Politics Links, 1-16-12

A New York Times news analysis discusses some new books on the Tea Party and concludes that this is the first insurgency within the Republican Party not to be led by insiders.  The article notes that despite the influence of Tea Party groups, Romney seems to be on the cusp of winning.

In order to prevent this from happening, a group of evangelical leaders met on Saturday and decided to band together to support Rick Santorum as the anti-Romney candidate.

Meanwhile, Jon Huntsman was endorsed by the largest newspaper in South Carolina yesterday morning . . . and then decided to drop out of the race later that day.

While polls indicate that a Romney victory may be imminent, most Republican primary voters still know little about the candidates.

But you don't have to be like everybody else: here's a comparison of the tax plans laid out by the candidates so far.

Here's what to expect from Tea Party groups in South Carolina


Speaking of recent changes in the Republican electorate, here's another explanation of Republicans' recent unwillingness to compromise in Congress

We discussed the proxy measures of Starbucks versus Wal-Marts in class . . . a similar analysis pits the presence of Whole Foods versus Cracker Barrels as predictors of election outcomes

On a different note, here's a long, but interesting, discussion of who has been a conservative throughout history and why

David Brooks asks "Where are the Liberals?"

In a move likely designed to preempt the Republican presidential candidate, President Obama is asking Congress to grant him the authority to streamline the government

In this well-researched, (though from a specific point of view, of course) piece, the Republican Party argues that these five polices enacted by Obama have been failures

Finally, you can submit a question to be asked at the CNN South Carolina debate