condition, or because of his life expectancy may not. Why? Because it's not cost effective."

While some of in the audience applauded Santorum's tough stance against government involvement in drug prices, others protested. The mother of the child yelled out that she was going bankrupt just to pay for her child to keep breathing. It wasn't clear what the boy's condition was.

"I hear these and sympathize with these very passionate cases," Santorum responded to the mother. "Look, I want your son and everybody to have the opportunity to stay alive on much-needed drugs. But the bottom line is, we have companies with the incentive to make those drugs. And if they don't have the incentive to make those drugs, your son won't be alive and lots of other people in this country won't be alive. We either believe in markets or we don't."

Santorum is the father of a special needs child with a genetic disorder.  He was off the trail last week after rushing his daughter, Bella, to the hospital in critical condition on Saturday. Today, he said his 3-year-old will be released from the hospital within the next day.

On the campaign trail, the GOP hopeful talks about how he pays more for the health care of his youngest child, saying it's fair because it is more expensive to take care of her.

When members of the crowd protested what they called the exorbitant cost of the medicines they need, Santorum maintained those prices are what is keeping Americans alive longer.

"You have that drug, and maybe your life today, because people have a profit motive to make that drug," he said. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Taking Congress and, indirectly, Mitt Romney to task for what he called a lax attitude towards the housing market, President Obama today announced a new set of proposals intended to help homeowners refinance their mortgages.

"What's at stake is more than just statistics. It's personal," Obama told an audience at a community center in Falls Church, Virginia. "This housing crisis struck right at the heart of what it means to be middle class in America."

But significant parts of the plan need the approval of members of Congress, which President Obama, taking a dig at the body's inaction, urged them to give.

"We're going to need Congress to act," Obama said, repeating the phrase twice for dramatic effect as scattered chuckles arose from the crowd at a community center in Falls Church, Virginia.

"I hear some murmuring in the audience here," Obama said, grinning at the crowd. "We need them to act," he repeated.

But Congress has previously rejected, during budget negotiations, one of the most significant parts of the plan: a tax on banks that would pay for a special fund through which some homeowners could refinance their mortgages.

That program would allow qualified homeowners with privately held mortgages (not through the government-subsidized programs at Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac) to refinance their loans through the new fund and would be administered by the Federal Housing Authority.

Obama said measures like this were specific actions the government could take to help shore up the housing market, taking a subtle jab at Mitt Romney who in October said in an interview that the industry should be allowed to "run its course and hit the bottom."

"It is wrong for anybody to suggest that the only option for struggling, responsible homeowners is to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom," Obama said.

While Obama's speech was mostly a broad outline of the proposal, he gave a nod to the financial conditions in two of the swing states crucial to his re-election campaign: Virginia, where his speech occurred; and Nevada, coincidentally the site of the next Republican presidential contest.

"Here in Falls Church, home values have fallen by about a quarter from their peak," Obama said. "In places like Las Vegas, more than half of all homeowners are underwater."

Key campaign states were also mentioned during today's White House briefing, when Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan took questions from reporters.

"Put yourself in the shoes of a family that the president described this morning," Donovan said when asked whether it was more expedient to simply let the market bottom out, as Romney has proposed.

"You've done everything right' you've paid your mortgage -- whether you're in Florida or Nevada, California, or right there in Falls Church, Virginia," he said. "We should not sit on our hands when we know we can help those families to be able to refinance."

But Donovan demurred when asked how the parts of the program that need Congressional approval -- including the bank tax, which failed previously -- would survive another vote.

"I'm the housing secretary," Donovan said. "I'm going to leave the politics and the discussions about what's possible in Congress on that to others."

Senate Democrats decried the influx of millions in unregulated dollars in the 2012 elections, announcing Wednesday that they will hold hearings looking into the impact of super PACs.

New York Sen. Charles Schumer, Democrats' messaging chief in the Senate, announced that the Rules committee will begin hearings this month on super PACs.

Joined by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Al Franken (D-MN), Schumer pointed to Mitt Romney's victory in Florida's Republican primary as evidence of the outsize influence of super PACs. He then bashed Karl Rove-tied groups American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS for raising money by the millions without having to disclose all of its donors.

"It doesn't pass the smell test to say some of these groups aren't coordinated," Schumer said, pointing to the example of a super PAC in favor of Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, an erstwhile GOP presidential contender, which was funded by Huntsman's father.

