As predicted here last Wednesday morning, I felt Speaker Gingrich would make a surge and would at least be within the margin of error of Gov. Romney going into Saturday’s South Carolina primary.  Little did I know that he would absolutely run away with the contest.  He had a 20 point turnaround in even the most conservative polls, which showed him down 7 points entering the week.  With a 12-13 point victory, Gingrich once again surprised everyone.  Speaker Gingrich has been left for dead TWICE in this contest, and both times he has bounced back with a vengeance.  What is even more surprising was the way he won in the Palmetto State.  He pretty much captured every county (all but two or three) and every demographic.  I think he is here to stay this time around.  It will be interesting to see the dynamic between he and Rick Santorum going forward.  Unlike Gingrich and Romney, who seem to dislike each other, I think Santorum and the former Speaker have a great amount of respect for each other.  However, at some point one of them will have to pull out of this race and allow the other challenge Romney directly (with Ron Paul garnering his 10-15%).  The voters in South Carolina seemed to indicate their preference, but we will see what happens in Florida.  At that time, one of them (probably Santorum) will have to make a decision about his future in this race.

Is Speaker Gingrich’s surge purely emotional?  Will it die in Florida?  We will see in the next week, but I think here is here to stay.

In a poll that I actually found very surprising, a New York Times/CBS News poll shows Mr. Obama is very vulnerable with independents.

The swing voters who will play a pivotal role in determining his political fate are up for grabs, the poll found, with just 31 percent expressing a favorable opinion of Mr. Obama. Two-thirds of independent voters say he has not made real progress fixing the economy.

I guess I should not be as surprised as I am here.  This groups is very volatile, and they are not seeing the “hope and change” that was promised three and a half years ago.  Thus, they are quick to look for other options.  Unlike those on the right or left who rally behind our candidate because of close alignment of core beliefs, this group is more willing to move with the wind to the candidate they think will help them out most.  They are more easily able to overlook glaring problems that those on the left or right may see with the candidate. I think this is particularly true on social issues.  I would be willing to say social issues only appeal to those on the extremes and not those in the center when it comes to elections.  In our current state, they are looking for the candidate who has the best chance of making real changes in the economy and helping the country out of the economic downturn we have been experiencing for the last five years or so.

A glimmer of hope may be on the horizon for Mr. Obama, though, as the economy appears to be generating more jobs. The poll found that 28 percent of the public says the economy is getting better, which is the biggest sense of optimism found in a Times/CBS News poll since last February.

But Mr. Obama, whose job approval rating remains essentially frozen in the 40s, has considerable work to do rebuilding the coalition of voters who sent him to the White House. Independent voters have concerns about Mr. Obama on a variety of measures, including 6 in 10 who say the president does not share their priorities for the country.

President Obama runs a wonderful campaign full of “unicorns and rainbows,” but when it comes to putting actions behind his words, he has not been able to deliver.  I understand that it does not fall 100% on his shoulders, but he has been unable to “rally the troops” from either side of the aisle and provide clear guidance for how he plans reduce spending and other items that are important to the American electorate.  If he is unable to do this soon, I believe he will lose a majority of this swing vote and, in turn, the election this Fall.

In a move that clearly shows the mainstream is worried about Newt Gingrich in the general election against Barack Obama, ABC News is releasing an interview with Newt Gingrich’s former wife. I did not expect this from the mainstream media until Speaker Gingrich gained the nomination.  Even insiders at ABC News think airing this interview now is unethical.  However, they are dusting it out early and plan to air it in this evening.  The Gingrich camp has come out in advance of this with a statement from both of Gingrich’s daughters:

The failure of a marriage is a terrible and emotional experience for everyone involved.  Anyone who has had that experience understands it is a personal tragedy filled with regrets, and sometimes differing memories of events.

We will not say anything negative about our father’s ex-wife.  He has said before, privately and publicly, that he regrets any pain he may have caused in the past to people he loves.

ABC News or other campaigns may want to talk about the past, just days before an important primary election.  But Newt is going to talk to the people of South Carolina about the future– about job creation, lower taxes, and about who can defeat Barack Obama by providing the sharpest contrast to his damaging, extreme liberalism.  We are confident this is the conversation the people of South Carolina are interested in having.

Our father is running for President because of his grandchildren – so they can inherit the America he loves.  To do that, President Obama must be defeated.  And as the only candidate in the race, including Obama, who has actually helped balance the national budget, create jobs, reform welfare, and cut taxes and spending, Newt felt compelled to run – to serve his country and safeguard his grandchildren’s future.

