Santorum remains on solid ground heading into Super Tuesday

Mitt Romney's marginal primary victory christian louboutin in the Michigan has turned out to be a dead heat after the final count showed rival Rick Santorum still won half the state's delegates.

Romney's result in the state of his birth lost some of its lustre as it emerged he and Rick Santorum each received 15 delegates. The result, despite Romney winning 41% of the primary vote compared with Santorum's 38%, came about because Michigan divides up delegates on a proportional basis.

The outcome muddies the race ahead of 10 key state contests next Tuesday.

A win in Michigan had been crucial for Romney, whose father was governor of the state. He had aimed to overcome the religious conservative Santorum by sticking to his core and mainstream Republican message of fixing the economy and reducing unemployment in a country still recovering from the worst recession in decades.

News that Santorum's narrow loss in Michigan would yield him as many delegates as the winner enabled him to label the result a success on Romney's home turf, putting some wind in his sails ahead of the big contests next week.

"We had a much better night in Michigan than maybe was first reported. This was a really great race to go into, in a sense, the belly of the beast, the hometown of my chief rival here in the Republican primary," Santorum said during a campaign stop in Tennessee.

The other two candidates in the race, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, did not campaign in Michigan and got no delegates.

On Wednesday night Romney won his party's caucus in Wyoming, CNN reported, quoting the Wyoming Republican party as saying Romney emerged from a month-long series of county-level straw polls with 39% of the votes cast.

The TV network said former Santorum came Christian Louboutin High Boots in second with 33%, followed by Ron Paul with 20% and Newt Gingrich with 8%.

Romney is favoured by much of the Republican establishment and enjoys more campaign funds and better organisation than his primary rivals. But Santorum has electrified the party's conservative base, which trusts his views on social issues such as abortion and gay rights, and considers Romney too moderate and inconsistent.

Santorum remains on solid ground heading into Super Tuesday, when 419 delegates are up for grabs in 10 states. It could go a long way in determining who will win the state-by-state race for delegates that yields the party's nomination at its national convention in August.

Santorum is leading the polls in Ohio, possibly the most important contest on Super Tuesday. It is a big industrial state with 8.1% unemployment, 63 convention delegates at stake and a long history as a battleground in general election campaigns. Santorum also is keeping an eye on two other big prizes among the 10 Super Tuesday states: Oklahoma and Tennessee.

Romney is all but assured of victories in at least two of next Tuesday's states Massachusetts, where he was Christian Louboutin Muffs Furry Boots Grey governor and faces little or no competition in the primary, and Virginia, where neither former House speaker Newt Gingrich nor Santorum qualified for the ballot. Those two contests offer 84 delegates combined.

The entire process took just over two hours

The driver of the safety truck that exploded christian louboutin into flames during the Daytona 500 thanked NASCAR fans Tuesday night for their concern.

Duane Barnes was driving the jet dryer that was hit under caution when something broke on Juan Pablo Montoya's car and sent it careening into the truck. The collision caused a raging inferno that scorched the track and stopped Monday night's race for just over two hours.

"I appreciate everyone for taking the time to write, call and ask how I am," Barnes said in a statement. "I am OK, and I am amazed at how many people have wished me well. I am also glad Juan Pablo Montoya is OK, and thank him for his concern."

Barnes, a 24-year employee of Michigan International Speedway, was evaluated at a Daytona hospital Monday night and released. He was one of two employees Michigan sent to Daytona to help with the season-opening race.

Barnes often assists at tracks owned by International Speedway Corp. by driving jet dryers. Michigan sent three jet dryers to the race.

Meanwhile, Daytona president Joie Chitwood III said the 200 gallons of jet fuel that spilled across Daytona International Speedway and caught fire was a worst-case scenario.

"The worst possible thing that can happen to a racetrack is fuel," Chitwood said. "We hardly ever talk about burning fuel. If we would have talked about having 200 gallons of burning jet fuel on the racetrack during the event, I'm not sure what the likelihood would have been of completing the race."

