Everyday we ask influential politicos to send us their top three bullet points that are driving the day's conversation in and outside Washington:

Senior Editor of MarioWire.com Mario Solis-Marich:

– And the winner is: The deep red states have their candidate in Rick Santorum! Red state Rick!

– The biggest loser: A scandal surrounding Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin is sure to cause a major distraction for the embattled governor as he faces a recall.

– It’s a tie: ICE admits it deported another U.S. citizen which emphasizes a Latino voter dilemma – is it worse to vote for somebody who says they will deport everyone or to vote for someone who actually does?

RedState.Com Editor Erick-Woods Erickson:

– Newt Gingrich has released a new ad hitting Mitt Romney. It sets the perfect tone for Gingrich. It does not savage Mitt Romney, but hits him hard on the weakness he has with the base — timidity.

– Rick Perry isn't out, but can he make it? I would suggest he is going to have to clean house and do a very public reboot to show South Carolina he gets it and is serious. Even then he'll have to depend a bit on Santorum not being able to withstand media scrutiny and Gingrich/Romney going Gephardt/Dean.

– Speaking of Santorum, he was on John King USA last night and defended earmarks with a "Jim DeMint did it too" strategy. The campaign seems to think that South Carolina disagrees with DeMint, largely because of the South Carolina Ports situation. DeMint may be willing to test the theory with a public rebuke, at which point I'm guessing Santorum will realize he is wrong.

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