A number of super PACs made their filings with the Federal Election Commission by midnight last night, a deadline that Schumer said was "laughable." The New York senator said it made more sense to disclose those records before voters participated in January's Republican primaries.

"We think the disclosure should be as instantaneous as possible. The voters deserve to know the ugly truth of whose behind these Super PACs," he told reporters.

Schumer also didn't spare Democrats, who also have used super PACs.

"No matter who does it, the system needs to be fundamentally changed," he said.

Using charts with Karl Rove's name on them, Schumer said the donations made in secret to non-profit groups were the most troubling. He pointed to the $33 million dollars raised by Crossroads GPS as reported in the FEC filings this week.

"This is a mystery as to who is giving the money. Could it be one person who gave $33 million dollars? Could it be somebody who might have foreign links? Or huge contracts with the government ? We have no idea," he said.

The senators placed the blame on the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision.

"Everyone has the right to do it. No one is going to unilaterally disarm. So we're now forced into this system," Franken told reporters.

Whitehouse mocked the idea that Super PACs operate independently of the candidate. He said these donations lead to corruption. 

"You cannot pretend that people who are giving millions of dollars in support of a candidate anonymously aren't communicating that to the candidate and aren't going to come back and expect some kind of pay and we will never know who they were and what they promised," he complained.

It's not just Democrats who are worried about the corrupting influence of these new, monied groups.

We have -- on both sides of the aisle -- these incredible amounts of money and I guarantee you there will be a scandal," Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) said last Sunday on Meet the Press. "There is too much money washing around politics, and it's making the parties irrelevant."

Schumer expects the Rules committee will hold hearings sometime in February to look at ways to make disclosure of donors more regular and to improve the coordination rules between outside groups and campaigns.

EAGAN, MN -- At an event here today, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney got glittered -- twice -- by protestors.

The first time took place backstage before the event. And when Romney made his appearance, he made fun of the glitter. "This is confetti. We just won Florida."

He later said, "Oh, I've got glitter in my hair. That's not all that's in my hair, I'll tell you that. I glue it on every morning, whether I need to or not."

The second time he was glittered came as he worked the rope line.

It's worth noting that these "glitter-bombs" came right before Romney is slated to begin receiving Secret Service protection.

The "glitter-bombings" were done by two groups, working together: Occupy Minneapolis and Gliteratti, who say they will post their videos on YouTube later today. Both glitter-bombers talked to the press afterwards. They are in their 20s and unemployed.

Both said Romney's support for "hate speech" -- through money he gave to the Mormon church, was the reason they bombed him with a Pringle can and a chip bag full of glitter. Eric Espinosa, who did the second attack, was also the person who glitter-bombed Newt Gingrich earlier in the year.

LAKEWOOD, CO -- Rick Santorum is fighting to portray himself as the top conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, a message he'll take to voters in a series of forthcoming caucuses.

At Colorado Christian University on Wednesday, the presidential hopeful said Newt Gingrich has had more success courting voters in early primary states because of an incorrect notion that the former House speaker is in a better position to challenge Mitt Romney. But, Santorum charged, Gingrich's inability to capitalize on a decisive South Carolina primary victory in Florida shows he does not have the support to challenge the former Massachusetts governor.

"In Florida, Newt Gingrich had his opportunity," Santorum said in Las Vegas on Tuesday as Sunshine State returns showed Gingrich finishing second.  "He came out of the state  of South Carolina, he came out with a big win and a lot of money,  and he said 'I'm going to be the conservative alternative. I'm going to be the anti-Mitt.' And it didn't work. He became the issue."

The former Pennsylvania senator is taking a renewed focus on Gingrich after losing to his rival in the two most recent primary contests. But Santorum faces a tough balancing act between steering clear of the personal attacks candidates have leveled against each other, while drawing contrasts with his GOP foes. One of Gingrich's chief liabilities among conservatives are the ethics charges leveled against him as speaker and his rocky marital history.

Newly-released television and radio ads take aim at Gingrich, in both cases questioning his conservative credentials. Still, Santorum claims to still be remaining above the fray by focusing on issues, not personal matters.

"What I talked about is policy, I didn't attack the speaker for working for a company or, you know, things that he did in his past in his life.
I went out and focused on the policy differences between Speaker Gingrich and me," he said. "I think that's fair game."

