Dan Quayle explains his endorsement of Mitt Romney in an op-ed in the Arizona Republic:

[Romney] has proven over and over again that he is a leader. He has demonstrated he is capable of making tough decisions and turning things around. He is a man of integrity. He understands budgets and financial markets. He balanced budgets and met a bottom line. He is strong on national defense and has a deep love of the principles that make America great.

Mitt Romney has what it takes to be a great president of the United States, and that is why I enthusiastically endorse him for president.

Full piece here. 

From the Washington Post:

Trump writes that Mitt Romney has been “spectacular” in the debates and that the former Massachusetts governor is “a much different guy” in private than he is in public, describing him as “warm and engaging.”

“He gets criticized for changing his opinions, or ‘flip flopping,’ but over a lifetime I’ve seen many people who don’t change and they always get left behind,” Trump writes. “Smart people learn things, so they change their minds. Only stupid people never change their minds.” …

Trump writes that he found Texas Gov. Rick Perry to be “much different from what you see in the debates.. . .so forceful and strong.” …

Trump describes Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) as “a real worker bee.” He notes that she visited his office “more than once” and that “no matter what happens with her run for the White House she’s got a great political future ahead of her.”

Donald Trump, of course, will be moderating a debate sponsored by Newsmax in Iowa December 27.

Mitt Romney continues to shore up his support among elected Republicans, announcing today that Tennessee Republican Reps. Jimmy Duncan, Diane Black, and Phil Roe have endorsed him. 

Results from NBC News/Marist poll of likely Iowa GOP caucusgoers: Newt Gingrich (24 percent), Mitt Romney (17 percent), Ron Paul (16 percent), Herman Cain (9 percent), Rick Perry (8 percent), Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum (5 percent), and Jon Huntsman (2 percent).

Results from NBC News/Marist poll of likely voters in New Hampshire primary: Mitt Romney (38 percent), Newt Gingrich (23 percent), Ron Paul (15 percent), Jon Huntsman (9 percent), Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann (3 percent), Herman Cain (2 percent), and Rick Santorum (1 percent).

Phyllis Schlafly has endorsed Michele Bachmann, reports the Des Moines Register. “Most important, Michele has the courage to be a leader among her peers,” Schlafly said in a statement. “She is a real champion in speaking up for values we care about. Michele is a woman of faith and the mother of a beautiful family. She has a 100 percent pro-life record and is a strong supporter of traditional marriage.”

Herman Cain told the Union Leader today that his wife did not know of his friendship with Ginger White, nor that he had helped her out financially until White came forward to accuse Cain of a 13-year affair. 

UPDATE: Post has been corrected. 

Mitt Romney issues this statement on President Obama’s comments about Israel:

President Obama, in New York to raise campaign cash, told a group of prospective donors that ‘We don’t compromise when it comes to Israel’s security.’ That would be great news, if it were true. Unfortunately, under the Obama Administration, U.S.-Israeli relations have hit a low not seen since the Jimmy Carter years. It is not merely the way that President Obama has disparaged Israel’s prime minister in public and private. U.S. policy itself is at issue. Whether the question is peace talks with the Palestinians, or defining Israel’s borders, or keeping Iran from getting nuclear weapons, the administration has repeatedly scanted Israel’s interests. Words uttered behind closed doors in a campaign fundraiser in New York are one thing. Actions that have repeatedly thrown Israel under the bus are another.

The Perry campaign released this morning a new TV ad touting his stance on energy, and the job that could be created if some energy-related regulations were slashed:

Herman Cain’s lawyer, Lin Wood, is asking Ginger White’s lawyer for the phone records that she has cited as proof that she and Cain regularly talked, reports the Associated Press.

Politico reports:

Mitt Romney’s campaign advisers insist they’re no more scared of Newt Gingrich than the candidates who’ve surged before — but they’re already rolling out a playbook that shows they know the latest alarm isn’t a drill. …

They’ll point out Gingrich’s past policy shifts which can protect them from attacks against Romney’s own inconsistencies. They’ll highlight Gingrich’s conservative apostasies as a hedge against Romney’s own moderate views. And they’ll highlight his stable family while leaving an unspoken impression about Gingrich’s two divorces.

The plan to increase the attention to Romney’s wife of 42 years and five sons in the hopes of sparking more conversation about Gingrich’s three marriages without raising the topic themselves is one of several subtle offensives. Another is the barrage of surrogate conference calls this week that they meant in part to remind Gingrich of their massive organizational advantage if he decides to lob an attack.

Arguably, Romney got the better of Gingrich the one time the two men sparred directly in a debate — when Romney pointed out that Gingrich had, too, supported an individual mandate at one point in time — and it will be interesting to see if Romney can continue to strike successfully at Gingrich or if a better-prepared Gingrich will be able to play defense formidably. 

Newt Gingrich will meet with Donald Trump Monday at Trump Tower, reports Politico. Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, and Herman Cain have all previously met with the real estate mogul.

Bachmann went so far last night as to say that she would consider Trump as a potential vice president, reports GOP12.

