mitt romney is strutting. the latest from iowa and the big january fights at the top of the show. also, why have we seen a new ç republican front-runner every week with newt falling just as fast as he rose? why can't voters decide on a candidate? could it be because republicans are looking for someone with anti-government simplicity of ron paul, the religious fundamentalism of rick santorum, the war fever mitt/newt? we'll get into that one. plus ben nelson's retirement in nebraska is a hard blow to the democrats' chance of holding the u.s. senate. we'll go over the map and crunch the numbers and also the latest republican play for religious conservatives and whether that will affect the women's vote come november. and let me finish tonight with a democratic guide to the way republicans pick their presidential candidates. it's different. we begin with the latest in iowa, and the new numbers that show more reason for gingrich to worry and an explanation for why the old newt is showing up these past few days. as i said, boy, is this guy angry. jonathan martin is politico's senior political report. we begin with the new "time"/cnn poll numbers out just a short time ago.