But it was just a day earlier when the GOP hopeful, working to remain relevant in the nominating contest, said Florida's results prove Republicans need to have a candidate without "personal baggage."

Now Santorum is tasked with convincing the electorate that he can effectively take on Romney, after losing to Gingrich by substantial margins. His focus now turns to Colorado, Nevada, and Minnesota -- caucus states where he has the opportunity to pick up delegates without having to win outright.

"If Newt's out of the race, all of his votes come to me," Santorum said. "They aren't voting for Newt not because he's the best candidate, it's because they think he can win."

And despite the tough path ahead, the candidate said he has no plans of quitting.

"This race is just beginning. Only four states have spoken. There are 46 others," he said.

EAGAN, MN -- On his campaign's flight to Minnesota this morning, Mitt Romney vigorously defended his economic message and engaged in a bit of damage control when asked by a reporter to explain his comment on CNN that he is "not concerned about the very poor."

"No no no no. No no. You've got to take the whole sentence, all right, as opposed to saying, and then change it just a little bit, because then it sounds very different. I've said throughout the campaign my focus, my concern, my energy is gonna be devoted to helping middle income people, all right? We have a safety net for the poor in, and if there are holes in it, I will work to repair that. And if there are people that are falling through the cracks I want to fix that," Romney said. "Wealthy people are doing fine. But my focus in the campaign is on middle income people. Of course I'm concerned about all Americans -- poor, wealthy, middle class, but the focus of my effort will be on middle income families who I think have been most hurt by the Obama economy."

On CNN this morning, Romney gave a shorter version of that response, upon which both Republican and Democrats quickly seized, looking to paint the Republican frontrunner as uncaring and out of touch. (Rick Tyler, a spokesman for a pro-Gingrich super PAC tweeted about the quote.)

“I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it," Romney told CNN's Soledad O'Brien. "I’m not concerned about the very rich, they’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of the America, the 90 percent, 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling.”

The line, problematic in soundbite form, is by no means new to Romney's stump speech or interview talking points. Romney frequently discusses the need to help the middle class rebound from the effects of the recession as a primary motivating factor for his campaign.

Romney's also spoken in the past about his concern for the impoverished.

"I'm concerned about the poor in this country. We have to make sure the safety net is strong and able to help those who can't help themselves," Romney said in South Carolina. "I'm not terribly worried about the very wealthiest in our society, they're doing just fine. I'm concerned about the vast middle class of our nation, the 90 percent of Americans, the 95 percent of Americans who are having tough times."

On the plane this morning, Romney also conceded that he did see holes in the safety net that would need fixing.

"Oh I'm sure there are. I'm sure there are places where people fall between the cracks. And finding those places is one of the things that is the responsibility of government. We do have a very ample safety net in America, with Medicaid, housing vouchers, food stamps, earned income tax credit. We have a number of ways of helping the poor," Romney said. "And yet my focus and the area that I think is the greatest challenge that the country faces right now is not, is not to focus our effort on how we help the poor as much as to focus our effort on how to help the middle class in America, and get more people in the middle class and get people out of being poor and becoming middle income."

Mitt Romney won Florida last night with a coalition of women, Latinos, seniors, "somewhat conservatives," the wealthy, and people who lived in three basic regions.

Based on exit polls, revised this morning:

- Women (49% of electorate): Romney 52%-28%
- Latinos (14% of electorate): Romney 54%-29%
- 65+ (36% of electorate): Romney 51%-34%
- “Somewhat conservative” (26%): Romney 52%-32%
- $100K a year+ (31% of electorate): Romney 52%-30%
- $200K a year+ (9% of electorate): Romney 60%-23%
- Miami and South (17% of electorate): Romney 56%-28%
- South Central (20% of electorate): Romney 50%-27%
- Tampa Bay area (18% of electorate): Romney 47%-27%

So 55% of the electorate came from Miami, South Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, and Romney won in those places by an average of 51%.

Other noteworthy bullets:

- Evangelicals made up 47% of all voters this time, up from 39% in 2008. Romney split them with Gingrich, but won 38%-37%.
- Latinos made up 14% of the electorate, up from 12% in 2008.
- Cubans made up 8%, up from 7% last time.
- Romney cleaned up with Cubans – 57%-31% and non-Cuban Latinos 52%-23%.

