Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum endorsed his one-time fierce rival Mitt Romney on Monday, a move that may help the party’s presumptive White House nominee win over religious conservatives.

Santorum said in an unusual late-night statement that the two have differences, but that he came away from a meeting with the ex-Massachusetts governor impressed with Romney’s “deep understanding” of economic and family issues central to the campaign.

“Above all else, we both agree that President (Barack) Obama must be defeated. The task will not be easy. It will require all hands on deck if our nominee is to be victorious,” Santorum said.

CONTINUED at Reuters.

GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul received what his campaign described as a “game changing” endorsement Sunday, as influential South Carolina State Senator Tom Davis, officially gave his support to Paul.

The Senator, a heavyweight fiscal conservative in the South Carolina General Assembly, is extremely well regarded amongst Republicans and Tea Party activists and will undoubtedly bring voters to Ron Paul’s campaign ahead of the “First in the South” primary.

A Public Polling Policy poll of South Carolina voters released Friday shows 30 percent of voters in the state identify themselves as Tea Party members. Although Ron Paul is and always has been at the core of the real Tea Party message, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have, up until now, polled the highest with self proclaimed Tea Partiers In South Carolina.

It is particularly important for Paul to secure Tea Party votes in this week’s primary, given that there are less independent voters in the state than in Iowa and New Hampshire.

“We’re excited and grateful to have Sen. Davis’s endorsement, as it carries tremendous weight in South Carolina,” said Ron Paul 2012 National Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton. “Sen. Davis knows a true fiscal conservative when he sees one. He’s uniquely qualified to distinguish between establishment candidate Mitt Romney and the conservative alternative to Romney, Ron Paul.”

Davis recently slammed Romney over his Wall Street connections and support of the banker bailouts:

CONTINUED at Prison Planet. Written by Steve Watson. Videos at link.

The Department of Justice offered a defense Thursday for President Obama’s controversial decision to make several recess appointments while Congress was holding pro forma sessions.

In a memo, Justice argued the pro forma sessions held every third day in the Senate do not constitute a functioning body that can render advice and consent on the president’s nominees. It said the president acted consistently under the law by making the appointments.

“Although the Senate will have held pro forma sessions regularly from January 3 to January 23, in our judgment, those sessions do not interrupt the intrasession recess in a manner that would preclude the president from determining that the Senate remains unavailable throughout to ‘receive communications from the president or participate as a body in making appointments,’” Virginia Seitz, assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel, wrote in the memo dated Jan. 6.

The Office of Legal Counsel concluded the president has authority to make recess appointments during a recess and that Congress can only prevent the president from making such appointments “by remaining continuously in session and available to receive and act on nominations,” not by holding pro forma sessions.

Republicans, who had set up the pro forma sessions to prevent Obama from making the appointments, are expected to challenge them in court.
Obama used his recess-appointment powers to place Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He also named three people to the National Labor Relations Board.

Seitz offered several points in defense of Obama’s actions.

The memo noted that pro forma sessions typically last only a few seconds and require the presence of only one senator.

CONTINUED at The Hill.

DISSATISFACTION WITH the economy, expressed in spasms of anger toward Wall Street and Washington; the dashed hopes of many who believed that Barack Obama’s election would create a new spirit of unity; and genuine uncertainty about Democratic health care reform — all of these have created an historic opportunity for the Republican Party. Just three years removed from a Republican administration that was roundly judged a failure, the party has a chance to renew itself — to blaze a path to bipartisan action on the budget, to introduce market-based solutions to health costs, and to construct a post-Iraq War network of alliances to promote global economic strength, knowing that true security comes from both peace and prosperity.

So far, Republican presidential contenders have shown little awareness of this opportunity. Far from promoting bipartisan unity, the GOP candidates have even abandoned Ronald Reagan’s “11th commandment” (“Though shalt not speak ill of another Republican”), shattering the party’s customary internal unity in an electric storm of name-calling and accusations. Rather than compare creative policy solutions, the candidates have vied for meaningless titles like “true conservative.’’ Rather than outline a vision for a safer world, they’ve signaled a return to Bush-era posturing and disdain for allies who don’t blindly serve American interests.

And yet the chance for renewal remains. Sour economic data and dysfunction in Washington present major obstacles to Obama’s reelection. Whoever gets the Republican nomination could easily become president. Among the candidates, only two stand out as truly presidential, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman. Both have track records of success, and both, through their policies and demeanors, have shown the breadth of spirit to lead the nation. But while Romney proceeds cautiously, strategically, trying to appease enough constituencies to get himself the nomination, Huntsman has been bold. Rather than merely sketch out policies, he articulates goals and ideals. The priorities he would set for the country, from leading the world in renewable energy to retooling education and immigration policies to help American high-tech industries, are far-sighted. He has stood up far more forcefully than Romney against those in his party who reject evolution and the science behind global warming.

With a strong record as governor of Utah and US ambassador to China, arguably the most important overseas diplomatic post, Huntsman’s credentials match those of anyone in the field. He would be the best candidate to seize this moment in GOP history, and the best-prepared to be president.

CONTINUED at Boston.

Appearing on Alex Jones’ nationally syndicated radio show today, the former governor of Minnesota and best selling author, Jesse Ventura, emphatically declared his support for Ron Paul’s presidential run.

“Ron Paul has Governor Jesse Ventura’s endorsement without a doubt,” he said. “It’s not even close. Because I want a new president that is going to change the direction of this country. I want a new president that is going to follow the Constitution. I want a new president that is going to believe in states’ rights. I want somebody that will shock the status quo.”

