He may not have much money or a ground game to speak of in Florida but Republican Rick Santorum will not pull out of the presidential race - much to the chagrin of rival Newt Gingrich and probably to the delight of a bruised Mitt Romney.

After Gingrich scored a resounding win in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, the former U.S. House of Representatives speaker badly wants to unite conservative and Tea Party elements of the Republican Party behind him ahead of Florida's January 31 vote.

That would be easier to do if the socially conservative Santorum slipped away, especially in the face of a well-financed Florida campaign by Romney. But Santorum vowed to keep his shoestring campaign alive as it heads to the country's fourth most populous state after finishing third on Saturday.

"This is a long haul," Santorum said early on Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

"His staying around is much to Romney's delight and possibly Gingrich's dismay. If Gingrich had his way, he would want Santorum out," said Ford O'Connell, a Republican strategist.

"And Romney would say, 'Oh, don't leave the race so soon' ... It's like Cold War politics: the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Four more debates are scheduled by mid-March, all of which could better position Santorum for whatever comes next.

"He's angling for some political capital, whether it's a Cabinet position or it's a run for another office down the road," O'Connell said. "All you need is a plane ticket to move to the next spot. So why get out when you can still be a factor in this?"

Read more from Ros Krasny at Reuters

Clearly inevitably was setting in for Team Romney and the candidate was getting sloppy and complacent. Romney still has a couple of weak spots (overall campaign message, inability to connect at debate podium) that need to be vastly improved.

Frankly Gingrich’s victory in South Carolina was the punch in the mouth Romney needed if he wants to win the nomination and be a strong general election candidate. While we are certainly in uncharted territory, this is still Romney’s nomination to lose given that the Florida nominating contest is followed by Nevada, and Gingrich failed to qualify for the Missouri and Virginia ballots.

Read more from Ford O'Connell at Politico's "The Arena"

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich trounced frontrunner Mitt Romney in South Carolina on Saturday in a jarring victory that indicates the party's battle to pick a challenger to President Barack Obama may last months, not weeks.

Gingrich's come-from-behind win in conservative South Carolina injects unexpected volatility into a Republican nominating race that until this week appeared to be a coronation for Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and private-equity chief.

Three different candidates - Gingrich, Romney and former senator Rick Santorum - now have won the first three contests in the state-by-state battle for the Republican presidential nomination to face Obama, a Democrat, on November 6.

Gingrich's triumph may lead to a protracted battle of attrition for the Republican nomination in which the candidates expend money and energy to beat each other instead of having the party unite behind one standard-bearer focusing on Obama.

"This is the punch in the mouth/wake up call Romney needed if he wanted to be a strong general election candidate," Republican strategist Ford O'Connell said in a Twitter message, referring to the South Carolina results.

Read more from Sam Younman and Steve Holland at Reuters

Mitch Daniels, the wonky Indiana governor who spurned Republicans in search of a heavyweight to post up against Mitt Romney, will give the GOP's response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday.

The opportunity will allow Daniels to articulate the Republican Party's election year message following a State of the Union speech that is sure to touch on themes Obama's reelection operation will use against his Republican opponent in the general election.

Ford O'Connell, a Republican strategist, said Daniels was a smart choice for GOP because of the party's difficulty in explaining how their policy agenda will grow the economy. Even Obama received some disapproval from Americans over his tough talk on deficit after the 2010 midterms in lieu of focusing on a jobs plan.

"GOP has had a difficult time messaging why deficit reduction, entitlement reform, tax reform and regulatory reform will promote long-term economic job growth," O'Connell said.

If Daniels gets a good response from a message about deep spending cuts and balanced budgets, the GOP presidential candidates could crib a winning general election message.

"He can provide them with a road map," O'Connell said, "if he does this right."

