Michele Bachmann

Manchester, N.H.
The first televised presidential debate in over three weeks will take place tonight at St. Anselm College in nearby Goffstown, with another debate tomorrow morning on NBC’s Meet the Press. A lot has changed since that December 15 debate in Sioux City, Iowa. Michele Bachmann will be absent tonight, having dropped out after her disappointing performance in Iowa, and Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich have dropped in the polls since then.

Michele Bachmann’s speech announcing her departure from the presidential field emphasized the singular importance of repealing Obamacare. Referring to Howard Chandler Christy’s painting of the signing of the Constitution, which hangs in the United States Capitol, she said:

James Novogrod of NBC tweets some developments this morning suggesting that Bachmann's out:

Breaking - Bachmann has apparently cancelled her South Carolina trip; her campaign has called a press conference at 10amCT.

Des Moines
Iowa state senator Kent Sorenson, who had served as Michele Bachmann's state campaign chairman, announced this evening at a Ron Paul rally that he is pulling his support from Bachmann and now backs Paul. Sorenson said in a statement: 

New York Times: "New Focus on Incendiary Words in Paul’s Newsletters"

YouTube Trends: "The Top Political Videos of 2011"

Politico: "Source: Bob Vander Plaats asked Michele Bachmann to quit"

Matthew Continetti predicted earlier today that tonight's debate could be “Michele's Moment.” He may well prove to be right.

A new poll from Gallup today finds that a majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents find Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney "acceptable" nominees for the GOP. For Gingrich, 62 percent of those polled said the former House speaker was an acceptable Republican nominee, while 54 percent said the same for Romney. The remaining six Republicans, including former candidate Herman Cain, were deemed "not acceptable" candidates for the party's nomination.

A new national poll of likely Republican primary voters from Rasmussen Reports shows Newt Gingrich with a 21-point lead over Mitt Romney. According to Rasmussen, this is the largest lead held by any GOP candidate this cycle.

During Tuesday night’s national security debate on CNN, Newt Gingrich said he was “prepared to take the heat” for his position that immigration laws ought to be enforced “humanely” in order to avoid unnecessarily breaking up families.

Rick Perry:  "My Tax and Spending Reform Plan"

Byron York: "Cain: Rove deliberately talking down my campaign"

Robert Costa: "Newt’s Resurrection?"

James Pindell reports: 

All paid New Hampshire staff for Michele Bachmann’s presidential campaign have quit over deep frustration with the campaign’s lack of commitment to New Hampshire.

Public Policy Polling (PPP) has a new survey showing Barack Obama may be in real trouble in Ohio, the perennial swing state that he won by just over 260,000 votes in 2008. According to PPP, Obama's approval rating in Ohio is at 43 percent, with only 39 percent of independents approving of his job.