An hour before former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum was to speak to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, Mitt Romney released a blast at his rival.

"tSenator Santorum now decries the obscene growth in federal spending and our national debt, but he was in Washington as this fiscal crisis grew – supporting billions in earmarks, repeatedly voting to raise the debt ceiling, and admitting that deficits no longer bothered him," Romney spokesman Andrea Saul said in a memo to media.

"Americans want a president who can offer solutions, not a lifelong politician who was part of the problem in the first place."

The Romney camp then recalls statements Santorum has made supporting earmarks, or local projects lawmakers routinely insert into spending legislation. Santorum has explained that was part of his job.

Santorum is popular among conservatives; Romney, less so. Both are to speak to the conference Friday.

Congress' approval rating, already dismal last year, has hit a new low.

Gallup found in its Feb. 2-5 survey that Congress' approval rating had sunk to 10 percent.

The rating averaged 17 percent last year, with the highest number, 24 percent, logged in May. 

But Congress was beset last year by partisan gridlock, leading to a bitter summer fight over raising the nation's debt ceiling and a pre-Christmas showdown over continuing a Social Security payroll tax cut.

"It is difficult to pinpoint any specific recent actions that may have led to the continuing deterioration in Congress' image, particularly because much of the political attention in January and early February has focused on the Republican presidential race," a Gallup analyis said.

"Congress at this point is again wrangling over the extension of the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits -- both of which were temporarily extended late last year in a short-term fix that expires at the end of February."

1,029 people were sureyed. Margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

If Republicans nominate Newt Gingrich, "it will have an adverse impact on Republican candidates running for county, state, and federal offices," former Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole, the GOP's 1996 presidential nominee, said in an "open letter" Thursday.

"Hardly anyone who served with Newt in Congress has endorsed him and that fact speaks for itself. He was a one-man-band who rarely took advice. It was his way or the highway," Dole said.

Dole was Senate leader while Gingrich was House Speaker from 1995 to 1999.

Dole recalled Gingrich's $300,000 penalty for ethics violations. "I know whereof I speak as I helped establish a line of credit of $150,000 to help Newt pay off the fine for his ethics violations. In the end, he paid the fine with money from other sources," Dole said.

He also blasted Gingrich's intellect.

"Gingrich had a new idea every minute and most of them were off the wall.  He loved picking a fight with Bill Clinton because he knew this would get the attention of the press," Dole recalled.

"In my run for the presidency in 1996 the Democrats greeted me with a number of negative TV ads and in every one of them Newt was in the ad.  He was very unpopular and I am not only certain that this did not help me, but that it also cost House seats that year.

"Newt would show up at the campaign headquarters with an empty ice-bucket in his hand—that was a symbol of some sort for him—and I never did know what he was doing or why he was doing it.

"In my opinion if we want to avoid an Obama landslide in November, Republicans should nominate Governor Romney as our standard bearer. He has the requisite experience in the public and private sectors. He would be a president we could have confidence in."

You probably knew that Wikipedia, Reddit, Craigslist and numerous other websites shut down today in protest of legislation to curb Internet piracy. But add one unintentional participant: the homepage of Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio.

The freshman senator tweeted this morning that he'd withdraw his support for the Senate version of the legislation, which comes up for a vote next Tuesday. Hours later, his Senate website went down.

On the House side, Arizona Rep. Ben Quayle (yes, the son of former vice president Dan Quayle), withdrew his support for the Stop Online Piracy Act. As of midafternoon, his website was still up.

Here's Rubio's tweet:

After hearing from people with legit concerns, have withdraw support for #PIPA. Let's take time to do it right. http://on.fb.me/xxAl4F #SOPA

Want to be president? Move away from Arizona.

Addressing a Mitt Romney rally Thursday morning in Salem, New Hampshire, Arizona Sen. John McCain recalled the recent experience of presidential candidates from his state.

Since 1964, they've all failed--GOP 1964 nominee Barry Goldwater, one-time Democratic hopefuls Bruce Babbitt and Morris Udall,and McCain, the 2008 Republican nominee.

"Arizona may be the only state in America where mothers don't tell their children they can grow up and be president," McCain quipped.

Mitt Romney and John McCain had answers for all the questions thrown at him Wednesday during a rally and Q and A session in Manchester. But there was one question he would not answer.