Track workers put out the fire, then turned Christian Louboutin High Boots to laundry detergent to clean up the mess because, Chitwood said, the detergent is typically used to wash the track surface. The track was watered, soaped, watered again, then a street bond was added.

The entire process took just over two hours, and racing resumed right after.

"It was about a 10- or 11-step process," said Chitwood. "There is no true training manual to light a track on fire and respond to it. But what the team did . I think is phenomenal."

Drivers seemed concerned about racing through the area as they turned laps under caution, and a collective sigh was let out once Jeff Burton led a line of drivers through the high-side of the track that seemed to be the riskiest area.

"The drivers did not get an opportunity to see the track before we re-started, and I can only assume as I go through there and I hear stuff flying up into the crush panels that it's asphalt," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. "When you're a driver and you're running Christian Louboutin Studded Pumps on a racetrack and you hear things flying up, that's not typically normal. So I just assumed the track was pretty soft, but it held up well."

The top four drivers when Juan Montoya hit the jet dryer were Dave Blaney

Earnhardt made a slingshot move around Greg Biffle to run second in the 54th running of the Great American Race at Daytona International Speedway. Biffle came home third, followed by Denny Hamlin and Jeff Burton, as a late caution necessitated two extra laps christian louboutin beyond the scheduled 200.

Paul Menard, Kevin Harvick, pole-sitter Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Mark Martin completed the top 10.

Earnhardt hooked up with Biffle and pushed the No. 16 Ford after a restart on Lap 201, but the pair could not make headway against Kenseth who moved to the front of the field and stayed there.

Earnhardt expected Biffle to pull out and make a move, but the move never came.

"I was waiting and waiting," Earnhardt said. "It looked like he might have been trying to make a move on the back straightaway, but nothing materialized there. Then we came off [Turn] 4, and I kind of waited till the last minute for him to have his opportunity to try to pass Matt, and nothing was happening, so I just pulled out and went around him."

Kenseth had plenty of power at the finish, despite problems with the cooling system that plagued him early in the race.

"We had a lot of problems -- it was spewing water," said Kenseth, who notched the 22nd Cup victory of his career. "I have to give a lot of credit to [engine builder] Doug Yates and the guys at the engine shop. We had great horsepower.

"I could get a pretty good start on the bottom and either Denny or Dale Jr. could push me for a while and then they just couldn't stay attached and I would get away from them just in time to get in front of Greg, and the two of us together could make some unbelievable speed. I have to thank Greg. We worked together really good all day long. He had a really fast car all day as well."

A multicar wreck on Lap 188 thinned the herd considerably, taking out a handful of competitive cars. Jamie McMurray spun wildly near the entrance to Turn 1, and the chain-reaction collision wiped out the cars of Brad Keselowski, Kasey Kahne and Aric Almirola and damaged the machines of Edwards and Tony Stewart.

Another melee on Lap 196 set up the overtime. After contact from Joey Logano's Toyota, the Ford of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. caromed into Stewart's Chevrolet, turning the defending Cup champion sideways and igniting a pinball-style wreck that also involved Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman.

A strange weekend that saw the first weather postponement in the history of the Daytona 500 got downright bizarre during a round of pit stops under caution late in the race.

Juan Montoya brought his No. 42 Chevrolet to pit road under caution on Lap 160, complaining of transmission issues. His car fell victim to a strong vibration when he returned to the track, and Montoya slid out of control at the entrance to Turn 3 and slammed into a jet dryer, which was against the outside wall, blowing the track.

The collision ignited the jet fuel in the dryer and set both vehicles ablaze. Montoya and the driver of the service vehicle both escaped the wreckage, but the latter -- Duane Barnes, from Michigan International Speedway -- was taken to nearby Halifax Medical Center for further evaluation.

"Something failed in the rear of the car, and the car just spun into the jet dryer," Montoya said after a visit to the care center. "I left the pits and felt a really Christian Louboutin Sandals weird vibration, and I came back in and checked the rear end and [they] said it was OK, and I got into the backstraight and we were going in fourth gear but wasn't going that fast.

