Interesting day leading up to the SC debate tonight. I am actually glad I did not have a chance to post this morning when the Newts’ Soap Opera broke. Initially I thought this would be a devastating event since I expected a bitter ex-spouse to unload on Newt the Pol. But Newt the Jerk is not really going to be big news. Newt cheated on his wife. The details are irrelevant and only a few lefties are going to care. If you like or dislike Newt, this is  not going to change things since the story basically is Newt is a cad as a husband but a good politician.

Well, duh. As one caller noted this morning on the local AM show: Newt is being interviewed by the voters for the job of President, not boyfriend or husband. ABC News looks to be the big loser hear, dredging up personal history in an attempt to make Obama look good somehow.

Rick Santorum’s bizarre response is more disturbing than anything Newt did:

Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum told a Spartanburg crowd Wednesday that the only woman he’s ever sat on a couch with is his wife.

I don’t even want to analyze this one. Is the guy so uptight and prude he can’t sit on a couch with a mature woman without worrying about a random sexual event? Has he avoided sitting with his Mom, Sister, Daughter, Mother-in-Law, etc? Does he stand when the only seat in a room is next to a woman other than his wife? It is these bizarre comments that make you wonder if we should give him the power of life and death over so many Americans.

On the flip side, Santorum did eek out a win in the Iowa caucuses – which will be the subject of some interesting discussions at tonight’s debate. Watch how Romney handles this subject, it is full of land mines.

Romney’s elitist albatross around his blue-blood neck is getting larger with the news he helps other rich people hide their money from the IRS. If only everyone had the ability to make money on tax exempt or low tax international investment schemes. The chasm between Romney and Main Street just keeps growing. Again, tonight will be a test of the silver-spoon-sucking Romney. We’ll see if Romney botches this like he did his Bain escapades (see here).

And finally the the silver-t0ngued cowboy from Texas has bowed out of the race. Romney still has a chance to win this by simply splitting the opposition vote, but I think a lot of primary voters are in no mood to let him run any tables on the road to the convention. It will be interesting to see how the debate plays out tonight, with just four now standing. Each will have more time to make an impression, which for most of them is not a good thing.