A Super PAC supporting Ron Paul was the only major presidential fundraising operation to miss Tuesday's federal deadline for disclosing its donors. The Revolution PAC blamed an error by its credit card company, msnbc.com's Open Channel blog reports.

Because of bad information provided by the company, the PAC told the Federal Election Commission, it didn't know who its donors were.

More on Open Channel.

Restore Our Future, the Super PAC supporting Mitt Romney, was the big winner in the outside-groups-supporting-a-candidate money race. It raised $18 million in the last six months of 2011 and had $24 million cash on hand, as of the first of the year.

Of course, it spent $9 million in Florida, $2.5 million in South Carolina, and $2.7 million in Iowa. For those counting at home, that’s $14.2 million spent on just TV and radio ads and doesn’t include keeping the lights on and paying salaries.

Restore’s number dwarfs what Obama-aligned Priorities USA Action was able to raise – just $1.2 million in the last six months of the year, $4.4 million overall. (NBC’s Michael Isikoff reports Priorities was able to raise an addition $1.3 million from another money arm of the group that doesn’t have to report. The Crossroads enterprise raising money the same way – with two separate groups and different reporting requirements.)

Some fun facts:

- 80% of Priorities USA's money came from the SEIU and Steven Spielberg, but dwarfed by Restore's money.

- Restore Our Future received seven $1 million checks, 12 $500,000 contributions, and 62 $100,000 checks.

- Poor Rick Santorum. Consol Energy donated $150,000 to Restore Our Future. Santorum was a paid consultant for Consol. The total Consol donated to Red, White, and Blue Fund, the Super PAC supporting Santorum? Zero. From January 2010 to August 2011, Santorum made $142,500 from Consol, $7,500 less than Consol contributed to Restore.

- Wyoming investor Foster Friess gave $912,000 to Red, White, and Blue.

- Friess wasn’t the only big donor to the pro-Santorum group. John Templeton, son of the founder of Templeton investments, contributed $550,000. Templeton's father was Sir John Templeton, who sold Templeton funds to Franklin in 1992, which now exists as Franklin Templeton Investments.

*** CORRECTION *** An earlier version of this post incorrectly noted that Templeton was the former chairman of Franklin Templeton Investments. He is not. He's the son of the man who sold Templeton funds to Franklin in 1992.

Five reasons why Florida’s outcome differed from South Carolina’s: 1) Money and the debates mattered… 2) Going negative against Gingrich works… 3) Momentum hasn’t carried from one contest to the next… 4) Florida’s less conservative electorate… 5) Geography and urban density… But a potential warning sign for Romney: Gingrich still held the core of the GOP… Another warning sign: 38% said they wanted another GOP candidate to run for the nomination… Breaking down the ad spending so far in Nevada… Romney Super PAC rakes in nearly $18 million in six months… And Dems win OR-1 special.

*** Why Florida differed from South Carolina: What a difference 11 days made in this presidential race between New Hampshire and South Carolina, and what a difference 10 days made between South Carolina and Florida… After Newt Gingrich pummeled Mitt Romney by double digits in South Carolina, Romney returned the favor last night, beating Gingrich by 14 points in Florida, 46%-32%. In fact, the contest -- just one month in -- looks like a fight right out of "Rocky," with Apollo Creed/Clubber Lang/Ivan Drago easily winning one round and then Rocky Balboa storming back in the next. But there are five reasons why the outcome in Florida was different than South Carolina. The first reason: Money and the debates mattered. In South Carolina, Romney and the top pro-Romney Super PAC Restore Our Future outspent Gingrich and his allies by a nearly 2-to-1 margin ($4.4 million vs. $2.4 million). But in Florida, the margin was 4-to-1 ($15.9 million vs. $4 million). As for the debates, Gingrich -- unlike in South Carolina -- had two poor performances and Romney had two strong ones. Among Florida voters who said the debates were important to their vote, Romney won those folks, 42%-34%.