"Every time I got on the gas, I could feel the rear squeezing. When I was telling the spotter to have a look how the rear was moving, the car just turned right."

NASCAR red-flagged the race as safety vehicles arrived on the scene and track workers attempted to put out the fire.

"There's going to be a big speed bump heading into Turn 3," crew chief Steve Letarte told Dale Earnhardt Jr., fearful that the blaze would melt the asphalt. "I will be shocked -- shocked -- if we can get this race restarted."

Letarte was wrong.

Safety workers cleared the scene by hoisting the remains of the jet dryer on a tow truck with a boom to prevent further damage to the asphalt. After a stoppage of two hours, five minutes and 29 seconds, the event resumed just before midnight ET.

The race was barely one lap old when contact from the front bumper of Elliott Sadler's Chevrolet turned the No. 48 Chevy of five-time champion Jimmie Johnson hard into the outside wall near the exit from the tri-oval.

Unable to avoid the wreck, David Ragan plowed into the side of Johnson's car. Neither Johnson nor Ragan was able to continue; they retired from the race in the 42nd and 43rd positions, respectively.

The cars of defending race winner Trevor Bayne, Danica Patrick and Kurt Busch were severely damaged in the melee and all three headed to the garage for extensive repairs and later returned to the track.

"The steering's off," Patrick said, as she brought the No. 10 Chevy to pit road. Her crew repaired the rear suspension, but Patrick was 62 laps down when she reappeared on Lap 66. She wound up 38th in her Sprint Cup debut.

Martin Truex Jr. won the $200,000 bonus for leading the race at the halfway point.

The top four drivers when Juan Montoya hit the jet dryer were Dave Blaney, Landon Cassill, Tony Raines and David Gilliland, none of whom had come to pit road with the rest of the lead-lap cars. Irreparable damage to the track or an ill-timed rain cell could have made a winner of Blaney.

Edwards and Kyle Busch had to restart from Christian Louboutin Tina Boots Fringed Suede Purple the rear when the race resumed for removing tear-offs from their windshields under the red flag.

Santorum was asked about several of his recent comments

With two days left before the closely contested Republican primaries in Arizona and Michigan, Rick Santorum delivered a full-throated defense of christian louboutin religion in public life on Sunday, appealing to the social conservatives who have revived his presidential campaign.

In an escalation of the sometimes fiery language that he has used throughout the race, Santorum declared that colleges are no longer a "neutral setting" for people of faith and described how he had become sickened after reading John F. Kennedy's 1960 speech calling for the rigid separation of religion and politics.

"What kind of country do we live in that says only people of nonfaith can come into the public square and make their case?" Santorum said on the ABC News program "This Week." "That makes me throw up."

Kennedy, then a presidential candidate, gave the speech to quiet claims that he would answer to the Vatican because he was a Roman Catholic. Santorum is also a Catholic.

His rival Mitt Romney, who has struggled to convince conservatives of his ideological commitment, made his own, subtler case to the same constituency on Sunday. He traveled to Florida to attend the Daytona 500 NASCAR race (which was delayed by rain), long a favorite of conservative Republican voters, after having earlier disputed what he said was the misconception that, as a former governor of Massachusetts, "I can't be conservative."

But the crowd booed Romney, who occasionally struck a discordant note, as when he approached a group of fans wearing plastic ponchos. "I like those fancy raincoats you bought," he said. "Really sprung for the big bucks."

The last-minute overtures underscored Christian Louboutin Slingback how much the focus of the contest had swung from economic issues to social concerns.

Polls show the candidates running roughly even, and the question for both of them is how Santorum's provocative and assertive outreach to the religious right will resonate with voters, both in the contests this week and in the dozen on "Super Tuesday" on March 6.

For Romney, the stakes are especially high on Tuesday: a loss in Michigan would represent a searing setback in his home state and reinforce the sense that the party's rank and file is unwilling to come together behind him.

For Santorum, a defeat could threaten to sap the energy that he has built with victories over Romney in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri.

