Is Mike Huckabee gearing up to send Newt Gingrich a cease and desist letter? The former Speaker used Huckabee’s likeness in a new ad, in which the latter, then running against Mitt Romney, attacked the former governor. Huckabee explained to the crew of Fox & Friends this morning that the material was from an ad that he didn’t, in good conscience, air, and that while he had not explicitly told Gingrich to knock it off, he had clearly called the ad “unauthorized, disapproved use of something that was copyrighted material.”

Now that Newt Gingrich has become the newest “Not Romney” to surge in the polls, Rick Santorum has a choice to make: whether to plow on ahead or drop out and have conservatives get behind Gingrich. George Stephanopoulos asked Santorum today about this decision, but Santorum insisted he would be a better conservative standard-bearer than Gingrich. He branded the Mitt Romney-Gingrich fight as a choice between a moderate and an “erratic conservative.”

Chalk this one up to a case of “opposites attract,” or perhaps things can be so vastly different that they circle back around to being near identical. Bill Maher had former Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain on his program last night, and not only did the candidate not say “999″ or quote Pokémon (that we know of), the two laughed and chatted like old friends. Maybe the world won’t end in 2012 after all.

With the Iowa caucuses on the horizon for Tuesday, the strain started to show today on some of the few people in America putting in 100% at work today: the Republican presidential candidates. This is particularly true for Newt Gingrich, who started crying during a talk when prompted to talk about his mother, but his breaking up was excused today on Hardball, where Chris Matthews broke down the “brutal” dynamics of the political game and gave Gingrich the benefit of the doubt.

Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman sat down with Fox and Friends to talk about his opposition to President Obama‘s jobs bill. Lieberman said the the number one thing the country should be doing to get our economy going again is to deal with the debt. Gretchen Carlson was surprised by the his solutions. “Senator, you’re sounding like a Republican,” Carlson said. “No, I’m an Independent,” Lieberman countered. “But I think any Republican in the Senate would say exactly what you just said.” Carlson responded. “Well, as an independent, i guess i’ve got the freedom to say what i think.” Lieberman said.

If Karl Rove had been trying to hide his complete contempt for Sarah Palin in the past for the sake of Reagan’s eleventh commandment, he all but gave up on it tonight. Speaking to Greta Van Susteren tonight, Rove lashed out at Palin’s statement that his speculation on her candidacy was wrong by repeatedly referring to her “thin skin” and daring Palin to “end the speculation” and say she isn’t running if such speculation upsets her.

As a candidate polling consistently within the top three of within the race for the Republican presidential nomination, Rep. Ron Paul has received a great deal of media coverage about how little media coverage he gets, even garnering support for being given more airtime by Jon Stewart. Tonight, however, one interviewer called out the Congressman for refusing an invitation to the airtime he complains he rarely gets– Bill O’Reilly, who extended an invitation to Rep. Paul today.

As if the current Republican presidential field wasn’t big enough, former New York Governor George Pataki is considering a campaign of his own, according to anonymous sources close to the former governor. But how well would he fare as a candidate? Pataki has been touted as a potential candidate for the past few months, but [...]

NBC’s Chuck Todd told the crew on Morning Joe this morning the Republican presidential field may be–in the opinion of the conventional wisdom–down to a “top tier” of Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry, but Todd says a key question today is whether there’s “an opening” for “one more in the field.” Todd says now former candidate Tim Pawlenty was considered a voice of the establishment, or “the Chamber of Commerce candidate, if you will.” For some big money donors, the choices of Perry, Bachmann and Romney may not be satisfying, leading to a call for one more big name–a Chris Christi, for instance.

Cable news coverage of current (and potential) GOP candidates has been constant and self-fulfilling; the media’s declared frontrunners have predictably garnered the most coverage, and the “longshot” candidates have been covered far less, while all three cable news networks have been covering the GOP candidates in roughly the same proportions. Analyzing the specific mentions of candidates on all three major cable news network, however, reveals that MSNBC has dedicated more coverage to the GOP White House hopefuls than Fox News and CNN.

The debt ceiling debate got a whole lot more colorful yesterday as Sen. John McCain turned it into an elaborate Lord of the Rings analogy, with the Tea Party taking the protagonist hobbit role. He then took back most of what he said later that night on Sean Hannity‘s eponymous show, where he assured raging Tea Partiers that he “admired, respected, and appreciated them.” The 180º turn did not go unnoticed by Lawrence O’Donnell, who mocked Sen. McCain’s defeat in what he says should have been a “preposterous mismatch” against Hannity.