And the fallout from Mitt Romney’s interview with Fox News host Bret Baier that aired Tuesday night continues. In an interview with fellow Fox News host Bill O’Reilly last night, Baier said that Romney had complained afterwards that the interview was “overly aggressive.”

Video:

Meanwhile, Jon Huntsman’s campaign is out with a web video attacking Romney using footage from the Baier interview:

I’ve written before about Romney’s non-flip-flop on climate change, and as usual, the shortness of these clips makes it hard to tell if there is any context that would be relevant. For instance, if Romney is saying other states should adopt Romneycare, that’s very different than saying the federal government should have adopted Romneycare — but seeing the program as a “national model” could mean either scenario. 

South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who has been courted extensively by the GOP presidential candidates, said yesterday that she will definitely make an endorsement before the Iowa caucuses are held, reports The Hill.

Jon Huntsman’s daughters do a parody version of Justin Timberlake’s Sexyback, dismissing the rest of the GOP field as a “circus act” while touting their dad’s candidacy:

Jon Huntsman is trying to a novel approach to reach out to voters: he’ll answer questions on twitter this afternoon. “Trying something new. Will answer your q’s on Twitter tomorrow at 4:45 ET. Ask q’s using #q4jon. Should be fun!” he tweeted yesterday. 

Speaking of Huntsman, Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough made an interesting case in an op-ed published yesterday that Huntsman has been more consistently conservative than Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney. 

Mitt Romney picked up three significant endorsements in Florida today: House Foreign Relations chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, and former long-time House member Lincoln Diaz-Balart. In 2008, all three endorsed John McCain.

“The endorsements of the Miami Cuban-American leaders is a leading indicator that Romney is making a big push in Florida for one of its most crucial voting blocs in the state’s Republican primary,” notes the Miami Herald’s Marc Caputo.

In a piece for NHJournal.com, Fergus Cullen, former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican party, slams Rick Perry for campaigning with Sheriff Joe Arpaio in the Granite State:

Memo to Perry (and Romney, for that matter): A hard-line, anti-immigrant position is not especially popular in New Hampshire, even among likely Republican primary voters. In 2008, John McCain won the primary with a Gingrich-like position on immigration reform. A June, 2011 UNH / Boston Globe survey asked New Hampshire primary voters, “Would you support or oppose a program giving illegal immigrants now living in the United States the right to live here legally if they pay a fine and meet other requirements?” 42% of likely Republican primary voters supported a path to legal status, as did 54% of undeclared voters and 72% of likely Democratic primary voters.

Despite being generally ignored in the presidential debates and struggling with deflated poll numbers, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R., Minn.) may still have a shot at winning the Republican nomination — at least, that’s what some social conservative leaders think.

Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of the Family Leader, an Iowa group associated with Focus on the Family, said Bachmann retains an advantage in his state.

“I would argue that she probably has the best state-wide organization right now,” he told National Review. “And the people that helped her win the straw poll in many ways are still with her. The issue is that you’re no longer competing in a 17,000-person straw poll, you’re competing in a 125,000-person caucus. And so the pie got bigger. And not only did the pie get bigger, but you had a couple of candidates get a lot of attention, whether that be Herman Cain or Newt Gingrich or Rick Perry, so this is varsity competition at minimum. And so, I would not count Michele Bachmann out of this at all.”

Rod Martin, a social conservative leader from Florida, agrees. The founder of TheVanguard.org and president of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies considers that there is “still a pathway for her to emerge.”

“I think it’s a long shot, obviously,” he told National Review. “I don’t think she’s completely over, and I hope her career isn’t — I don’t think people begin to realize how brilliant Michele Bachmann is. The more time I’ve spent around her, the more impressed I’ve been.”

In Martin’s view, her future as a candidate rests entirely on how she does in the Iowa caucus.

“She’s gonna have to pull a rabbit out of a hat right there, there’s no question,” he said. “And likewise, probably, as has been the case all through this selection process, Gingrich will probably stumble, and she’ll need to inherit some of his people.”

Gary Bauer, the president of American Values, said he understands the challenges Bachmann faces as an underdog with poor showing in the polls.

“Gosh, having been a long, long, long, long shot myself, it used to irritate the heck out of me when people were inviting me to leave,” he said. “She has been, I think, outstanding in the debates and so forth, and at one point was doing quite well — now seems to have less of that traction, but I wouldn’t really urge anybody to drop out before Iowa and New Hampshire.”

This presidential primary in particular is open to an upset victory, Bauer said, adding that he doesn’t understand why Santorum hasn’t won more support: “There’s so much in the political election cycle that’s hard to logically understand, and I think in this cycle, the chances for surprise or upsets or new developments is even greater than normal.”

And Tom Minnery, Focus on the Family’s vice president of public policy, said Evangelical Christian voters still love Bachmann.

“She has wonderful positions on issues that are important to social conservatives,” he said, “but it has always been difficult to rise to the presidency from the House of Representatives, and I think she’s experiencing that difficulty. But we’re very proud of the way she espouses strong positions on the issues.”

But does she still have a chance?

“Yea, she has some chance, certainly.”