I’d like to think it was those e-mails we sent last night…

—Perry stays in presidential race, says it ‘wasn’t a hard decision’

(Statesman)…Gov. Rick Perry said today he will continue his presidential campaign despite a fifth-place showing in the Tuesday Iowa caucuses and serious questions about whether he can continue. “I re-assessed,” Perry said as he left his West Des Moines hotel at about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. “We’re headed to New Hampshire and South Carolina.” Perry surprised the political world – and many of his advisers – when he Tweeted this morning that he would stay in the race. His Tweet included a photo from his morning jog.  (more…)

Please tell me this is just a joke.  This is so wrong on so many levels…..

Mummy, just what I always wanted! Girl, 7, gets £7,000 liposuction voucher for Christmas from ‘Human Barbie’ mum

• 51-year-old mother claims surgery will ‘come in handy’

• Follows £6,000 boob job as birthday gift

(DailyMail)…A seven-year-old who received a voucher for a boob job on her last birthday has received yet another inappropriate gift from her surgery-obsessed mother: A £7,000 voucher for liposuction.  Little Poppy Burge received the gift in her Christmas stocking after her mother, a 51-year-old plastic surgery addict known as The Human Barbie, decided it would ‘come in handy’.   (more…)

Watch the really good ad Rick Perry just released.  It might be coming out too late to help him in Iowa, but will he be able to convert this kind of optimism into votes in New Hampshire?   Can Rick Perry still be a contender, or by then will it be too late to stop the Mittmentum?   Close your eyes and tell me who you hear.  Yep….

I believe it was our very own GracieD who predicted the following would occur if Ron Paul chose to run third party.   This afternoon Mark Levin made the following statement:

“If Ron Paul decides that he is going to go third party, which is detrimental to this nation, and pulls a million votes, which is relatively insignificant in the big scheme of things, I will do everything in my power to defeat his son in Kentucky. I will do everything in my power to defeat his son, Rand Paul, in Kentucky.”

The other day Chris Matthews showed up in Iowa trying to goad Mitt Romney into saying “Let them eat cake” in French, seeing as Romney had spent two years in France doing missionary work.   Romney wisely declined, however, we have found the following video.  (Warning:  Don’t be trying to eat something while you watch Huntsman.)

Marshalltown, Iowa (CNN) – Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said he feels “Romney-boated” by the barrage of negative ads run against the former House speaker by a super PAC that supports rival candidate Mitt Romney.  “For a state this size, to spend that number of dollars in negative ads aimed at one candidate is pretty amazing,” Gingrich said Sunday at a press availability in Marshalltown, Iowa.

When asked if he feels “swift boated,” a reference to the negative ads that partially derailed John Kerry’s presidential bid in 2004, Gingrich responded, “No, I feel ‘Romney-boated.'”

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Enough with the doublespeak and convoluted arguments…this one chart says it all:

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Happy New Year to all you “Treepers” from the Conservative Treehouse!  It’s been a wonderful first year, and it’s true…time really does fly when you’re having fun.

We’re starting off the new year by inaugurating a brand new post for the “Prayer Thread”.  Now when you drop by to share a concern, it won’t take quite so long to see your comment in print.  (We had 753 comments on the last one!)  Just ‘click’ on the candle icon, as always.

The final poll results are out!  Looks like it’s Romney at 24%, Paul at 22%, and 15% for Santorum.   Rumors are already swirling that Bachmann/Perry supporters may throw their support behind Santorum, now the most viable social conservative.   If Steve King endorses Santorum on Tuesday, we might have a real horse race here. 

(DesMoinesRegister)…Mitt Romney tops the latest Des Moines Register Iowa Poll in the closing days before the Iowa caucuses, but Ron Paul and Rick Santorum are poised within striking distance.  The poll, conducted Tuesday through Friday, shows support at 24 percent for Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts; 22 percent for Paul, a Texas congressman; and 15 percent for the surging Rick Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania.  But the four-day results don’t reflect just how quickly momentum is shifting in a race that has remained highly fluid for months. If the final two days of polling are considered separately, Santorum rises to second place, with 21 percent, pushing Paul to third, at 18 percent. Romney remains the same, at 24 percent.  (more…)

I think it’s great to see Virginia’s AG, Ken Cuccinelli,  stepping in to see if he can get this issue resolved on the legislative side.  The citizens of Virginia deserve to see this process reformed…hopefully in time to see all the GOP candidates on the ballot. 

(FoxNews)…Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is intervening in his state’s presidential primary dispute and plans to file emergency legislation to address the inability of most Republican presidential candidates to get their name on the ballot, Fox News has learned.

Meanwhile, four GOP candidates on Saturday joined fellow candidate Rick Perry’s lawsuit against the state, urging the Board of Elections to either allow them on the ballot or at least refrain from taking any action until a Jan. 13 court hearing.

Only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul qualified for the Virginia primary, a contest with 49 delegates up for grabs. Perry and the four candidates joining the lawsuit — Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman — did not.

The failure of other candidates to qualify led to complaints that the 10,000-signature requirement is too stringent.   (more…)