Democratic Minority Leader in the House Nancy Pelosi certainly has a way with words. At a press conference today, she attempted to remind everyone just how vital the ongoing debt negotiations are not only for America’s future, but also for every living, breathing organism throughout the entire planet!

The first Republican presidential debate in Iowa will take place on August 11th and air on the Fox News Channel. The Iowa Republican Party Ames Straw Poll will take place just two days after the debate, therefore a good showing in this important debate has the potential to significantly propel any candidate towards winning support with Iowan voters.

A poll from The Washington Post and the Pew Research Center indicates that “nearly four in ten” Republicans describe themselves as being “unimpressed” with the current 2012 GOP candidate field. And don’t expect Democrats or Independents to be too keen on them either

Bloomberg View, the just-launched opinion page of Bloomberg News, debuts with a column by Ramesh Ponnuru, arguing that it’s a mistake to underestimate the Republican field for 2012: “The 2012 presidential race has barely begun, but it is already time to retire one of its cliches: the much-repeated claim that ‘the Republican field is weak.’ Liberals say it with a smirk, because they think it will guarantee President Barack Obama’s re-election. Conservatives say it while begging someone else to enter the race and rescue them.”

Ponnuru, a senior editor at National Review, argues that the top three contenders all have the stature and the experience to win:

CNN has just released the results of its latest CNN/WMUR-TV poll of New Hampshire voters ahead of the state’s First in the Nation presidential primary, and among Republicans, Mitt Romney‘s far and away the favorite with 32 percent. No opinion was second, with 17 percent, followed by Ron Paul (9%), Newt Gingrich (6%) and Rudy Giuliani (6%). Tim Pawlenty, who got into the race today, polled at four percent, as did Mitch Daniels, who said he would not run.

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain appeared on Fox News Sunday this morning and attempted to prove to the naysayers that he actually is a candidate that should be taken seriously. Yet Cain’s answers to a few questions from Chris Wallace may have left some viewers not sure what to think.

dd Texas governor Rick Perry‘s name to the growing list of potential GOP candidates. Perry, who recently shared his views regarding the Obama administration’s take on border security, had previously insisted he had no interest in running for president, but, evidently, political associates have begun testing the waters and gauging interest on his behalf now that he’s noted a “vacuum” in the race. Either way, Perry’s aides insist that he would not throw his hat into the race until after the state’s legislative session comes to an end at the end of this month.

This week the television networks are announcing their schedules for the 2011-2012 season and the first headline breaking is that the Celebrity Apprentice will be back. Is the return of NBC‘s hit show a sign that no matter how many times Donald Trump flirts with the possibility of running for President, this is proof that in fact he will not run, and will instead be back in the board room on NBC airwaves?

As Donald Trump again travels to New Hampshire and continues his flirtation with a run for President, a new report from the Los Angeles Times chronicles how “he built his empire in part through government largesse and connections.” The article documents Trump’s efforts throughout the country to continually fight for the lowest taxes possible and, according to a former auditor in New York City, to use “government’s incompetence as a wedge to increase his private fortune.”

Chris Matthews continued to be impressed with President Obama’s national security efforts and couldn’t understand why in some polls Republicans are reluctant to give Obama credit for Osama bin Laden’s death. Switching gears to look at the field of potential challengers to Obama in 2012, he wondered if Republicans were now going to be in favor of supporting somebody “as smart as Obama.”

Republican Senator Rand Paul spoke in New Hampshire this morning to a group of Republicans and had some tough words for Donald Trump, the current leader amongst potential GOP primary voters. Urging that the party should “look to Republicans who not only talk the talk, but walk the walk,” Paul warned that once Republicans learn more about Trump, they are not going to like what they find out.

Many have tired of Donald Trump hogging so many headlines as of late, so now it’s time to let that attention-starved potential Republican presidential candidate Sarah Palin get some spotlight. In her latest Facebook post, Palin unleashes a harsh assessment of President Obama’s policy Libya and throws out a few lines that should start to remind people that the bombastic Trump is not the only Republican who is ready to talk tough about Obama.

Donald Trump has been on the offensive as of late complaining about President Obama and his policies, yet now celebrities are on the attack. First it was Jerry Seinfeld expressing his disapproval of Trump’s political rhetoric, and now Charlie Sheen has put Trump in the crosshairs of his “Violent Torpedo of Truth.” Our sister site GossipCop is reporting that a pair of cufflinks Trump gave to Sheen are the source of Sheen’s anger.

On Piers Morgan Tonight, former Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty appeared and proudly said “I’m running for President.” However, it seemed Pawlenty was a bit too eager with the announcement, since officially speaking, he has yet to declare himself a candidate. After the appearance, Pawlenty’s campaign was quick to make the clarification.