Spin Cycle

Speculation, for the moment, centers on whether Fred Thompson cut into the numbers of the former Arkansas governor on the right. Stay tuned, but we just wanted to get that headline out...

Republicans in Nevada are early-risers -- their caucuses opened today at 9 a.m. there, noon Eastern -- and the Associated Press is already calling Mitt Romney the winner, based on entrance polls. Final results aren't yet available.

From AP:

Republican Mitt Romney won Nevada’s caucuses Saturday while John
McCain and Mike Huckabee dueled in the South Carolina primary, a
campaign doubleheader likely to winnow the crowded field of
presidential rivals.

Democrats shared the stage in Nevada, where Hillary Rodham
Clinton and Barack Obama vied for a caucus victory and the campaign
momentum that goes with it. . .

Caucus-goers in Nevada said the economy and illegal immigration
were their top concerns, according to preliminary results from
surveys of voters entering their caucuses. Romney, the former
Massachusetts governor, was leader among voters who cited both
issues.

Mormons comprised about 20 percent of all caucus-goers, another
advantage for Romney, who is trying to become the first member of
the faith to win the White House.

Romney's campaign can use all the help it can get after losing Iowa and New Hampshire, and he'll undoubtedly try to claim "Big Mo" -- momentum -- after pairing today's results with his Michigan win Tuesday.

But Romney was about the only Republican to campaign in Nevada, and the real prize today for Republicans is in South Carolina, where polls show McCain with a slight edge. Polls in South Carolina close at 7 p.m.

Democrats don't caucus in Nevada until 2:30 p.m. Eastern time.

Craig Gordon

It's Friday. Have some fun. Take a look at this video, as long as you don't take the whole thing too seriously:

We ordinarily stick to our NYers in the presidential race, Rudy and Hillary. But since we did an item yesterday on the anti-Mormon push polling in Iowa and NH that seemed to be designed to slime Mitt Romney, and mentioned a tie between the Utah firm doing the calls and someone working for Giuliani, an update is in order.

The latest speculation seems to be turning to ties between Western Wats, the firm doing the calls, and Romney himself. Seems like the plot of a dime-store novel, but here are some links. This. And this. And this. And this.

It's hardly conclusive but ... even yesterday, idly chattering, it seemed curious that the firm was from Utah. Judge for yourself.

We ordinarily stick to our NYers in the presidential race, Rudy and Hillary. But since we did an item yesterday on the anti-Mormon push polling in Iowa and NH that seemed to be designed to slime Mitt Romney, and mentioned a tie between the Utah firm doing the calls and someone working for Giuliani, an update is in order.

The latest speculation seems to be turning to ties between Western Wats, the firm doing the calls, and Romney himself. Seems like the plot of a dime-store novel, but here are some links. This. And this. And this. And this.

It's hardly conclusive but ... even yesterday, idly chattering, it seemed curious that the firm was from Utah. Judge for yourself.

The big Republican story of the day: Investigations of who is responsible for push polls in NH and Iowa that seem to be spreading negative messages about Romney's Mormonism, draft deferments and other stuff.

Some calls, AP says, seem to have been traced to Western Wats, a Utah-based company that denies doing "push polling." Last year, the company was linked to negative messaging in races in Florida and NY, and did work for a Virginia consulting firm, Tarrance Group. This cycle, Tarrance is doing work for Rudy Giuliani. But Giuliani, Tarrance and John McCain have all denied ties to the calls.

So, stay tuned. Full story after jump.

A new Pew poll says voters think Rudy and Hillary are the least religious of the candidates -- only 14 percent think Rudy is very religious, and only 16 percent think Hillary is very religious.

At the other end: Mitt Romney, whose Mormonism seems to have been noticed by a lot of people. Forty-six percent think he's very religious.

Of course, Hillary and Rudy are also the frontrunners. Go figure.

John Riley

Allegations of Mitt Romney's dog abuse are adding an unexpected and bizarre character issue to the Republican primary. To survive as a candidate, will he need to deliver a post-modern 'Checkers' speech as per Nixon, more than a half-century after the original? Checkers, you may recall, was the pet the Nixon family received as a gift.