*** Going negative against Gingrich works: A second -- and related -- reason why last night’s outcome was different: Going negative against Gingrich works. We saw that first in Iowa, where Restore Our Future pounded Gingrich with negative TV ads, knocking down the former House speaker from first in the polls there to a fourth-place finish. But when the race moved to South Carolina, Romney and his allies took their foot off the gas, which paved the way for Gingrich’s upset there. And Team Romney has learned that lesson. Yesterday, for example, it held a conference call with Nevada supporters to once again deliver an anti-Gingrich message. It is worth noting that Romney and his campaign have done a superb job pummeling the GOP rivals who have emerged as a threat (first Rick Perry, then Gingrich). How effective was the negative ad campaign? Republicans (not ALL VOTERS) but JUST Florida Republicans gave Gingrich a 40% unfavorable rating. Stunning.

*** Momentum hasn’t carried from one contest to the next: Third, there has been no momentum from one GOP contest to the next. Yes, there have been temporary spikes in the polls, but consider: Rick Santorum was unable to parlay his Iowa performance into a strong showing in New Hampshire; Romney’s decisive victory in New Hampshire was followed by his decisive defeat in South Carolina; and Gingrich’s double-digit South Carolina win was followed by his double-digit loss in Florida. However, that no-momentum streak is likely to be broken this week in Nevada, where Romney is the clear favorite. And what if he sweeps February? None of the February contests INDIVIDUALLY carries the weight of the individual January contests. But, collectively, if Romney can put together a package of four, five or even six victories, it would add to the inevitability momentum. The states in February aren't chumps by any measure: Nevada, Maine Colorado, Minnesota, Arizona and Michigan are all on SOME presidential battleground maps. (Yes, we include Maine because the ONE Congressional District, thanks to redistricting is going to be in play even if WHOLE state is not).

*** A less conservative electorate: A fourth lesson from last night: The electorate in Florida was much different than in South Carolina. Yes, Florida resembles South Carolina more than it does New Hampshire, but chew on these exit-poll numbers: Four in 10 Florida GOP voters described themselves as evangelical Christians, and Gingrich narrowly won those folks, 38%-36%. But in South Carolina, nearly two-thirds were evangelicals, and Gingrich won them, 45%-21%. Also, a plurality in Florida viewed themselves as “somewhat conservative,” and Romney easily won over that segment, 52%-32%. But in South Carolina, a plurality viewed themselves as “very conservative,” and Newt easily won them, 48%-19%. Bottom line: Florida -- despite being a closed primary -- had a less conservative electorate than South Carolina did.

*** Geography and urban density: And a fifth reason why Florida wasn’t South Carolina: geography and urban density. Get this: Romney won almost a majority of his entire vote margin from just five counties -- Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Pinellas (St. Pete) and Hillsborough (Tampa). Of those five counties, Romney nabbed about 118,000 votes of his about 241,000 vote margin, or 49%. Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach alone accounted for about 31% of his total margin. Bottom line: Tactically, Romney and his campaign ran a perfect race – winning with all of their strengths (money, organization, somewhat conservatives/moderates, and urban voters).

*** A potential warning sign for Romney: Gingrich still held the core base of the GOP: All that said, Gingrich still held the core base of the party, and that remains a potential warning sign for Romney. Among “very conservative voters” -- 33% of the electorate (compared with 36% in South Carolina) -- Gingrich won there, 41%-30%. Among evangelical voters Gingrich won, 38%-36%. And finally, 41% said that Romney isn’t conservative enough, and Gingrich beats him among those folks, 58%-12%. What’s more, while Romney did very well in Florida’s urban counties, Gingrich overperformed in the rural ones, particularly in the Panhandle. And those Panhandle counties look a lot more like the Southern states Gingrich will hope to win on Super Tuesday on March 6 and the following week on March 13.

*** Another warning sign for Romney: Nearly 4 in 10 GOPers want someone else to run: And this also has to worry Romney and his team a bit, too: 38% of Florida Republican primary voters said they’d like to see someone else run for the GOP nomination, versus 58% who said they’re satisfied with the field. It’s a striking number, because these are Republicans who TURNED OUT and voted. (Imagine how the Republican electorate as a WHOLE feels.) On the one hand, this signals that Republicans are enthusiastic about defeating Obama even if they’re not necessarily enthusiastic about their own field. On the other hand, these appear to be folks who want someone else other than Mitt Romney (however, Romney and Gingrich essentially split this dissatisfied vote). And these two numbers stuck out as well: 40% of last night’s voters had a unfavorable view of Gingrich, while 41% said that Romney isn’t conservative enough.

