Who wouldn't want a tour of the cramped studios at 30 Rock? Last night Conan O'Brien offered an audience member unprecedented access, from control rooms to the set of Saturday Night Live to … an on-air experience at MSNBC where breaking news happens! Like Mitt Romney dropping out of the presidential race.
Conan's full studio tour, after the jump.
Romney had his best political moment of the race while expiring. Republicans are expected to fall in line, and that's what Romney did. "If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win," he said to cries of "no" from some in the audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference. "And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror."
His remarks, which would have made Joe McCarthy proud, touched all of the right's political buttons, in a way Romney rarely managed during the race. In addition to proving himself to be a stalwart Party man, willing to sacrifice his personal ambitions for the cause, Romney on his way out showed a singular focus on the crucial issue of national security issues. He helped frame the general election in terms of Republicans who understand the threat from Islamic terrorists and Democrats who don't. It's rumored that he is thinking about running in the future; if so, maybe today marked that beginning as much as this ending.
-John Dickerson, "Mitt Out Of Luck," Slate
• Mitt Romney succumbs to reality and withdraws from the race.
• Okay, we'll admit it. We go to Sephora to do our make-up sometimes before going out. But all those free samples come at a price. Namely the souls of Sephora employees. CONTINUED »
Who won Super Tuesday? It’s hard to say, but if you put a gun in my head, I’d say John McCain and (very slightly) Hillary Clinton, but the elections revealed weaknesses in McCain and in both of the leading Democratic candidates. McCain blunted Mitt Romney’s challenge, but he failed consistently to win over conservative voters. Hillary Clinton won the big states she had to win, and arrested Barack Obama’s momentum, but she is going to have problems with white male voters. Obama is having trouble with white working-class voters and Latinos. … My feeling is that it’s a standoff. Hillary has less of a handicap than Obama, but she is not his equal as a politician.
-John B. Judis, The Plank, TNR.com
For the first time in recent memory, your vote counts. That's exciting, but also a lot of pressure. What you do today is between you and the curtain, but here's some info about all the candidates that you should know before pulling any levers.
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“Never get into a wrestling match with a pig,” Senator John McCain said in New Hampshire this month after reporters asked him about Mr. Romney. “You both get dirty, and the pig likes it.”
Mike Huckabee’s pugilistic campaign chairman, Ed Rollins, appeared to stop just short of threatening Mr. Romney with physical violence at one point.
“What I have to do is make sure that my anger with a guy like Romney, whose teeth I want to knock out, doesn’t get in the way of my thought process,” Mr. Rollins said. …
But the New Hampshire debate was striking in that it amounted to a gang tackle of Mr. Romney, even though Mr. McCain was leading in polls in the state.
“The glee the other candidates go after Romney with is really unique,” said Dan Schnur, a Republican strategist who worked on Mr. McCain’s presidential campaign bid in 2000 but is not affiliated with any campaign now.
-Michael Lou, "Romney Leads in Ill Will Among G.O.P. Candidates," New York Times
• Mitt Romney isn't a tool. Would a tool reference the hottest dance song of 2000?
• Heath Ledger's palm reader talks to Life & Style: "He also had a dark, artistic line running from his head line to his heart line." We could have made up something better than that. CONTINUED »
Michigan's native son, Mitt Romney, had some words with AP reporter Glen Johnson over lobbyists' role in his campaign. The actual fight is a little elementary school—"did so" "did not"—but the South Carolina Target has all the atmosphere of the Atlantic Yards one.
Clips like this make us realize that War Room would have been twice as long if Bill Clinton had ran in the YouTube era. We're sure he said some inappropriate things to reporters in between charming the pants off of them.
The results in Michigan are bad news for the GOP, which has a vastly better choice in John McCain. But the rest of us can look on the bright side: We still have Mitt Romney to kick around for a while. Viewers at home who dread another season of American Idol can relax, knowing that MittTV will stay on the air for at least a few more weeks.
Romney is nothing if not persistent. When a position gets in his way, he changes it. When he tells voters exactly what they want to hear, and that doesn't work, he moves on to the next state and tells them again.
-Bruce Reed, "We Do Have Mitt Romney To Kick Around For Awhile," Slate
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• This classic SNL digital short prompted one of our college friends to say "[Natalie Portman] is the only Jewish girl I'd convert for."
• Gary Kasparov blames Vladamir Putin for forcing him out of Russia's presidential election, continues his one-man crusade to get gunned down by members of the KGB.
• Gawker is looking for a reporter with "an ability to write five short items a day." Easiest job ever?
• "I Hucked Up" is officially the second-best Post headline of the day. Although we would have preferred "Huck Accuses Mormons, Romney Of Deal With The Devil."
• GQ tries to cash in on the progressive artistic phenomenon known as "Flashy-Light Vagina."
• Baseball: Not exactly America's pastime anymore.
• That face transplant chick from France is looking hot. Well, compared with having no face.
Mitt Romney Doesn’t Flip-Flop On God The most anticipated speech on the 2008 campaign is coming today. Mitt Romney will finally give his John Kennedy speech, explaining to Iowa voters that Mormonism is actually a form of Christianity. (Get out!) Iowa voters will decide on January 3 if Romney earnestness is more electable than Huckabee irony. [Washington Post]
• The New York Times is, apparently, more resilient than its headquarters. Windows are already falling out of the newly constructed high-rise due to the menacing 16 mph winds! Good thing they don't give out Pulitzer prizes for architecture.
• Someone grossly misinterprets the Worst Picture Of Kate Moss. Ever.
• It's hard to imagine anyone ever "conceived" of these fugly maternity clothes.
Like you, we’re sick of considering the poor Midwesterns who are forced to watch repeats of Dave Letterman because of the writers strike. Let’s be honest, Dave Letterman is not that funny, even with writers. Those Midwesterns should have better late night plans anyway.
But pothead college students, we care about those kids, if only because we’re just like them except with degrees. We also care about the 2008 election; we’re suckers for democracy.
So after many weeks, there’s finally a new angle to the writers’ strike: What are the stoned college kids missing out on now that fake news is in reruns? CONTINUED »
Marie Osmond, what a gal. Despite losing her father last week, she was back to her absurdly optimistic self on Larry King last night. Talking about the voters problems with John Kennedy’s religion in relation to Mitt Romney, Marie said, “I hope we’ve grown up since then. I hope people look at the person and what they’ve done.” Her brother’s facial expression speaks to the larger social political reality.
Despite now being against gay marriage, Mitt Romney is still desperate for the gay vote. According to Nielsen Online, AdRelevance, the presidential candidate had banner ads on gay.com. Well, if Romney is elected, he'll be able to use this anecdote to relate to the US Army, which also accidentally bought ads on a gay website. Maybe Romney's minions should keep a list of groups he doesn't support so they won't get confused when it's time to buy ad space. [Queerty]
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