On a day when both candidates vied for the affections of conservative voters, it was Santorum's language that stood out.

Appearing on "This Week" from Marquette, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Santorum was asked about several of his recent comments, including why he had derided President Obama - whom he called a "snob" - for encouraging all Americans to attend college.

He said many people simply have no Christian Louboutin Stretch Platform OTK Boot aspiration for university, and he also suggested that social conservatives are under assault on college campuses. "We have some real problems at our college campuses with political correctness," he said.

A gag order prohibits either of the parties from discussing the settlement

Prosecutors said Gabe Watson, motivated by potential insurance payouts, had drowned his wife Tina in October 2003 by turning off her oxygen supply during their christian louboutin dive in the waters off Townsville, Australia.

But after prosecutors wrapped up their case on Thursday, Judge Tommy Nail ruled there was no evidence to suggest that Gabe Watson intended to kill.

"The only way to convict this man of capital murder is to use speculation and conjecture," Nail said. "The state has failed to establish an intentional killing."

Prosecutors claimed Watson stood to gain up to $210,000 in life and travel insurance from his wife's death. But the defense said far less money was at stake and that Watson was not yet a beneficiary for any of the life insurance funds.

An eye witness testified that he saw Gabe Watson wrap his arms around his wife underwater and figured Watson was trying to save her.

Watson's mother collapsed in tears outside of the courtroom after hearing the judge had granted the defense's motion for an acquittal.

"I am thrilled for Gabe. He can finally begin the healing process," said Watson's father, David Watson. "Hopefully he can put his life back together."

Judges rarely grant acquittals in murder cases, said Steve Emens, a professor at the University of Alabama School of Law. He said Tina Watson's family could still file a wrongful death claim against Watson if they have not done so already.

Gabe Watson, 34, served 18 months in an Australian jail after pleading guilty to failing to do enough to help his 26-year-old wife during the dive.

He was tried for murder in Birmingham, Alabama, because that was where the couple married and prosecutors say he plotted Tina's death.

Alabama authorities agreed to waive the death penalty in order to get Australian authorities to release Watson back to the United States, meaning he would have faced a maximum lifetime prison sentence had he been convicted.

The judge's ruling Thursday abruptly ended the trial, which was in its second week and had been closely watched by the Australian media.

Tina Watson's father was the state's final witness. He told jurors that Gabe Watson legally pursued his wife's family for everything she owned, down to her Gone with the Wind movie memorabilia.

Tommy Thomas said he made several trips to Australia to investigate his daughter's death himself. During his testimony, he cried and shot angry looks at the man who was his son-in-law for just 11 days.

"It should have gone to a jury to decide," Thomas told reporters afterward. "We are disappointed. There is a lot more protection for the accused than the victim."

A former aide and a former mistress of one-time presidential candidate John Edwards have settled a civil lawsuit between them that, among other measures, mandates the Christian Louboutin Slingback imminent destruction of sex tapes featuring Edwards and the woman.

Orange County, North Carolina, Superior Court Judge Carl Fox on Thursday signed the settlement agreement between Andrew Young, his wife and Rielle Hunter, the woman who had sued the couple, according to court official Tammy Keshler.

Hunter had sued Young and his wife, Cheri, for invasion of privacy seeking to reclaim materials that she said belong to her, including personal photographs and an alleged sex tape showing her with Edwards.

While the settlement addresses the transfer and destruction of videos, photographs and other documents, no monetary damages were awarded and the Youngs admit no liability.

Hunter agreed to destroy copies of the sex tape she'll receive, while the Youngs must make a good-faith effort to ensure that the copy of the video that they gave to the U.S. government is likewise destroyed, per the agreement.

The former aide and his wife will get back family videos and photos, though they cannot use any that include Hunter or her daughter -- whom Edwards has admitted he fathered -- for anything besides family purposes.

