The winnowing process continues. The GOP race that began with more than a dozen credible candidates is now down to just a handful of serious contenders.

[Wednesday], New Jersey Governor Chris Christie suspended his campaign. Christie’s no nonsense style was an appealing quality, but the blunt spoken former prosecutor got trumped by Donald Trump. Christie bet it all on a strong showing in New Hampshire and he came up short.

Later in the afternoon, former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina also dropped out of the race. I will miss her in the campaign. She was excellent in the debates but those strong performances just didn’t translate into votes.

She would be a great surrogate, stumping for the eventual nominee, and I hope she will be on the short list as a potential running mate. If we are fortunate enough to get the White House back, and she is not the vice president, then I hope to see Fiorina serving in the cabinet.

Rush, Reagan & Cruz

Ted Cruz won high praise [Wednesday] from Rush Limbaugh. Here’s what Rush said:

“If conservatism is the dominating factor in how you vote, there is no other choice for you in this campaign than Ted Cruz… This is the closest in our lifetimes we have ever been to Ronald Reagan. In terms of doctrinaire, understandable, articulated, implementable conservatism, there’s nobody closer [than Cruz to Reagan].”

Of course, I think Rush is right, and that is why I ultimately chose to endorse Senator Cruz. I also think one can certainly make the case, as Rush has, that on most issues Marco Rubio is a solid conservative, especially when it comes to values issues, foreign policy and the size of government.

On Hugh Hewitt’s show [Wednesday], Senator Cruz said the race is essentially a two-man contest now: “What Iowa and New Hampshire demonstrate is that the only person in this field who can beat Donald Trump is me.”

I think Senator Cruz is right too. He comes from the Tea Party wing of the GOP. He understands Middle America’s frustration with Washington and, unlike Trump, he has a clear record that conservative voters can trust. Just as important, polling indicates that Cruz would be the stronger candidate to take on and defeat Hillary Clinton.

Here’s some breaking news from my friend Bill Kristol: A trusted source tells him that new polling shows the race between Trump and Cruz in South Carolina is much closer than expected.

Officer Down

Two police officers were gunned down [Wednesday], but big media didn’t seem to notice.

A sheriff’s deputy was called to a local restaurant where David Brian Evans had been lingering for some time. Reports indicate that Evans may have suffered from mental illness. The deputy went in, sat down next to Evans and asked, “How is your day?” At that point, Evans pulled out a gun and shot the deputy in the head at point blank range.

Evans then fled into an apartment complex where he shot and killed a second deputy. The two murdered deputies had 46 years of service between them.

Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said at a press conference that he believes the first deputy was killed simply because he was in uniform.

There has been very little press coverage of the deaths of these two deputies. The left-wing media seems intent on ignoring the story. But what if the officer had his weapon ready or had taken enough precautions that he was able to shoot Evans, thereby saving his own life?

I suspect we would have been subjected to another presidential lecture, to more anti-police protests and riots, to more demands to handcuff our cops. They are already dealing with the failures of liberalism in the inner cities, and now we’re requiring them to be mental health professionals too.

The average American may not know about these shootings, courtesy of the media’s suppression, but I guarantee that every police officer in America knows. Those officers are expected to go back to their communities and forget that a fellow officer who played by the left’s rules is dead. He sat down and tried to reason with Evans, just like the police critics demand from the safety of their offices.

Sadly, the Obama administration has regularly stoked anti-police sentiment in the country and the result is more shooting of the men and women who keep us safe.

By the way, the outrage over Beyonce’s anti-police, pro-Black Panthers performance at the Super Bowl is growing. A protest outside of the NFL’s headquarters is planned for February 16th. I hope thousands turn out!

Supremes Stop Obama Overreach

Lost in all the coverage of the New Hampshire primary was a highly unusual action by the Supreme Court. Tuesday, five justices unexpectedly ordered a temporary halt to the centerpiece of President Obama’s global warming regulations.

As you may know the Obama administration has been waging war against America’s coal companies. Unable to get his radical cap and trade agenda through Congress, Obama instructed the EPA to regulate the coal industry out of business. The new regulations would have effectively shut down America’s most abundant source of energy — coal-fired electricity plants.

The justices blocked implementation of the Obama EPA regulations while a lawsuit from 29 states moves through the courts. It is a hopeful sign that the high court, which has been very disappointing at times, recognizes that Obama, at least in this case, has overreached.