This story lends credence to the fact that this is one of Gingrich’s weaknesses.  He has certainly not lived the way I condone of in the past.  However, he has admitted these sins and states that he has asked forgiveness from God for this.  That is all I can ask for from a man; that he not lie about it and that he be repentant.  I clearly have no way of examining his heart, but I believe him.  I am willing to look past this, as I think Mr. Gingrich offers us the best shot of making true change in this country.

After a stellar debate performance Monday evening, Newt Gingrich is gaining ground fast in South Carolina.  An NBC poll shows very quick changes in a clearly undecided electorate.

On Monday before the debate, Romney led Gingrich in the poll by 15 points, 37 percent to 22 percent. But on Tuesday, that advantage narrowed to just five points, 31 percent to 26 percent.

And the breakdown of the various groups is also interesting:

On Monday, Gingrich held a five-point lead over Romney among those describing themselves as “very conservative,” 32 percent to 27 percent, with Santorum getting 24 percent.

But the next day, Gingrich’s percentage with this group jumped up to 35 percent, Santorum’s declined to 20 percent and Romney’s sunk to 19 percent.

Among Tea Party supporters on Monday, Romney edged Gingrich, 35 percent to 27 percent. But on Tuesday, the numbers flipped – with Gingrich at 34 percent and Romney at 27 percent.

And a similar change occurred among likely South Carolina primary voters who are evangelical Christians. On Monday, Romney led Gingrich here, 36 percent to 22 percent, with Santorum at 18 percent. On Tuesday, it was Gingrich at 27 percent, Romney at 22 percent, and Santorum at 19 percent.

One thing is for certain throughout this campaign. The more Mitt Romney has to defend is record and his positions, the more support swells for an anti-Romney candidate.  However, the voters have not been able to rally around one of these guys up to this point.  Speaker Gingrich needs a very strong performance this weekend to try to capture that vote and minimize Rick Santorum and Rick Perry for the long run. Clearly after Monday’s debate he is doing just that in South Carolina.

Following up on a strong debate performance on Monday evening in South Carolina, Newt Gingrich took to the campaign trail across the state of South Carolina.  In doing so, he said what every one knows to be true.  That if anybody besides Romney is going to obtain this nomination, there can only be one other choice.

So any vote for Santorum or Perry in effect is a vote to allow Romney to become the nominee. Because we’ve got to bring conservatives together in order to stop him.

I believe it is only a matter of days until Rick Perry will withdraw from this campaign.  After a poor showing Saturday in South Carolina, he will not have much of a choice.  I think he would have withdrawn after Iowa if Michele Bachmann had stayed in the race.  However, he felt he could benefit from her withdrawal. Hopefully the voters in South Carolina that do not agree with Mitt Romney will rally behind one candidate.  It appears Mr. Gingrich is poised to be that candidate, but can he get enough support away from Gov. Santorum? What will the field look like after Florida?  Certainly this is a long race for the nomination, and if Perry and Santorum withdraw after this weekend or after Florida, the former Speaker still has a chance to become the nominee.  But will this happen or is Rick Santorum hoping for the same thing out of Gingrich?

We would have a very exciting race on our hands if the field was whittled down to three (because we know Ron Paul is in for the long haul as well) in the next couple weeks.  The real question would be whether Mr. Gingrich would have the money to continue and also if he could overcome history by not winning South Carolina and still become the nominee.

I predict that Gingrich will be within the margin of error of  Gov. Romney when the last polling comes out Thursday or Friday, and we will have a close race to watch Saturday.

Jon Huntsman has decided to drop out of the 2012 GOP Presidential race just days before the South Carolina primary.  Huntsman, who staked all his faith on New Hampshire, finished a disappointing third.  However, he vowed to continue on.  As of today, though, he will formally change his mind on that.  He plans to announce his withdrawal and endorse Mitt Romney.

A source close to the Huntsman campaign said the former ambassador to China and Utah governor was “proud of the race that he ran” but “did not want to stand in the way” of rival Mitt Romney, the current front-runner for the Republican nomination.

Mr. Huntsman was never really a contender in this race.  He suffered from several dynamics that worked against him.  One, in my opinion, is that there was not room for two Mormons to run for the nomination.  Clearly the LDS support is behind Mitt Romney.  I find it interesting that this has been almost completely ignored in this campaign.  At some point it will come up against Mr. Romney, possible in the general election if he gains the nomination.

Plus Huntsman’s persona came across poor in all the debates I watched.  He seemed like a bitter man with no big ideas.  He never gained enough traction to garner more air time, and so he now becomes the latest “also ran.”  I do not think much of his support goes to Romney.  I think it will go to the other conservative candidates, such as Gingrich, Perry, and Santorum.  The field is becoming less crowded, and hopefully one of these candidates can make a legitimate push to “dethrone” Mr. Romney.

