Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich threatened on Sunday to have U.S. judges arrested if they disagreed with his policies as president, ratcheting up his attacks on the judiciary as he tries to halt a slide in his campaign.

"I got into this originally because of two things: the steady encroachment of secularism through the courts to redefine America as a non-religious country and the encroachment of the courts on the president's commander-in-chief powers, which is enormously dangerous," Gingrich said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Gingrich has said that, as president, he would ignore Supreme Court decisions that conflicted with his powers as commander in chief. He said on "Face the Nation" he would subpoena a judge if the jurist disagreed with him, and send police "if you had to or you'd instruct the Justice Department to send a U.S. Marshall" if necessary to bring the judge in.

The tough line against judges may please conservatives who rail against an "activist" judiciary over issues such as allowing gay marriage rights or limiting prayer in schools. But it could also work against Gingrich since voters already are angry over constant battling in Washington between the White House and Congress.

"That's not going to sit well in a seven-second soundbite," said Republican strategist Ford O'Connell. "When people hear that, that becomes divisive. And what are people most concerned about now? Divisiveness in Washington."

Gingrich reached the top of the Republican field last month as the favored conservative alternative to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. But his front-runner status has prompted withering attacks from rivals that he is an unreliable conservative and influence peddler, particularly over fat fees he earned from Freddie Mac, a mortgage giant tied to the economic recession.

Read more from Patricia Zengerle at Reuters

Republican U.S. presidential contender Mitt Romney, once the leader and presumed nominee, is back in front-runner mode.

Less than three weeks before Iowa kicks off the state-by-state Republican battle to find a challenger to President Barack Obama, polls show support for main rival Newt Gingrich may already be softening.

Romney also won an important endorsement on Friday from South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

With other contenders scrambling to slice up Gingrich, Romney was a model of decorum at the final Republican debate on Thursday before Iowa kicks off the nominating race on January 3.

Romney let rivals Ron Paul and Michele Bachmann lead the way in attacking Gingrich and stayed well above the fray. He even exchanged compliments at times with Gingrich, the former House of Representatives speaker who has rolled past him in polls in the last month.

"His whole goal now is to get back to being the 'safe and steady' candidate. He can let his surrogates do the work for him," Republican strategist Ford O'Connell said.

"He doesn't even need to win Iowa, he just needs to make sure that Gingrich doesn't - and Ron Paul and Michele Bachmann can help him with that."

After a week of intensifying criticism of Gingrich's temperament and judgment, climaxed when Romney called him "zany," his attack machine went dark when the debate lights went on.

A Rasmussen poll showed Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, has a slight lead over Gingrich in Iowa, a state Romney has largely bypassed this year after spending millions there in 2008 only to lose.

Polls show Romney also still has a commanding lead in New Hampshire, the state where he has focused his efforts, putting him in prime position to put a stranglehold on the race with strong performances in the first two contests.

Read more from John Whitesides at Reuters

Mitt Romney regained frontrunner status precisely because Newt Gingrich did not win last night's debate. That said, Gingrich could still conceivably win Iowa (along with South Carolina) and cause problems for Romney's coronation, because Ron Paul did his best to emulate Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" when it came to foreign policy last night.

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

Re-Posted From Townhall.com

In case you missed the news (and you probably did), former U.S. Senate candidate and tea party activist Christine O’Donnell endorsed Mitt Romney for president on Tuesday night.

According to O’Donnell, her endorsement of Romney“cam[e] down to trust” among other items.

It’s hard to see how can anyone within the tea party or the Republican Party can trust O’Donnell given that she has been nothing short of a bad circus sideshow since she captured the 2010 U.S. Senate GOP primary in Delaware.

To be perfectly honest, everything about this endorsement is just wrong on so many levels.

While it is true that Romney had the guts to endorse O’Donnell’s failed Senate bid, it is quite clear that she is looking to do more than just repay a political favor.

When asked by Fox News’ Sean Hannity if she plans on running for office again, O’Donnell responded “most likely, probably.”

Apparently, O’Donnell figures that if she ties her name to Romney’s bid, she may be afforded the opportunity to refloat her sunken political career – particularly if Romney wins the GOP nomination and the White House.

My inner-Karl Rove tells me that Team Romney will think twice before allowing O’Donnell to represent the campaign in an official capacity.

To be fair to Romney, candidates cannot always help who endorses them, but one other glaring item caught my eye – Team Romney seemed to be touting the O’Donnell endorsement as a sign that the campaign is able to connect with Republicans beyond establishment circles.

Mitt Romney may still have the best shot at winning the Republican presidential nomination, particularly from a fundraising and organizing perspective, but Romney will need a lot more than an O’Donnell endorsement to break through the anti-Romney voting bloc.

Ford O’Connell is the chairman of CivicForumPAC, the editor of The Political Quarterback blog and an advisor to conservative candidates.

President Barack Obama's re-election hopes in 2012 could be getting brighter as the bruising Republican nomination fight intensifies and the struggling U.S. economy shows signs of hope.

Obama's approval rating of 47 percent is little changed since the beginning of the year as the Republicans stumble, suggesting that the increasingly bitter fight for the right to challenge him in November could be taking its toll on his potential rivals.

A series of high-profile debates have given broad exposure to a Republican race marked by wild mood swings all year. Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain and now Gingrich all have taken turns near the top of the Republican pack along with the steady Romney.

But each of those contenders has fallen back through missteps or, in Cain's case, allegations of an extramarital affair, dimming their chances and perhaps influencing the public's view of all the Republican contenders.

"As the voters get a better sense of their choices, Obama is starting to come out better," said Republican Dan Schnur, an aide on John McCain's 2000 presidential bid. "The general impression of Republicans is being colored by the whole field."

