FROM THE BLOGS:

The brokered convention fantasy
Salon's Steve Kornacki in the War Room says that despite Santorum's big week, political junkies' dreams of a brokered convention are unrealistic.

Don't trust the delegate counts
Smart Politics looks at the delegate counts of eight news organizations — including The Hill — and finds that none of the delegate estimates match one another, underscoring the unpredictable nature of the early primaries.

Tripping point in the contraceptives compromise
Wonkblog's Sarah Kliff points out that despite a seeming win-win, someone will have to pay for free access to birth control for the employees of religious organizations.

Interpol aids Saudi Arabia in arresting journalist
The Guardian reports on charges the international police cooperation abused its authority in aiding Saudi Arabia in arresting a journalist who tweeted an insult of the Prophet Muhammad.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Obama shifts on birth control mandate
The Hill's Amie Parnes rounds up all the news and reaction surrounding the president's decision to shift a mandate to provide free contraception from employers to insurance companies.

Romney makes his case to conservatives
The former governor argued that he was "severely conservative" in one of the nation's most liberal states to activists at Friday's CPAC convention, The Hill's Cameron Joseph says.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Gohmert: Alaska pipeline necessary to protect caribou love lives
The Texas Republican said that heat emanating from the development of an Alaska oil pipeline is spurring the recovery of the caribou population in the state, In the Loop reports.

How to date conservative
Talking Points Memo crashes the dating seminar at Thursday's Conservative Political Action Conference.

Romney should flip-flop on minimum wage
The National Review urges the Republican front-runner to abandon his stated support for a minimum wage indexed to inflation, calling it the "full trifecta of political incompetence."

How Romney can win conservatives over
The American's James Pethokoukis gives the former governor talking points to stress as he woos conservatives thus far wary of his campaign.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Pelosi: 'Colbert used to be my friend'
The House minority leader deadpans that the late-night comedian "must be stopped" as part of an ad in support of the Disclose Act, The Hill's Alicia M. Cohn reports.

Romney: Obama will capitulate on contraception
The GOP front-runner said the president would "suffer enormous consequence" if he didn't back off the new mandate, The Hill's Daniel Strauss reports.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Contraceptives and copays
Kevin Drum of Mother Jones wonders where an explanation liberals are using to explain Catholics' antagonism toward the Obama administration's rule on contraceptives came from. 

Santorum says ‘other types of emotions’ could preclude women in combat
Rick Santorum seems to be nearly gaffe-free so far, notes Jennifer Rubin at her blog, Right Turn. 

The liberal mind at work, and a CPAC note
Congress should not mandate that Supreme Court oral arguments should be televised, writes Steven Hayward at the Powerline blog. 

Obama's jobs bounce
President Obama may be experiencing an approval bounce from the January jobs numbers, according to Nate Silver.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Biden on birth control rule: 'We can work it out'
Vice President Joe Biden predicted that the Obama administration could satisfy Republicans and Catholics who disagree with the the contraceptive rule, reports The Hill's Amie Parnes. 

Hoekstra campaign pulls website tied to controversial Super Bowl commercial
Former Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) pulled a website connected to a controversial ad from his campaign, report The Hill's Justin Sink and Cameron Joseph.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Republican campaign will continue despite media proclamations
Slate's David Weigel says that despite journalist's assurances that Romney will win the nomination, voters should expect a prolonged battle for the GOP nomination.

Santorum will put Romney candidacy to acid test
The National Review's Michael Walsh sees the former Pennsylvania senator as the last viable alternative — and the first real test — for the former Massachusetts governor.

Santorum will experience Romney's wrath
Salon's Steve Kornacki predicts a rough road ahead for the former Pennsylvania senator after his surprise sweep of three states Tuesday night threatened Mitt Romney's road to the nomination.

Romney campaign team must refine strategy
The National Review's John Hood argues that missteps Tuesday night, coupled with a South Carolina loss, do not instill confidence in the Romney team's ability to prioritize headed into a general election.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Boehner pledges reversal of Obama birth-control mandate
The House Speaker said the president's "attack" on "religious freedom in our country cannot stand," The Hill's Pete Kasperowicz and Sam Baker report.

Santorum to challenge Romney in Michigan
A loss in the state where his father served as governor would deal a serious blow to Romney, The Hill's Cameron Joseph reports.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Santorum triumphant
At National Review's The Corner, Quin Hillyer calls Rick Santorum's victories in a trio of primary contests "perhaps the most remarkable showing in a presidential-nomination battle" since Henry Cabot Lodge.

Pssst. You already pay for birth control
The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn analyzes why Catholics are furious over the Obama administration's decision to require health insurance to cover birth control. 

