Romney loves grits and other musings on today’s Southern state primaries.

“For Mississippi Republicans, Mitt Romney’s awkward declaration of his love for grits the other day may be a small price to pay for relevance.

Rarely does the small, Southern state get much attention, let alone a full-throated pander, from a presidential candidate. By the time Mississippi held its 2008 primary on March 11, the only candidates left in the race other than the presumptive nominee, John McCain, were Ron Paul and Alan Keyes. And as a state that hasn’t voted for a Democratic nominee since Jimmy Carter, Mississippi doesn’t see much action in the general election.”

Presidential Campaign Trail Detours Through Mississippi, Alabama for GOP Primaries by Beth Reinhard

Julia Edwards and Naureen Khan examine some of Newt Gingrich’s most ambitious ideas & the price tag attached. 

• Immigration
• Moon Base
• Tax Reform
• Social Security

January 28, 2012 issue of National Journal

Return of the Revolutionary. Gingrich isn’t simply learning on the fly how to play insurgent. His 2012 revival draws on skills he honed 30 years ago on Congress’s backbenches. — By Ron Brownstein. Read this week’s cover story here. 

“There’s no doubt Gingrich would be a risky nominee. Obama is exceptionally vulnerable, and the most prudent pick would be a safe candidate who could make the election entirely about the president’s economic record.

Gingrich is anything but safe, whether it’s his multiple marriages, his record as the only speaker ever sanctioned by the House, his self-centered disposition, or his sacrificing of conservative principle for profit in his post-congressional career. The list goes on.”

   - The Gingrich Gamble, by Josh Kraushaar

Newt’s forming an exploratory committee. Then-Speaker Newt Gingrich, pictured in Keene, N.H., in 1995. (JOHN MOTTERN/AFP/Getty Images)