*** Ad spending breakdown in Nevada: As we now head to Nevada, here’s the ad spending breakdown there, according to Smart Media Group Delta: Restore Our Future $637,000, Romney $372,000, and Paul $350,000. Rick Santorum targeted Gingrich in his speech last night, and he has a TV ad up in Nevada that hits Gingrich, likening him to President Obama and Nancy Pelosi. “He doesn’t just talk a good conservative game,” an announcer says, “he lives it.” It’s unclear, however, if there is any money behind this Santorum ad.

*** Romney’s Super PAC rakes in nearly $18 million in six months: NBC’s Michael Isikoff reports that

top Wall Street moguls from big hedge fund and private equity firms -- including principals from Bain Capital -- topped the list of donors that pumped more than $17.9 million into the pro-Romney Super PAC Restore Our Future during the last six months of last year.  But while the filing by Restore Our Future shows its formidable fundraising prowess – considerably more than the pro-Obama Priorities USA Action’s $1.2 million -- it will do little to alleviate criticism that Romney is too closely tied to Wall Street and other corporate interests, Isikoff adds. Restore Our Future collected seven  $1 million donations, including one from Paul Singer, the billionaire and secretive head of the Elliott Management hedge fund, and two others from hedge fund kingpins Julian Robertson of Tiger Management and Robert Mercer of Renaissance Technologies.

*** Dems win OR-1 special: Also last night, Democrats won the special congressional election to fill the seat vacated by disgraced Dem Rep. David Wu (D-OR). Analysis from the Rothenberg Political Report’s Nathan Gonzales: “It looks like former state senator Suzanne Bonamici (D) defeated businessman Rob Cornilles (R) by roughly the same margin as a year ago when Rep. David Wu (D) defeated Cornilles by 13 points, 55 percent to 42 percent... But despite the partisan nature of the district, Democrats didn’t take anything for granted and believed that a loss would have been devastating to the national narrative about the fight for the House. In total, Democrats outspent Republicans on television about 4-to-1." The thinking for the Democrats: The risk of losing this special was just too great not to OVERpay for a victory. Losing would have hit the party HARD nationally on the fundraising front as Democrats continue to try and make the case the House is in play.

*** On the trail, per NBC’s Adam Perez: The day after the Florida primary, Paul visits Las Vegas NV (he celebrates his 55th wedding anniversary with his wife, Carol)… Santorum stumps in Colorado, rallying in Denver, Lakewood, Woodland Park, and Colorado Springs… Romney hosts a grassroots rally in Eagan, MN and then heads to Las Vegas, NV …And Gingrich also hits Nevada, campaigning in Reno and Carson City. 

Countdown to Nevada caucuses: 3 days
Countdown to Super Tuesday: 34 days
Countdown to Election Day: 279 days

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*** Wednesday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up: Complete Florida numbers analysis and reaction with pro-Romney Rep. Connie Mack (R-FL) and Gingrich’s Florida Co-Chair Bill McCollum… NBC’s Mike Isikoff with much more on the big names with big money fueling the Super PACs… More 2012 news with Bloomberg View/MSNBC’s Jonathan Alter, MSNBC’s Alex Wagner, and National Review’s Reihan Salam.

*** Wednesday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: MSNBC’s Chris Jansing interviews former Obama Communications Director Anita Dunn, National Journal’s Major Garrett, former RNC Chairman Jim Nicholson; Pulitzer Prize winner Karen Hunter, S.E. Cupp; and iVillage’s Kelly Wallace.

*** Wednesday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSNBC’S Thomas Roberts talks with MSNBC Host Ed Schultz, Jon Ralston, Patricia Murphy, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, Karen Finney, and Robert Traynham.

*** Wednesday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner’s guests include Deputy NYC Mayor and former Hillary Clinton Aide Howard Wolfson, New York Times Magazine Editor Hugo Lindgren, POLITICO’s Mark Haberman, and Santorum Campaign Spokesman Hogan Gidley.

*** Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, Romney supporter Kevin Madden, Gingrich supporter Michael Burgess, FL Dem Chair Rod Smith, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, NBC’s Richard Engel, and the Washington Post’s Anne Kornblut.

*** Wednesday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews The Hill’s AB Stoddard, MSNBC contributor Michael Smerconish, and syndicated talk-radio host Steve Deace.