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Pete Spiliakos is a columnist for First Things.

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At The Speed Of Thought

From First Thoughts

1.  I don’t think Santorum will be complaining about not getting enough questions at the next debate. 2.  So does Bachmann drop out this week?  It looks like she will be lucky to finish fifth.  The Iowa Republican Caucuses are about the friendliest electorate that she can . . . . Continue Reading »

New Year’s Thoughts

From First Thoughts

between putting the baby to bed and watching the Twilight Zone marathon: 1.  I saw Romney’s stump speech on television.  It is pretty obviously a response to Obama’s Osawatomie speech on inequality by talking about opportunity etc..  I thought Romney’s speech needed . . . . Continue Reading »

Quick Thoughts

From First Thoughts

1.  I don’t want this to be true, but, from watching several of Gingrich’s appearances (on television) over the last several days, Gingrich seems to have found a groove on the stump.  I don’t like him, but I still found him likeable.  I’m not sure it . . . . Continue Reading »

Skeptical Santorum Thoughts

From First Thoughts

1.  Well that was quick.  Perry is already putting out a hit on Santorum as a congressional porker.  At this point, Perry probably needs to finish ahead of Santorum in Iowa or he becomes a well funded spoiler candidate (and one that helps Romney to boot.) 2.  So I went over to . . . . Continue Reading »

Thoughts On Santorum And Paul

From First Thoughts

1.  It is tough to see Santorum going all the way. I’m not sure how he wins New Hampshire no matter how well he does in Iowa (short of a some kind of personal Romney “heaaaahhh” meltdown.) So that makes South Carolina huge if (IF) Santorum does well in Iowa. He also would have . . . . Continue Reading »

It Begins (Maybe)

From First Thoughts

A new poll shows Santorum in third place in Iowa.  Sure it is just one poll,  but like Rich Lowry says, the strongest argument against Santorum for people who want to like him has been that he had no chance.  When he looks like he is doing better, people will give themselves . . . . Continue Reading »

Iowa Thoughts

From First Thoughts

1.  According to PPP, Romney and Paul are leading with a four car pile up for third place.  Gingrich is closer to finishing sixth than first.  The internal numbers are really bad for Gingrich.  A lot more people dislike him than like him. 2.  Any finish where Romney and . . . . Continue Reading »

The Bigger Problem

From First Thoughts

On one level, I think Paul deserves all of the newsletter-related grief he is getting.  The most plausible charitable explanation is that Paul and his associates looked at the most slanderous, incendiary, things liberals said about Republicans winning elections based on appeals to bigotry and . . . . Continue Reading »

Homework

From First Thoughts

I think that Peter Lawler’s thoughts about how conservatives should deal with Ron Paul (and more specifically with the phenomenon of Ron Paul’s support) are deeply interesting and important.  They touch on how conservative need to deal with people in general who . . . . Continue Reading »