Jesse said Ron Paul is the only candidate that will put an end to the establishment’s wars and foreign adventures.

“It’s a simple as this,” he said. “If people truly are looking for an attempt at change in this country – changing who are and what we will be in the future – then there is only one candidate, and that is congressman Ron Paul. He’s the only candidate that wants to audit the Federal Reserve… he is the only candidate that wants to talk rather than wage war, so I think this will truly be an agenda for the United States of America, an agenda to determine what we stand for. Do we stand for being the most aggressive, war-mongering country in the world who is all set to go to war with Iran, too, or are we going to be a country that stands for peace?”

Jesse said that there has not been a president since John F. Kennedy who worked for peace and opposed the endless war policies of the ruling elite. Ron Paul is the first candidate since Kennedy to oppose the perpetual war agenda, he explained.

He criticized the corporate media for its effort to portray Paul’s foreign policy philosophy as “scary” and said the exact opposite it true – the foreign policy of the establishment and its handpicked candidates is scary. “All we do is go to war – one after another after another – and I’m one of the people being a veteran who says stop it, that’s enough of this,” Ventura said.

If America wants a change in direction, Jesse said, the only choice for president in 2012 is Ron Paul. “He is then only one who says we ought to talk before we shoot.”

Ventura cited as an example the response of the United States to Iran’s announcement that if may block the Strait of Hormuz if the United States and the EU impose a crippling embargo – essentially an act of war – on the country. The U.S. has vowed to respond if Iran blocks the strategic waterway.

He compared the latest actions of the U.S. to an earlier embargo – the oil embargo imposed on Japan by the United States that ultimately resulted in the attack on Pearl Harbor and the start of the Second World War.

Source: Infowars.

*Taken from Yahoo News.

In a devastating blow to businessman Herman Cain’s presidential ambitions, the American Mustache Institute–a group which had previously lavished rapturous praise on the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO–announced it was rescinding its official endorsement of the GOP field’s only mustachioed candidate.

In withdrawing its endorsement, the group cited recent allegations made against Cain, including their own tongue-in-cheek accusations: That the advertising at Godfather’s Pizza was misleading and that his mustache could be a fake. (Unlike Ron Paul’s eyebrows, Cain’s mustache is, in fact, real.)

“Amid a storm of allegations levied against Herman Cain, the American Mustache Institute today announced it had rescinded its endorsement for his presidential candidacy,” the organization, a nonprofit charity and “the world’s leading facial hair advocacy organization,” announced in a statement Wednesday. “[M]embers of the AMI administration said they could not in good conscience support his candidacy on behalf of the powerful Mustached American electorate.”

CONTINUED..

*Taken from the Daily Caller.

Republican presidential hopeful Gary Johnson saw a boost to his campaign following his first appearance at a candidate debate since May, picking up the endorsement of political consultant Roger Stone and an increase in his fundraising.

Stone formally endorsed the former New Mexico governor today on his website, The STONEzone.

“The most interesting thing in the debate was the national debut of Governor Gary Johnson of New Mexico, a pro-pot, anti-war libertarian with a record of cutting taxes and spending and creating more jobs than Mitt Romney in Massachusetts or Governor Rick Perry in Texas,” Stone wrote.

CONTINUED..

My Two Cents: Pawlenty drops out and quickly endorses Romney? Sounds like a deal was made and Romney’s got his VP if he wins the primary. End Two Cents.

*Taken from National Journal. Video at link.

Former Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty, who dropped out of the race last month, endorsed Mitt Romney for president, in an appearance on “Fox and Friends” this morning. “The next president is going to have to lead on the economy and jobs in a historic way and there’s one candidate in this race who is unmatched in his skills and experience and talent when it comes to turning around this economy and growing jobs. And that’s Mitt Romney,” Pawlenty said on the program. “And I’m proud and excited to endorse him for president of the United States.” Pawlenty said he will be serving as the national co-chairman of Romney’s campaign. He also said he didn’t want to be considered as Romney’s running mate. Pawlenty will be appearing with Romney Monday at a campaign event in Charleston, South Carolina. Pawlenty’s endorsement comes as the Republican establishment still has questions about Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s electability in a general election. Pawlenty dropped out of the race last month after the Ames Straw poll just as Perry launched his candidacy. Asked in the interview about Perry’s writings equating Social Security to a Ponzi scheme, Pawlenty noted the contrast on the issue between the two presidential candidates. “I know this. Governor Romney wants to fix Social Security. He doesn’t believe it should be thrown out. He believes it should be reformed and fixed and I think that’s the right approach. I think most Americans; most republicans understand that we’re going to need Social Security in a reformed and improved fashion going forward. That’s what Mitt Romney supports and that’s what I support as well.” Pawlenty went on to draw a clear contrast between the two: “Gov. Romney wants to fix Social Security. He doesn’t want to abolish it or end it…Gov. Perry has said in the past that he thought it was ‘failed’.'”

CONTINUED..

*Taken from CNN.

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has fresh bragging rights after picking up what is surely a coveted endorsement on Monday.

Cory Adams – the Republican chairman of Story County in Iowa – endorsed the Texas congressman’s presidential bid at a campaign event in Ames, Iowa.

That’s significant for a few reasons. Ames is the largest city in Story County, home to over 50,000 residents. And it is in this city that a widely-watched showdown between the GOP presidential candidates will play out on August 13. The Ames Straw Poll will test the candidates’ popularity and could be a sign of their electability.

CONTINUED..