Young wrote a book, "The Politician: An Insider's Account of John Edwards's Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down," in which he describes an elaborate plan to use money from two wealthy benefactors to allow Edwards to maintain a relationship with Hunter. She worked as a videographer on the failed 2008 presidential campaign of the former North Carolina senator, who was also the Democrats' 2004 vice presidential nominee with running mate John Kerry.

Plans are under way to make that book, "The Politician," into a movie from Aaron Sorkin and Colvin Road Entertainment.

The Youngs can use information already in the book, in court proceedings or otherwise in the public domain, according to Keshler. But anything beyond that is prohibited by court order, and the couple cannot publicize the planned film.

A gag order prohibits either of the parties from discussing the settlement.

The agreement does not resolve the pending criminal contempt proceedings against Young and his wife.

Young's former boss, Edwards, is scheduled to be on trial himself after being indicted last year on charges including conspiracy, issuing false statements and violating campaign contribution laws regarding donations to and payments from his presidential campaign.

Edwards denies any wrongdoing.

Whether the money given to support Hunter by Christian Louboutin Skeleton Zipper Suede Boots Black Edwards' benefactors -- as alleged by Young in his book -- should have been considered campaign donations is a key issue in Edwards' upcoming trial. The ex-senator's legal team has disputed that notion, maintaining the money was a gift to Hunter.

Obama maintained that both extensions are crucial to supporting

President Barack Obama signed the payroll tax cut extension into law Wednesday, notching an election-year victory and rare bipartisan agreement in the continuing christian louboutin partisan battle over jobs, taxes and debt.

The $143 billion measure that Congress passed overwhelmingly on Friday continues the 2 percentage-point reduction in the tax that funds Social Security, a cut begun last year to aid the nation's struggling economic recovery. It also extends jobless benefits for between 63 weeks and 73 weeks, and averts a big cut in the reimbursements doctors get for treating Medicare patients.

The president signed the measure without ceremony Wednesday, having already celebrated its passage at an event Tuesday at the White House.

Obama senior adviser David Plouffe emailed his gratitude to people who sent the White House their stories about how losing the tax cut would affect their lives.

"Extending the payroll tax cut was a critical step for middle class families, but we still have a lot more work to do. So get ready," Plouffe wrote in an email that included a photograph of Obama signing the bill at his Oval Office desk.

The payroll tax cut became a centerpiece of the jobs plan Obama unveiled in September -- and of a re-election strategy that seeks to cast his GOP foes as protectors of the rich and out of touch with the worries of working families.

The administration estimates that for a worker earning 50,000 a year, the tax holiday means $80 a month in extra take-home pay. For better-paid employees, the bonus Christian Louboutin Ankle Boots could total $2,200 a year.

But the cost to the deficit is substantial: another $93 billion for the latest extension. However, bowing to its inevitability, House GOP leaders last week agreed not to demand spending cuts to offset the lost tax revenues.

The legislation also extended benefits for the long-term unemployed that average about $300 a week, though Obama and Democratic allies compromised over an initial demand for 99 more weeks. Those benefits will be paid for by auctioning broadcast frequencies and requiring newly hired federal workers to contribute more to their pensions.

Obama maintained that both extensions are crucial to supporting a still-fragile recovery from the nation's deepest recession since the 1930s.

GOP leaders initially balked at the extensions, then clashed with Obama and congressional Democrats over how to pay for them. As the holidays approached in December, their opposition drew a fierce public backlash, especially when House Republicans rejected a compromise that Senate leaders had brokered. In the end, Republicans accepted a two-month extension -- after paying a heavy political price.

"We did not want to repeat the debacle," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said. "We're dumb, but we're not stupid."

The extension puts off until December Christian Louboutin Muffs Furry Short Boots -- after the presidential and congressional elections -- a mix of taxing and spending decisions, including whether to extend Bush-era tax cuts, increasing the debt ceiling and meeting a trillion-dollar spending cut requirement.

There are a million of you guys

As the media horde horde began christian louboutin peeling away one by one from Carmelo Anthony’s locker late Monday night, the Knicks captain suddenly had an epiphany.

“There are a million of you guys,” Anthony said to one reporter. “I can’t win.”

