A new Public Policy Polling survey in Arizona finds Mitt Romney leading Rick Santorum, 36% to 33%, followed by Newt Gingrich at 16% and Ron Paul at 9%.

Key finding: “One thing to keep an eye on over the next week is whether Newt Gingrich can hold his support. 16% is pretty good for him compared to what we’re finding other places right now, but only 46% of his voters say they’re solidly committed to him. 40% of his supporters say that Santorum is their second choice, compared to only 25% for Romney. If Gingrich’s supporters see he’s not viable and decide to jump ship the race could get even closer.”

A new We Ask America poll in Michigan finds Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum tied in the GOP presidential race at 29% each. They are followed by Ron Paul at 12% and Newt Gingrich at 10%.

The Hill
notes that Rick Santorum has been “unable or unwilling to escape
controversies over social issues” amid his rising prospects in the
Republican presidential nomination race.

“Santorum’s response –
welcoming the line of questions – reveals a side of the senator’s
personality that is unwilling to shy away from topics that other
national politicians fear would alienate centrist swing
voters… There’s logic to Santorum’s penchant for delving into such
controversies. Doing so has established his bona fides with conservative
voters, signaling that he is willing to stand up for core beliefs and
principles even when they’re unpopular. Relative to Mitt Romney – who
has struggled to shed the image of an opportunist willing to shift his
positions to suit the popular mood – that sort of conviction has proven
attractive to GOP primary voters.”

The New York Times profiles White House political adviser David Plouffe.

“Fiercely data-driven, Mr. Plouffe revels in the company of spreadsheets, lists, maps and the Baseball Almanac. Fiercely competitive, he once decked a colleague in a friendly touch football game for taunting him. Fiercely unsentimental, he expends zero amazement over his career climb from selling knives door to door to a first-among-equals status in the White House’s closed circle.”

“People inside Mr. Obama’s political apparatus say Mr. Plouffe is most in tune with the President’s thinking in terms of his unsparing focus on the middle class and his abandonment of the bipartisan bridge-building efforts that have mostly failed through his first term… Mr. Plouffe approaches campaigns with a tribal sense of good-vs.-evil, rarely seeing much humanity in opponents.”

Walter Shapiro: “The Mitt Romney crisis transcends the seven straight national polls showing Rick Santorum in the lead. It goes beyond the embarrassing reality that the son of an auto executive and two-term governor has been behind in every Michigan poll conducted since Groundhog’s Day. Even more devastating for Romney is that elite Republicans have begun to conclude that he cannot, if nominated, beat Barack Obama. About the only argument that still works for Romney among GOP insiders is that he would be less of a drag on the ticket than the strident Santorum or the mercurial Newt Gingrich.”

“With the exception of Mike Dukakis (what is it about governors of Massachusetts?), it is impossible to recall a top-tier presidential contender who aroused such little passion among the voters.”

A new University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll shows Rick Santorum has a commanding lead in the Republican presidential race with 45%, followed by Newt Gingrich at 18%, Mitt Romney at 16% and Ron Paul at 14%.

Texas still doesn’t have all of its congressional and legislative maps in place so May 29 appears to be the earliest possible primary date.

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Michigan shows Rick Santorum leading Mitt Romney by just four points in the GOP presidential race, 37% to 33%, followed by Ron Paul at 15% and Newt Gingrich at 10%.

Key finding: “The tightening over the last week is much more a function of Romney gaining than Santorum falling. Santorum’s favorability spread of 67/23 has seen no change since our last poll, and his share of the vote has dropped only 2 points from 39% to 37%. Romney meanwhile has seen his net favorability improve 10 points from +10 (49/39) to +20 (55/35) and his vote share go from 24% to 33%.”

With just over a week to go before the Michigan primary, ABC News reports Mitt Romney “is enlisting the help of one of his highest-wattage surrogates: Donald Trump.”

“The real estate mogul is preparing to spread his pro-Romney, anti-Rick Santorum message in a series of radio interviews this week on local stations from Traverse City to Detroit.”

Newt Gingrich conceded that losing his home state of Georgia in the Super Tuesday primaries on March 6 would “badly” weaken his candidacy, CNN reports.

However, Gingrich stopped short of saying he would drop out if he fails to win Georgia.

Said Gingrich: “Given the chaos of this race, I’m not willing to say anything. I think it’s extraordinarily important to win your home state.”

A new Christopher Newport University poll in Virginia shows George Allen (R) edging Tim Kaine (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 42% to 40%.

Rick Santorum now leads Mitt Romney by eight points nationally in the Gallup tracking poll, 36% to 28%, with Newt Gingrich at 13% and Ron Paul at 11%.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who has been floated as a possible presidential candidate for a third-party run, said that he had “no interest in public office,” reports National Journal.

Variety previews the movie Game Change, premiering on March 10, based on the best-selling book about the 2008 campaign by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin,

The authors “have a cameo, as reporters hounding Schmidt during the Republican National Convention. Schmidt is complaining about the unfair, personal media coverage of Palin in the initial days of the St. Paul convention, and even points out that he’s been asked the ‘shameful’ question of when the Alaska governor’s fluid leaked during her pregnancy. Heilemann then shoots back, ‘So when did it start leaking?'”

A new Des Moines Register poll in Iowa shows President Obama trails three of the four Republican candidates in head-to-head match-ups if the election were held today.

The Republican with the biggest lead: Ron Paul, who would defeat Obama by 7 percentage points, 49% to 42%. Rick Santorum leads Obama 48% to 44%. Mitt Romney leads Obama 46% to 44%.The president defeats only Newt Gingrich, 51% to 37%.

“Iowa is considered a swing state in the general election, critical to Obama’s re-election or victory by the Republican nominee.”

Paul Babeu (R), an Arizona county sheriff and congressional candidate — “who became the face of Arizona border security nationally after he started stridently opposing illegal immigration — threatened his Mexican ex-lover with deportation when the man refused to promise never to disclose their years-long relationship,” the Phoenix New Times reports.

Babeu told the Arizona Republic the allegations are “completely false” and that the only information mentioned in the article that’s true is “I’m gay.”