Romney Says He's Not Concerned About The Poor, Realizes How Bad That Sounds And Backtracks: If Mitt Romney is elected president, he would be one of the richest president's ever. So how bad does it sound when he says: "I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs a repair, I'll fix it." It sounds bad. Really bad. Even Rick Perry probably got a good laugh out of that one. Naturally, Romney realized how it came across and immediately sought to do damage control. He later claimed that the remark was taken out of context. In fairness, he is actually correct on that account. Romney was trying to claim that his focus, if elected president, would be on the middle class. To that extent, he also said during the same interview - in fact immediately after - that he also wasn't concerned about the very rich either. Here's the entire quote: "I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs a repair , I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich.... I'm concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling."

Why Romney's Gaffe Could Be Damaging: This morning's gaffe could actually still be damaging to Romney's campaign because, as NBC News' First Read pointed out, "in politics, what becomes damaging is when a verbal gaffe fits a pre-existing narrative." And this gaffe definitely fits into a pre-existing narrative that Romney does not care about the poor. Consider the $10,000 bet with Perry during a Republican presidential debate and comments he made on the campaign trial about liking to fire people and being worried about getting pink slips in his career. All of this ads up to a narrative that makes Romney seem as though he as out of touch with the average American, which can be an extremely effective one in American politics (think John Kerry in 2004.) It's also an attack that could be used against him in by both his Republican rivals during the primaries, and by President Obama during the general election. 

Gingrich's Campaign Strategy Going Forward: Newt Gingrich says he's in the Republican presidential campaign for the long haul, but first, he will have to make it through what promises to be a brutal month for him in the upcoming primaries. CNN has come up with an impressive "cheat sheet" for the Republican primary that shows how bleak the month could be for Gingrich. According to CNN, Romney has the edge in four of the seven primaries in February (or, if you don't count the Missouri one - which is essentially meaningless since it's non-binding and they're holding another caucus in March - four out of six). According to CNN, Romney has the edge in Nevada, Colorado, Arizona and Michigan, while Ron Paul has the edge in Maine. That leaves Missouri and Minnesota - two states which CNN considers to be "toss-ups." Unfortunately for Gingrich, there are no delegates at stake in Missouri, meaning his only shot at something resembling a victory is Minnesota. As CNN noted: "Romney's conservative challengers -- Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul -- have less money and resources and will be forced to pick their battles before March when almost two dozen states will cast ballots."

Presidential Candidates Fourth-Quarter Fund-Raising Reports Revealed: We now know more about the 2012 presidential candidates' war chests after the latest FEC filing deadline, which passed at midnight. Barack Obama raised the most amount of money of any of the candidates, raking in nearly $40 million for the quarter. Mitt Romney led the pack of GOP candidates with $24 million raised in the final three months of 2011, Ron Paul finished third, brining in more than $13 million, while Newt Gingrich raised nearly $10 million. Rick Santorum? Well...let's just say he finished behind Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann and Jon Hunstman - candidates who have already dropped out of the presidential race.

Barack Obama's "American Idol" Invitation: "American Idol" Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe has invited Barack Obama to perform a duet with Al Green on the hit reality TV show. What prompted the invite? Obama's very brief rendition of the hit "Let's Stay Together" during a speech at the famed Apollo Theater last Thursday, which wowed the crowd. People, it appears Obama can actually sing! Take a look: