Wall Street Journal: “A clutch of little-known records from what is now the University of West Georgia in Carrollton suggests the ambition and intellectual grandeur of Newt 2012 aren’t a long way from the 1970s vintage. In addition to seeking the college presidency, Mr. Gingrich was often absent as he pursued political goals. He embarked on an effort to moonlight as a paid consultant. And, it turns out, he spent little time teaching history.”

Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) will not seek re-election, the Poughkeepsie Journal reports.

The 73-year-old congressman underwent a second round of surgery for colon cancer earlier this month.

A new Des Moines Register Iowa Poll shows Mitt Romney leading at 24%, followed by Ron Paul at 22%, Rick Santorum at 15%, Newt Gingrich at 12%, Rick Perry at 11%, Michele Bachmann at 7%.

“But the four-day results don’t reflect just how quickly momentum is shifting in a race that has remained highly fluid for months. If the final two days of polling are considered separately, Santorum rises to second place, with 21%, pushing Paul to third, at 18%. Romney remains the same, at 24%.”

Rick Perry has signed up 1,500 precinct leaders in Iowa, a source inside the campaign tells CNN. There are a total 1,774 Republican caucus precincts around the state, about 900 of which are combined.

Only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul have put in similar efforts to build a ground operation for the caucuses on Tuesday.

The Perry campaign also has 470 out-of-state volunteers descending on Iowa this weekend.

Newt Gingrich said he “would consider asking Sarah Palin to serve as his number two or in his Cabinet if he became president,” CBS News reports.

Said Gingrich: “She is certainly one of the people you would look at. I am a great admirer of hers and she was a remarkable reform governor of Alaska, she’s somebody who I think brings a great deal to the possibility of helping in government and that would be one of the possibilities.”

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) “will reveal his plans next week to run for governor in 2013,” the Washington Post reports.

Cuccinelli had said he “was considering running for reelection or against Sen. Mark R. Warner (D) in 2014. But in recent weeks, speculation had turned to a run for governor, possibly setting up a primary race against Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R).”

A new Economist/YouGov poll finds Newt Gingrich leading the GOP presidential race nationally with 25%, followed by Mitt Romney at 17%, Herman Cain at 15%, Ron Paul at 9%, Michele Bachmann at 5%, Jon Huntsman at 5%, Rick Perry at 5% and Rick Santorum at 3%.

New York Times: “In what is shaping up as a profound change in American politics, the living room stops and the cafe visits where candidates offer handshakes and make appeals for support are creeping toward extinction. The onetime fixtures of the campaign trail are giving way to the Fox News studio and televised debates. It has been five decades since television began to transform presidential races, but never before have the effects of cable television been so apparent in the early stages of a campaign.”

Ross Douthat: “Huntsman’s campaign was always destined to be hobbled by the two years he spent as President Obama’s ambassador to China. But he compounded the handicap by introducing himself to the Republican electorate with a series of symbolic jabs at the party’s base.”

“He picked high-profile fights on two hot-button issues — evolution and global warming — that were completely irrelevant to his candidacy’s rationale. He let his campaign manager define his candidacy as a fight to save the Republican Party from a ‘bunch of cranks.’ And he embraced his identity as the media’s favorite Republican by letting the liberal journalist Jacob Weisberg write a fawning profile for Vogue.”

“This was political malpractice at its worst. Voters don’t necessarily need to like a candidate to vote for him, but they need to think that he likes them.”

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Florida shows Newt Gingrich leading the Republican presidential field with 47%, followed by Mitt Romney at 17%, Herman Cain at 15%, Ron Paul at 5%, Michele Bachmann at 5%, Jon Huntsman at 3%, Rick Perry at 2%, and Rick Santorum at 1%.

Key finding: “The biggest reason for Newt Gingrich’s rise is that he’s picked up the
voters of Herman Cain and Rick Perry as their campaigns have fallen
apart.  But these numbers make it pretty clear he’s doing more than
that- some of Mitt Romney’s ‘25%’ is starting to fall off and move
toward Newt as well.”

An Insider Advantage poll released earlier also showed Gingrich with a huge lead.