Ron Christie

Sources I’ve spoken to who are close with Rubio say that he isn’t interest in running as vice president - his roots are in Florida, his family is in Florida and he made a commitment t...

It's Friday, the time we spend time with our most valuable minds here on The Takeaway to look at the week's stories. Is the Conservative Political Action Conference a right-wing Star Trek convention? How will the gay marriage issue play out? And why has contraception become a political issue? Our panel tackles these stories and more.

After Florida, most analysts were saying the GOP race was down to Newt and Mitt, but Rick Santorum pulled off a trifecta last night, a political hat trick winning the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses and a non-binding primary in Missouri. The unexpected wins casts further doubt on Mitt Romney's nomination, one that was once seen as a sure thing.

This week the Susan G. Komen Foundation cut funding for Planned Parenthood, Mitt Romney made headlines when he said he wasn't "concerned about the very poor," and Florida's GOP Primary went to Mitt Romney, with Newt Gingrich clenching a distant second.

How Newt Gingrich turned what was supposed to be a positive campaign into his own personal Moby Dick.

Mitt Romney came prepared during last night's CNN debate in Florida. The former Massachusetts governor fending off attacks about his record and personal finances as Newt Gingrich failed to build of his late momentum. The primary in the Sunshine State is just days away. A new CNN poll shows the two frontrunners are in a dead heat, with Romney leading Gingrich 36 percent to 34 percent. The primary is less than a week away, and the stakes are high. The winner-takes-all state has 50 delegates, more than Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina combined.

With spirited rhetoric about protecting the middle class and enforcing fairness in taxation, president Obama abandoned his normally conciliatory tone about non-partisan politics during last night's State of the Union address and instead highlighted the differences between right and left. Although both parties have had the chance for rebuttal, The Takeaway has assembled their own partisan players to comment on the president's remarks.

Rick Perry is out, Rick Santorum actually won Iowa, and Newt Gingrich's second wife says he asked for an open marriage before he filed for divorce. The four remaining candidates debated in Charleston one last time before this weekend's South Carolina primary. We take a look back at what was arguably the wildest day of the 2012 Presidential campaign thus far.

CNN is reporting this morning that Texas governor and GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry will drop his bid for the nomination just days ahead of the South Carolina primary. Perry drops his bid amid tepid poll numbers as candidates will scramble to pick up what little support he had. Mitt Romney faces his biggest test as the Iowa GOP also announced today that he may not have won their caucus. Republican political consultant Ron Christie joins the program to let us know how this will impact the race.

Only four days left until the South Carolina Republican presidential primary. That means only four days for the candidates to derail front-runner Mitt Romney off the path to the GOP nomination. At last night's debate in Myrtle Beach Romney fended off attacks on his business record, his personal wealth, and his moral character.

And then there were five. Jon Huntsman is expected to announce today that he is ending his bid for the White House and will endorse Mitt Romney. Huntsman pinned his hopes on a strong showing in the New Hampshire primary where he finished a soft third last week. What does this mean for the rest of the campaign? Joining the show is Jim Rutenberg, reporter for our partner The New York Times and Ron Christie, Republican political strategist, CEO of Christie Strategies, and former special assistant to President George W. Bush.

Mitt Romney's win in the New Hampshire primary, Newt Gingrich's ad campaign attacking Romney's past in private equity, a new book about Michelle Obama's role as first lady were — for better or worse — the stories that dominated the headlines for the last week. The Takeaway has assembled a panel of analysts to rundown, dissect, and wrap-up all the major stories of the week.

While many focus on who the winner of the Iowa Caucus will be later this evening, the true question to be answered is whether certain candidates ranking near the bottom in the minds o...

Ron Paul’s comments on race should disqualify him from holding the most powerful job in the world.

This week North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il died, a Pentagon investigation into airstrikes that killed 26 Pakistani soldiers heightened tensions between the U.S. and Pakistan, Countrywide was ordered to pay $355 million for discriminating against black and Latino borrowers, and a terrorism scandal in Iraq's second-highest office broke. 

Late last week I took to Twitter and the airwaves to urge Donald Trump to fire himself from moderating his own Republican debate. Judging from the press accounts yesterday, he followed my advice.

With unemployment near 10 percent, housing prices depressed all across the country and a sense ...

As a proud conservative, I am a firm believer in President Ronald Reagan’s famous 11 Commandment not to speak ill of a fellow Republican. At the same time, I’ve been mulling over a statement made by Texas Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) during a recent presidential debate that has ...

Even ten years ago this accomplishment would have been thought impossible; yet today we take their ascendancy to power as nothing out of the ordinary.

On Monday, Politico reported that Herman Cain was accused of sexual harassment by two female employees while he was head of the National Restaurant Association. The women left their jobs after reaching settlements with the industry group. Cain vehemently denied the accusations later in the day at the National Press Club in Washington, but went on to make contradictory statements about the incidents on Fox News.   

Is America ready for the first black Republican president? That's a question being asked following the surge in popularity of GOP candidate Herman Cain. A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll has Cain beating Mitt Romney with 27 percent to Romney's 21 in the Republican primary. Cain refuses to believe he is the latest GOP "flavor of the week" and has not shied away from talking about race during the campaign.