As Romney stood on the stage with McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, who had just endorsed Romney's presidential bid, someone in the audience said to McCain, an Arizona senator, "We would love to see you on the ticket with Mitt Romney."

The two men stood silently and politely smiled.

Rick Santorum brought his newly-energized campaign Friday afternoon to Buffalo Wild Wings in Ames, Iowa--and found virtually everyone was more interested in watching the Pinstripe Bowl on the big screen TVs.

After all, Iowa State University was playing Rutgers in the bowl, and Ames is the home of Iowa State. Santorum was gracious, shaking a few hands, but mostly spending his time talking with dozens of media who flooded the restaurant.

Santorum, who has surged in recent polls, address a major voter complaint about him--that he's not electable.

But he told McClatchy he was doing well against 0bama in Pennsylvania, the state he represented in Congress, and "if we do well here we get on the national stage." The former U. S. senator also pointed out he's the only candidate who's won statewide in a swing state.

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., made it official Tuesday afternoon--he won't seek re-election next year.

Here's his message to constituents:

My Fellow Nebraskans:

I’ve had the honor of serving as your Governor and United States Senator. During this time we’ve accomplished a great deal.

As Governor I helped our state experience unprecedented economic growth, cut taxes and left state government with a surplus.

As your Senator, we’ve opened new markets for our agricultural and manufacturing products; expanded the use of ethanol; secured STRATCOM’s future; built new veterans’ clinics, a soon-to-be veterans’ hospital in Omaha, and research facilities at our universities; and kept taxes low.

There is much more that needs to be done to keep America strong. And while I relish the opportunity to undertake the work that lies ahead, I also feel it’s time for me to step away from elective office, spend more time with my family, and look for new ways to serve our state and nation. Therefore, I am announcing today that I will not seek reelection. Simply put: It is time to move on.

I encourage those who will follow in my footsteps to look for common ground and to work together in bipartisan ways to do what’s best for the country, not just one political party.

Public office is a place for public service, not personal profit. It’s about promoting the common good, not the agenda of the radical right or the radical left. It’s about fairness for all, not privileges for the few. And, it’s about protecting the rights of individuals, even if it angers the majority. I hope and believe I have fulfilled these principles to the best of my ability.

I’ll be forever grateful to the citizens of Nebraska for the great honor to serve this great country and represent our great state. Thank you and God bless.

Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, a moderate Democrat who's often a swing vote on key issues, will not seek re-election next year, reports said Tuesday.

Nelson is one of the few centrists left in the Senate Democratic caucus, and long been considered a bellwether of moderate views. His apparent departure also creates a new problem for Democrats trying to maintain control of the Senate.

Democrats now control 53 of the 100 seats. But next year, 21 seats now held by Democrats, as well as two held by independents who caucus with Democrats, are up for election. Nelson already faced a tough race next year; the other Nebraska Senate seat is held by Republican Sen. Mike Johanns.

Only 10 Republican seats are up. Nelson's anticipated decision was first reported by Politico.

So House Speaker John Boehner has named Republicans to a conference, or negotiating committee, to seek a compromise on the Social Security payroll tax plan. What about the Democrats?

They won't play the Charlie Brown role, says their House of Representatives leader.

"Are you not in some ways to blame for the stalemate by not naming your conferees?" Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was asked at a Tuesday news conference.

"No," she said. "It is not a question of blame for stalemate. It is a question of there is a bill that has passed the House and Senate that was designed to pass. The Republicans have put forth a path that is designed to fail. This bill that the Republicans passed in the House was not even brought up in the Senate. The Republicans in the Senate objected to it being brought up because they said they knew it would fail. And the bill that is in the House was not brought up by the House Republicans because, the Senate bill, because they knew it would pass.

"He is not Lucy. I'm not Charlie Brown. We are not falling for that football stunt again. Senator Mitch McConnell fell for it, but we are not falling for it. This is not about getting a bill passed. This is about not getting a bill passed."

The Senate passed a bipartisan compromise Saturday; the House, in a largely party-line vote, rejected it.

"Make no mistake," Pelosi said, "the fact is a clear one, if we do not have a payroll tax cut, it is because the Republicans in the House of Representatives have chosen to paint themselves in a different place than the Republicans in the country and the Republicans in the United States Senate. They are clearly isolating themselves.

" And I will not play Charlie Brown to their Lucy. They have pulled this football every single time. We are not going to let them mislead the American people."