A slowly improving economy also could bolster Obama's chances heading into next November's election. A Reuters poll of economists showed on Wednesday they expect the economy will grow moderately in 2012, at 2.1 percent.

A drop in the unemployment rate last month to 8.6 percent, as well as relatively strong consumer spending, also has buoyed hopes for the economy.

"Any uptick in the economy between now and Election Day is going to benefit the president," said Republican strategist Ford O'Connell. "He's still better than a coin flip to win this."

Obama predicted earlier this week the unemployment rate could be down to around 8 percent by November, a figure that would be critical to his re-election bid.

Read more from John Whitesides and Jeff Mason at Reuters

U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul declared on Wednesday his campaign was "peaking at the right time" as polls show him closing in on the two perceived front-runners.

The libertarian congressman from Texas with a passionate core of followers complained that pundits were dismissing his longshot campaign prematurely and sounded optimistic about catching former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former U.S. House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich.

All three and others are seeking to represent the Republicans and unseat Democratic President Barack Obama next November. The first of a series of Republican nominating contests is set for Jan. 3 in Iowa.

"The momentum is building up and a lot of the candidates so far would come and go. They would shoot to the top and drop back rapidly. Ours has been very steady growth, then in this last week or two there has been a sudden extra growth," Paul told reporters after meeting voters in Amherst, New Hampshire.

Public Policy Polling released a survey on Tuesday showing him one percentage point behind Gingrich for the lead in Iowa.

Paul took 21 percent in the survey compared to 22 percent for Gingrich with Romney third at 16 percent.

"In political terms, it probably means we're peaking at the right time," Paul said.

Paul, who is making his third bid for the White House, is unlikely to take the nomination. But he may influence the race all the way to the end, acquiring delegates that stand to give him clout at the party's nominating convention next August.

He could tilt the nomination to one candidate should the race remain undecided by convention time.

"He definitely takes more from Gingrich than he does from Romney," said Ford O'Connell, a Republican strategist who said he is neutral in the nominating process. "He's doing to Newt Gingrich what Romney hasn't been able to do. In a lot of ways he's Newt Gingrich's worst nightmare."

Read more from Daniel Trotta at Reuters

Ron Paul will not win the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, so it really doesn't matter if he can take a punch. That said, if Paul does win the Iowa nominating contest, he could be Gingrich's worst nightmare and an unlikely ally for Team Romney in its quest to lock down the Republican nomination.

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

Ford O'Connell is a businessman, lawyer, and Republican strategist from Naples, Florida.

Mr. O'Connell is a respected media analyst and frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business and other broadcast media. Ford's political analysis and commentary have appeared in a variety of publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, the Financial Times, The Washington Post, the New York Post, The Hill, POLITICO, The Washington Times and ESPN.com.

Mr. O'Connell also teaches at The George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management.

Every Thursday night in the 6:00 PM ET hour, Ford can be heard on Southwest Florida's 92.5 FM Fox News' "The Drive with Trey Radel" discussing the latest happenings on Capitol Hill and the 2020 campaign trail.

Ford O’Connell is a businessman, lawyer, and Republican strategist from Naples, Florida.

A former Florida congressional candidate, Mr. O'Connell is a seasoned campaign veteran at the local, state and national levels. In 2008, Ford served as an adviser to the McCain-Palin presidential campaign.

Mr. O'Connell is a guest commentator on Fox News, Fox Business, and other broadcast media; his political commentary/analysis has appeared in a variety of publications including USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, ABC News, CBS News, the Associated Press, Reuters, Financial Times, The Washington Post, Washington Times, New York Post, U.S. News & World Report, The Hill, POLITICO, Investor's Business Daily, E! Online, People magazine and ESPN.com.

Ford is a contributor at The Hill and the Washington Examiner. He co-authored a weekly column for TownHall.com on redistricting and the importance of state legislative races during the 2010 election cycle. Mr. O'Connell was formerly a contributor at U.S. News & World Report and POLITICO's Arena. 

In 2013, Ford authored Hail Mary: The 10-Step Playbook for Republican Recovery.

Every Thursday night in the 6:00 PM ET hour, Mr. O'Connell can be heard on Southwest Florida's 92.5 FM Fox News' "The Drive with Trey Radel" discussing the latest happenings on Capitol Hill and the 2020 campaign trail.

Ford's devotion to the conservative causes of limited government, free enterprise and personal responsibility were instilled in him by his grandfather, Henry Salvatori, a longtime Republican activist and advisor to three U.S. Presidents.

Mr. O'Connell's experience with running the nationwide rural outreach program for the McCain-Palin 2008 presidential campaign and participation in numerous campaign get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts, including Haley Barbour’s gubernatorial campaign in 2007 and Saxby Chambliss’ 2008 senatorial runoff reelection, drives his focus on connecting the evolving capabilities of social media to the best practices of traditional voter outreach. In 2009, Ford co-founded ProjectVirginia to help Virginia Republicans implement innovative digital media and voter mobilization technologies, with the goal of increasing the Republican majority in Virginia’s House of Delegates. ProjectVirginia was recognized by Campaigns & Elections magazine for this effort, winning the inaugural Reed Award for “Best Use of Twitter” for its work on behalf of multiple campaigns during 2009. Mr. O'Connell was also named a 2010 Rising Star by Campaigns & Elections magazine for his work with ProjectVirginia.

A graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law (Juris Doctor), Ford holds graduate degrees from the University of Mississippi (Master of Arts in Southern Studies), Duke University (Master of Public Policy) and Northwestern University (Master of Science in Journalism), and a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College where he was a member of the football, basketball and lacrosse teams.

Mr. O'Connell also teaches at The George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management.