Merrill DataSite provides secure document storage for various needs.  You hear of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) going on all the time, but I never thought about the document storage during this process.  Competitors would like nothing better than to gain access to these business-sensitive documents.  During the M&A process, I would think these documents would be especially vulnerable.

Additionally, as software companies grow, some choose to go public.  We have seen big initial public offerings (IPOs) or rumors of IPOs in recent years for some of the bigger names, such as Google and Facebook.  If your company is interested in going public, Merrill DataSite can provide professional VDR solution for IPO process.  This will help with the due diligence and filing required for the IPO.

Plus, as your company grows globally, you cannot rely exclusively on English to reach the optimal level of clients. Merrill can come through for you there also, with Merrill Brink translation services.  They have large and small clients, such as Symantec and Avon, so you can be assure no job is too large for them.  And the best thing for IT related products is that they are a technical translation services provider.  This means they understand the technical details and this will come through on their translation.  We have all received poorly translated instructions that looks like someone just typed the original language into Google Translate and printed them out.  That is not the kind of product you will get here.  So, if you are in the market, check them out.

You may have noticed that I have started having a few more ads on this site.  Both on the side bars, and even a few sponsored posts.  This helps out minimally, but it is still enough to help pay for my web hosting and other various fees.  I have investigated several opportunities over the past few months.  Another one that has come to my attention is BizzClick.  They are a Pay Per Click company that serves both advertisers and publishers, like me.

For the advertisers, they have the FiSoAp (Filter, Sort, Appreciate) system, which allows better targeting, so advertisers can be more confident that the traffic being driven to their site actually has an interest in their product.  They also have several other options to help ensure this as well.  Additionally, their 24/7 support is available when you need them, which is especially helpful for those that have their own business or weird hours for their web presence.

They also work for publishers, promising respectable advertisers and a lot of control.  They also have an affiliate program, so if you are interesting in signing up, let me know.  I am going to give it a try myself.

In a move that is sure to endear him to the Tea Party and true conservatives even more, Marco Rubio has fired one of the first shots for the upcoming debt ceiling increase debate.

In a scathing letter sent to Barack Obama this morning, Senator Marco Rubio said that under the President’s first term in office, “more and more people have come to believe that America is becoming a deadbeat nation.”

Rubio went on to pledge that he would challenge any further increase in the debt ceiling, arguing that “we [Congress] need to make it routine to actually spend no more than we take in.”

This is obviously the rallying cry for conservatives, but I believe this resonates with a majority of the people in this country.  How in the world can we continue to go more and more into debt with no legitimate attempt to reign in this deficit?

His plan:

Ideally such a [real plan to tackle our debt] would feature both pro-growth elements and spending restraints, including fundamental tax reform, regulatory reform, meaningful cuts to discretionary spending, a balanced-budget amendment, and reforms to save Social Security and Medicare.

Then he captures the frustration of most Americans:

If we had done this [pass a real debt plan] in mid-2011 when we last debated the debt ceiling, we could have set America on a path to economic growth and prosperity.  This would have led to more jobs and, in turn, to more duly employed taxpayers generating more growth-driven revenue to help us pay down our debt.  Instead, you failed to lead, punted the tough decisions and, in doing so, our credit rating was downgraded for the first time in our history.  It’s a tragic reality but, on your watch, more and more people have come to believe that America is becoming a deadbeat nation inevitably heading toward a European-style debt crisis.

I do not know if Marco Rubio will be the GOP Vice-Presidential candidate, but I would certainly think so.  He would especially capture the conservatives if on a Romney ticket.  I just do not know if he would agree to be on the ticket with a moderate like Romney.  His words and ideas are very popular and capture the frustrations of many Americans.  Even if he is not on the ticket this Fall, he is a superstar for the near future for the conservative cause.

Laptops are certainly in a tricky state right now.  As we see more and more folks purchase tablets, what will be the fate of laptops be?  They still have a very important place for the person that wants a full computer that is mobile.  Tablets just cannot quite fill all the needs of a full computer.  We think of many accessories for electronics, but something I have not really thought about in the past was a laptop cart.  When I first saw it, I thought why in the world would I need a cart for a laptop.  Then I realized laptop storage is important for folks that have shared laptops that can be checked out by various employees.  eLaptopCarts has just what you need.  They also run specials with free shipping and even a 110% price guarantee for 10 days after the sale.  Whether you need a mobile cart to set the laptop on or powered/non-powered storage, check them out for laptop carts.