The Golden Report

2 DAYS UNTIL IOWA (28 delegates)
9 DAYS UNTIL NEW HAMPSHIRE (12 delegates)
20 DAYS UNTIL SOUTH CAROLINA (25 delegates)
23 DAYS UNTIL THE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

THE LATEST FROM IOWA- headline from The Fix’s Chris Cillizza- on the ground in Des Moines- “Romney has best odds, Santorum has the momentum”

CILLIZZA- “At this point, there’s not much left for the candidates — or the reporters who cover them — to do but wait and wonder.”

But, in fact, THERE IS ONE MORE NEWS CYCLE BETWEEN NOW AND CAUCUS DAY- So tomorrow is pivotal. Which of the following will be Monday’s story line?

• Santorum’s surge continues and he looks to be the come from behind winner of the Caucus
• Santorum’s support is falling as social conservatives take one final look. He’s likely to finish a close 2nd or 3rd behind Romney
• Perry’s support is growing and he is challenging Santorum and Paul for the top three
• Or something else

WHAT TO WATCH- does the Romney campaign engage with Santorum before Iowa or does the campaign (or perhaps the uncoordinated Super PACS supporting Romney) wait until the week before New Hampshire?

ONE THING IS CLEAR- the media is infatuated with Rick Santorum right now. For better or worse, he is getting all of the attention- and will through Caucus Day, unless something changes.

NEWT’S GOING NEGATIVE- but will it be too little too late for the embattled former frontrunner?

from POLITICO’s Jonathan Martin in MARSHALLTOWN, IOWA

“Leaving his pledge of a positive campaign behind, Gingrich pressed a tough line of attack that portrayed the former Massachusetts governor as soft on abortion - a major vulnerability for the frontrunner that hadn’t been raised directly by any of his opponents.

“I think New Hampshire is the perfect state to have a debate over Romneycare and to have a debate about tax-paid abortions, which he signed, and to have a debate about putting Planned Parenthood  on a government board, which he signed, and to have a debate about appointing liberal judges, which he did,” said Gingrich, starting in Marshalltown, Iowa, the case he’ll take to the Granite State and beyond next week.

Gingrich’s comments suggest that his contrast with Romney on taxes this week either didn’t penetrate or aren’t  sufficient to take down the frontrunner and that he needs to attack the former pro-abortion rights governor on a more explosive issue.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY- from Mitt Romney tonight in Council Bluffs, Iowa-

“You know, I’ve been looking at some video clips on YouTube, of President Obama, then candidate Obama, going through Iowa making promises. The gap between his promises and his performance is the largest I’ve seen since, well, the Kardashian wedding and the promise of ‘til death do us part.”

FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF NON-CONTENDERS IN THE IOWA CAUCUS: This interesting fundraising pitch from Jon Huntsman, who is skipping Iowa but making a run in New Hampshire next week, today in an e-mail to supporters:

“I am so humbled at the tremendous response we’ve received that today I am adding a special wrinkle: from now until midnight Wednesday, Mary Kaye and I will personally match – dollar for dollar – every new donation our campaign receives.

In just a few minutes, I will be holding a town hall in Deerfield, New Hampshire – our third event of the day, and 143rd event in the state. With only nine days to go until New Hampshire’s primary, it is critical that we have the resources – both on the ground and on TV – to compete with Mitt Romney.”

MORE FROM HUNTSMAN- A web video attack ad against RON PAUL’s foreign policy released this weekend, which is straight out of the Twilight Zone. Literally. 

THE POLL DRIVING THE WEEKEND- the Des Moines Register survey released at 8pm ET on New Year’s Eve- which found a three-way dead heat between ROMNEY, PAUL and SANTORUM

Romney 24%, Paul 22%, Santorum 15%, Gingrich 12%, Perry 11%, Bachmann 7%, Huntsman 2%

WAITING FOR the final PPP poll before the Caucus to be released later tonight

WHO WON THE DAY? Rick Santorum, according to POLITICO’s James Hohmann

“He’s facing intensifying scrutiny, but he’s also now THE center of attention out here, from Meet the Press to cable chatter. Momentum is his best friend. He’s in the right place at the right time.Voters we talked to at his event here make us feel like there’s definitely something of a bandwagon effect going on..”

TOMORROW’S TOP TALKER- New York Times- “Google Hones Its Advertising Message, Playing to Emotions”

“Though Google is a household name, it needs to tell its story now for a few reasons. It needs new businesses like the Chrome browser and the Google Plus social network to succeed if it is going to find sources of revenue beyond search ads.

The ads are also part of Google’s mission, led by Larry Page, its co-founder and chief executive, to pare down its product offering and make Google products more attractive, intuitive and integrated with one another

BIG QUOTE- “Google’s an online brand,” [Google Event Planner Lorin] Pollack said. “You can’t experience the brand except for typing keys. It’s a huge responsibility to actually bring that brand to life outside of the computer.”

AT THE BOX OFFICE- so far- results for the four day holiday weekend that is continuing-

1/ Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol $31.2 million
2/ Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows $22 million
3/ Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked $18.3 million
4/ War Horse $16.9 million
5/ The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo  $16.3 million

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL- GIANTS 14, DALLAS 0 with 4 minutes left in the 2nd

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