Read more from Dan Rivoli at International Business Times 

The casual political observer might think that Romney's quick-strike Republican nomination grab would leave him well positioned for a tight general election battle with President Obama. Unfortunately Mitt Romney is a little like Tim Robbins's character Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh in Bull Durham —his curve ball is hanging and his campaign doesn't seem to realize it or has yet to figure out how to fix it.

I agree with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's call to support Newt Gingrich in the South Carolina primary so that we can "keep this thing going." While Romney is nearly assured of winning his party's nomination, the former Massachusetts governor needs a little more seasoning in the minors before he is ready for the show.

Read more from Ford O'Connell at U.S. News & World Report

Several items contributed to Rick Perry’s poor showing in the Republican presidential primary highlighted by Perry’s prolific debate meltdowns which demonstrated he was not ready for prime time, despite his solid executive record of promoting job growth in the Lone Star State.

That said, timing is everything in politics and Perry’s decision to bow out before the South Carolina primary on Saturday and endorse Newt Gingrich could really help boost the former House Speaker to victory in the Palmetto State.

Read more from Ford O'Connell at Politico's "The Arena"

Despite being one of the most qualified candidates on paper, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman was never going to win the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. Huntsman’s moderate label, service in the Obama administration and inability to connect on a personal level was never going to fly with grassroots conservatives.

If Huntsman wanted to make a stronger showing in the Republican presidential primary, he should have started his campaign much earlier, not focused exclusively on New Hampshire and above all else; he should have put his daughters front and center much sooner. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a more successful Huntsman presidential bid in the future.

Read more from Ford O'Connell at Politico's "The Arena"

Ford O'Connell and Democratic strategist Christy Setzer join Fox News' Gregg Jarrett on America's News HQ to discuss the upcoming GOP presidential primary in South Carolina, the Christian conservative leaders' endorsement of Rick Santorum this past weekend and Newt Gingrich's attacks on Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital.

President Obama is asking Congress for more power to shrink the federal government.

The commander in chief proposed merging six trade and commerce agencies on Friday, a move analysts are interpreting as an attempt to quiet Republican critics who say Obama wants to balloon the government.

Obama suggested combining the following agencies: the Commerce Department's core business and trade functions, the Small Business Administration, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corp. and the Trade and Development Agency.

Obama still needs Congress' okay before he can make restructuring changes.

"Why now?" Republican strategist Ford O'Connell asked. "President Obama is looking at the polls. He's not doing well in Florida, and independents are souring on him. This is one way to lower government spending to make government more efficient."

The President may also be feeling pressure to downsize before November's election. During his last State of the Union speech, he suggested that government needed to become more efficient.

The deal is far from assured. There's no sign that he'll get cooperation from the Republican-led House, following a year-long pattern.

Veronique de Rugy, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University said Obama's move was a step in the right direction.

"By reducing the size of government the president is taking small step to cut spending and reduce our debt problem," said de Rugy.

But O'Connell said Obama was merely trying to "shift the blame to Congress" heading into the election season. "He can say, 'Hey, I tried to do my job. I'm being blocked.'"

Read more from Aliyah Shahid at New York Daily News

The GOP primary is not over yet, but, with Mitt Romney firmly in control of the race, it isn’t too soon to begin asking: Who might he select as his running mate? I recently asked about a dozen Republican insiders who they would want to see on a ticket with Romney. (A couple balked at the notion that Romney was a lock for the nomination, but most agreed it was a logical assumption.) The most striking thing that emerged from these conversations was that some Republicans are a lot more excited about the vice presidential choices than about the presidential ones. “We have more instantly credible vice presidents than we do people running for president,” said Ed Rogers, co-founder with Haley Barbour of the public relations group BGR and a veteran of the Bush-Quayle campaign. Ford O’Connell, a Republican strategist who did outreach for McCain-Palin in 2008, said essentially the same thing: “There is probably more enthusiasm for the potential V.P. pick than there is for the overall Republican field.” Here are the names that came up most frequently during my conversations—listed roughly in order of the aggregate enthusiasm they garnered.

Read more from Eliza Gray at The New Republic