Wednesday marks the one-year anniversary of the Knicks’ blockbuster trade for Anthony, one of the NBA’s greatest scorers and enigmas.

It was Garden chairman James Dolan who orchestrated the deal to bring Anthony to New York and in turn bring hope to a desperate fan base.

The following day, Anthony was given a hero’s welcome at the Garden. Remember the song — “ Coming Home” — and the accompanying video? Within days, the club announced that it was raising ticket prices. Fans’ expectations went through the roof. The Melo era was officially underway.

And yet, 12 months after that franchise-altering transaction, the one question that was asked about Anthony on Feb. 22, 2011 remains unanswered today. To paraphrase Melo himself, “Can he win?”

Anthony is arguably the most scrutinized star athlete in New York today.

He’s got the lucrative contract, the impressive stats and the All-Star appearances. What he doesn’t have is a playoff resume. He’s been out of the first round only once in his career and that includes last season’s loss to the Boston Celtics in four games.

Since acquiring Anthony from the Denver Nuggets, the Knicks have an overall record of 30-35, including a 16-17 mark this season.

Monday’s loss to the Nets was significant because it was Anthony’s first game in two weeks and his first since Jeremy Lin became a household name. The Knicks had won six of seven games without Anthony.

It’s unfair to blame the 100-92 loss on Anthony, who is recovering from a strained groin and is clearly not in top form. Deron Williams, obviously exhausted from hearing about Linsanity, scored 38 points and showed why he is an elite point guard.

Lin led the Knicks with 21 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter.

He also attempted a team-high 18 shots. In fact, the case could be made that Anthony (11 shots) didn’t shoot enough and that Lin shot too much. Or look at it this way: What would the reaction have been to Toney Douglas taking seven more shots than Anthony in a loss?

“Carmelo is one of the top 15 players in the league,” says one current NBA coach. “I don’t know why he’s so worried about fitting in with Jeremy Lin. Just play.”

The pressure to win in a city that hasn’t won Christian Louboutin 2011 a single playoff game in 10 years may be getting to Anthony.

Last season, he was dogged by questions about whether he could co-exist with Amar’e Stoudemire, and now those same unanswered questions are being raised about Anthony and Lin.

The problem, however, is that Anthony may not be a good fit with Mike D’Antoni’s offense. Anthony prefers to go one-on-one and needs the ball in his hands to make plays. Kobe Bryant is the same way.

But on Monday, Anthony tried to convince anyone who would listen that Lin, who has nine career starts, should be in charge of the offense.

“I want Jeremy to have the ball,” Anthony said. “Hands down, I want him to have the ball. I want him to create for me, create for Amar’e, create for everybody and still be as aggressive as he’s been in the past two weeks.

“I want that. There’s going to be times I have the ball in the pick-and-roll situation, being a distributor and trying to be aggressive. But for the most part I want Jeremy to have the ball in his hands.”

The words sounded as if Anthony is desperate to prove once and for all that he’s not a selfish player. The Garden also pursued on an image makeover by leaking a story that it was Anthony who suggested to D’Antoni that Lin get a chance.

However, D’Antoni denied that account on Monday, which undoubtedly is not sitting well with Dolan and perhaps also with Anthony. It’s like that old Godfather line: “Don’t ever take sides against the (Cablevision) family.”

For D’Antoni to go off script like that was telling and speaks to a larger issue of mistrust between the coach and Dolan, which probably started with Donnie Walsh being fired. D’Antoni could have easily gone along with the tale about Melo advocating Lin but chose not to.

It’s been a rough couple of days for Anthony. His current coach refuses to recite the company line about Melo inventing Linsanity while his former coach, George Karl, took a couple of subtle jabs by claiming that Anthony wants to get “that monkey of losing off his Christian Louboutin Simple Botta 100mm Leather Boots Coffee back” and that “he just hasn’t figured out” how to win yet.

And Anthony thought the media were tough on him.

Anthony would be better served just playing his game, ignoring what is being written and said about him and competing on every possession.