Cape Canaveral, Fla.
At a rally in the warehouse of Astrotech Space Operations, Mitt Romney told an energized audience about the need to “define a mission” for the American space program. The Obama administration, he said, has failed to define such a mission.

“People are suffering because of that. We’ve lost technology because of that. People have lost jobs because of that. It’s time to have a mission for the space program for the United States of America,” Romney said, speaking just minutes away from the Kennedy Space Center. 

After Daily Caller blogger Matt Lewis eviscerated a harsh Reuters story on Florida senator Marco Rubio, the wire service was forced to make five corrections.

Now Reuters is attempting damage control and conceding the story is regrettable:

Lee Smith, writing at Tablet: 

During last night’s debate, Mitt Romney responded to Newt Gingrich’s proposal that America establish a lunar colony by the end of the decade by saying that if someone presented him with that proposal, “I’d say, ‘You’re fired.’” While one might think Romney justified in firing someone who pitched Gingrich’s specific proposal, Romney gave the distinct impression that he also might have fired John F. Kennedy back in 1962.

The question was, "We have many qualified, Hispanic leaders. Which of our Hispanic leaders would you consider to serve in your cabinet?" Santorum, by dint of his position on stage, got to speak first, picking the very obvious choice of up-and-coming Florida senator Marco Rubio. Gingrich came in second and it wouldn't have sufficed to say, "I agree." The former speaker hinted at Rubio as a future commander in chief and also mentioned New Mexico governor Susana Martinez and Florida congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Poor Mitt Romney was third in line for questioning and knew he, too, had to top his rivals. His answer was lengthy but impressive:

Josh Rogin reports: “President Barack Obama is personally enamored with a recent essay written by neoconservative writer Bob Kagan, an advisor to Mitt Romney, in which Kagan argues that the idea the United States is in decline is false.”

We’re thrilled that the president is “enamored” by our long-time colleague and contributing editor, and trust it will spur sales of his fine new book, The World America Made.

Several of our favorite journals showed up recently in The Scrapbook’s mailbox (no, The Scrapbook hasn’t fully converted to the digital era yet), and they seemed to be even more chock-a-block than usual with interesting articles.

In the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, Newt Gingrich has a sizable lead over his Republican rival Mitt Romney. NBC reports: 

Tim Mak of Politico reports on the latest 

Michael Barone: " The JAX attax"

In his latest Bloomberg column, Ezra Klein pushes back on the GOP critique of the president. As far as he is concerned, the president is really a pragmatic center-leftist.

 “President Obama wants to put free enterprise on trial,” Mitt Romney says. But fear not, because the former governor of Massachusetts “will offer the American ideals of economic freedom a clear and unapologetic defense.”