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.

Newt Gingrich on Wednesday unofficially conceded the Republican presidential race to Mitt Romney, calling on conservatives to unite behind the presumptive nominee.

Following Romney’s clean sweep of all five primaries on Tuesday – including Delaware, where Gingrich had staked the remainder of his tattered campaign – the former House speaker said in a speech to the Gaston County GOP that “it’s pretty clear Governor Romney is going to be the nominee.”

“I think you have to at some point be honest with what’s happening in the real world, as opposed to what you’d like to have happened,” Gingrich said. “Governor Romney had a very good day yesterday. He got 67 [percent] in one state, and he got 63 in other, 62 in another. Now you have to give him some credit. I mean this guy’s worked six years, put together a big machine, and has put together a serious campaign.

“I think obviously that I would be a better candidate, but the objective fact is the voters didn’t think that,” Gingrich said. “And I also think it’s very, very important that we be unified.”

Gingrich said he will continue to campaign in North Carolina through the week “as a citizen,” and that “we’re working out the details of our transition and we’ll have information for the press in the next couple of days.”

Confronted by a gaggle of shouting reporters in the rope line afterward, Gingrich told them “you got enough this morning” and directed them to his spokesman, R.C. Hammond. When CBS News/National Journal contacted Hammond, he answered then hung up when asked if Gingrich was suspending his campaign.

Until he officially suspends his campaign, Gingrich will presumably maintain his U.S. Secret Service detail, which is costing taxpayers roughly $44,000 per day but allows him security that’s cost-free to the campaign. On Friday, he reported being $4.3 million in debt – a casualty he attributes to trying to compete with Romney in Florida. Gingrich won only two states during the primary season, South Carolina and his home state of Georgia.

Source: CBS News.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., endorsed Mitt Romney for president Wednesday night on Fox News’ “Hannity,” saying Romney offers “a very clear alternative” to President Obama’s vision for the future of the country.

Rubio, a young, first-termer who has been discussed as a possible vice presidential candidate, criticized talk of a fight for the Republican nomination on the convention floor, a possibility that is keeping alive the campaigns of Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich.

“I think that’s a recipe for delivering four more years of Barack Obama,” Rubio told Fox News’ Sean Hannity.

Romney has “earned this nomination,” Rubio said, though he again shot down questions about whether he would accept any offers of a spot on the ticket.

“I don’t believe I’m going to be asked to be the vice presidential nominee,” he said, adding it’s not something he wants.

The endorsement comes after another big-name in Florida politics, former Gov. Jeb Bush, threw his support behind Romney, and former President George H.W. Bush is expected to officially endorse Romney on Thursday.

Romney has a comfortable lead in the delegate count, though Santorum has been able to pick up wins in several recent state contests, including Louisiana on Saturday.

Source: Fox News.

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.

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 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: Vince Vaughn steps up to the plate as well. End Two Cents.

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..