Liberals and the Constitution: A postscript
John Hinderaker at the Powerline highlights a cartoon about liberals and the U.S. Constitution. 

The power of regular action…
In light of the reversed decision by the Susan G. Komen Foundation to stop funding Planned Parenthood, Dennis G. makes the case for donating to Planned Parenthood.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Santorum gets boost with wins in Missouri and Minnesota
Rick Santorum won "badly needed" momentum in the Republican presidential race on Tuesday. The Hill's Cameron Joseph has more. 

GOP lawmakers protest removal of 'God' from Air Force unit's patch
A group of Republican lawmakers are protesting the removal of the world 'God' from military patches, according to The Hill's Jeremy Herb and Daniel Strauss.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Birth control issue is not black and white
Jonathan Cohn at The New Republic writes that the battle heating up between the Catholic Church and the Obama administration over mandatory health coverage for birth control is more complicated than it appears.

The new upper class vs. the old upper class
Charles Murray at Time writes that there’s a reason the upper class is despised.

GOP descends on Minnesota
Baird Helgeson at the Star Tribune has the view from the ground ahead of Tuesday night’s wide-open caucuses in Minnesota.

The GOP needs a brokered convention
Last night influential conservative blogger Erick Erickson at Red State endorsed a “sweet meteor of death” over any of the GOP candidates.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

GOP Rep. fed up with overheated tax rhetoric
Rep. Dave Camp said both sides need to cool it and let the payroll tax conference committee do its job, reports Russell Berman at The Hill.

Court ruling on gay marriage will be an election-year issue
A California federal court ruled that the state’s constitutional amendment banning gay marriage was unconstitutional, and that ruling could play a key role in the 2012 election, reports Jonathan Easley at The Hill.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Why Old Keynesianism is looking worse these days, and other thoughts
Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution refutes the claim that he is being hypocritical by arguing that Old Keynesianism isn't the rationale behind any economic recovery right now. 

The revolution will not be televised
Ron Paul's campaign appears to be flat-lining, The American Prospect's Patrick Caldwell argues. 

It happened again
Maisie Allison rounds up some analyses on voter turnout of the Nevada caucuses at The Daily Dish. 

Clint Eastwood’s Chrysler ad draws divided political response
Political overtones were easy to see in a Chrysler ad featuring Clint Eastwood that aired during the Super Bowl, writes Steve Goldstein for Marketwatch. 

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Cantor: GOP wants year-long payroll extension, won’t settle for two months
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Republicans want a year-long extension of the payroll tax cut, not one that only goes for a matter of months, reports The Hill's Molly K. Hooper. 

The 2016 election, already upon us
The New York Times's David Leonhardt surveys the likely 2016 Democratic presidential field and finds a not-insignificantly-sized bench.

FROM THE BLOGS:

The Last Republican?

Geoffrey Norman at The American Spectator says that if Mitt Romney wins the nomination, Republicans will forsake their party for not being true to its ideals.

A GOP win would be bad for women

Michelle Goldberg at The Daily Beast says if a Republican becomes president, it will threaten women’s reproductive rights all over the world.

Romney’s missteps won’t derail his campaign

Mitt Romney might have had an awkward week in the press, but he’s still the favorite to take the GOP nomination, writes Jonathan Tobin at Commentary.

Romney’s costly gaffes

David Paul Kuhn at Real Clear Politics takes the opposite stance, saying Mitt Romney will end up paying a price for his gaffes.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Komen reverses decision to defund Planned Parenthood

The Susan G. Komen foundation is backing down following an intense backlash from women's groups, reports Sam Baker at The Hill.

Stock market at its highest since financial crisis

Peter Schroeder at The Hill reports on the major stock market milestone.

FROM THE BLOGS:

The Paul/Romney alliance?
Hit & Run writer Brian Doherty is skeptical about a proposed Ron Paul-Mitt Romney alliance.

Susan G. Komen Foundation website was hacked last night
Alexander Abad-Santos posts at Atlantic Wire that hackers changed a banner on the the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation's website in reaction to the organization's decision to pull funding from Planned Parenthood.

Mitt Romney says he ‘misspoke’ about lack of concern for poor
Romney called his recent controversial statement regarding the "very poor" a "misstatement," Aaron Blake posts at The Fix.

Team Obama is so sassy lately
At Daily Intel, Noreen Malone points out that President Obama's campaign team knows how to be funny.


OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Senate approves bill banning insider trading by lawmakers, 96-3
The Senate voted overwhelmingly to ban members of Congress from using non-public information for personal financial gain, Alexander Bolton and Josiah Ryan report for The Hill.

Obama Wall Street fundraising evaporates as donors flee to Romney
Writing for the Huffington Post, Paul Blumenthal and Sam Stein report, "President Obama has been abandoned by the world of finance."