Romney 2016 was fun while it lasted

1. At least one adult human isn't running for the GOP nomination Mitt Romney has announced he won't run for president again. [Vox / Andrew Prokop] His statement: "I believe that one of our next generation of Republican leaders, one who may not be as well known as I am today … may well emerge as being better able to defeat the Democrat nominee." [Mitt Romney via Hugh Hewitt] The case he should have run: "Mitt has a political team, a vast personal fortune, national name recognition, and a core donor base that's loyal to him." [Vox / Matt Yglesias] Romney led in national polls before the announcement, but that's mostly due to name recognition. Of course, Rudy Giuliani led at this point in 2008. [RealClearPolitics] Romney's exit is being received as a win for Jeb Bush, who now leads national polls (for what little that's worth at this juncture). [RealClearPolitics] But Romney bowing out could also help a third contender, like Scott Walker or Chris Christie, mount a more potent challenge to Bush than they could have with Romney in the race. [Vox / Andrew Prokop] In fact, Romney is having dinner with Christie tonight, suggesting he might back the New Jersey governor. [NYT / Jonathan Martin and Michael Barbaro] 2. Have yourself a meh little Christmas The economy grew up at a rate of 2.6 percent in October through December 2014. [Vox / Danielle Kurtzleben] That's both lower than economists anticipated, and MUCH lower than the 4.6 and 5 percent rates hit in 2014 quarters two and three. [Vox / Matt Yglesias] This comes in spite of the big drop in oil prices, which one would expect to boost the economy. [Vox / Brad Plumer] One reason not to be too discouraged: "private final domestic purchases -- a better measuring of underlying growth trends -- grew much more strongly than GDP." [Justin Wolfers] Another reason — this is just an initial estimate. The past two were revised upward substantially. Inflation was a pathetic 1.1 percent. [Jared Bernstein] "By my reckoning, there is now about a 50-50 chance the US sees deflation in 2015." [Evan Soltas] 3. XLIX So the Super Bowl is this Sunday at 6:30PM Eastern on NBC, in case you were somehow not aware. The Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots are pretty evenly matched, but betting markets have swung to the Pats in recent days. [SB Nation / David Fucillo] FiveThirtyEight's team ratings haven't been updated since the Conference Championships, but the Seahawks were well ahead of the Pats as of two weeks ago. [FiveThirtyEight / Nate Silver] One thing the Seahawks have in common with the Patriots' Super Bowl-winning team from 2003-04: they're so aggressive on defense the NFL had to change the rules to try and hold them back. [Slate / Josh Keefe] The NFL is still investigating the Patriots for their suspiciously underinflated balls at the AFC Championship Game, but a new analysis suggests weather alone could have caused that, not cheating. [Vox / Joseph Stromberg] Katy Perry's doing the halftime show, and we can reasonably predict the best part will be Missy Elliott's guest appearance to do "Work It." [Stereogum / James Rettig] Here are the 2015 Super Bowl ads. All of them. [Vox / Todd VanDerWerff] Super Bowl spots are turning into a bad deal for advertisers: they're increasing in cost faster than the game is increasing its viewership, a pattern that really isn't sustainable. [Vox / Matt Yglesias] Mark Leibovich profiles Pats QB Tom Brady: "it would be hard to name an athlete of comparable fame and accomplishment for whom the public has less of a feel." [NYT Mag / Mark Leibovich] As a second-gen Seahawks fan, I found this Mina Kimes essay about bonding with her father over Seattle's incredible last season pretty moving. [Slate / Mina Kimes] 4. Misc. Introducing Eterni.me, a web service that collects all of your activity online in hopes of building an AI version of you that can live forever. [BBC / Simon Parkin] Americans' workforce participation rate is falling — but intriguingly, the decline is bigger for high-income people. [Quartz / Tim Fernholz] One of the biggest hits out of Sundance this year was filmed entirely on three iPhones. [The Verge / Casey Newton] A think tank has come up with a plan to slash child poverty by 60 percent. Here's why you should pay attention. [Washington Post / Jared Bernstein] The upper middle class might just be the most noxious faction in the whole class war. [Slate / Reihan Salam] 5. Verbatim "[A]n award of compensation cannot be made if the victim’s actions contributed to the criminal incident. The incident appears to be gang related, and the victim exercised poor judgment by choosing to be a gang member.” [Oklahoma Victims Compensation Fund via This Land / Brian Ted Jones] "Do you know what your French historian Alexis de Tocqueville wrote about our country? It’s all about freedom of choice. You say a child dies every thirty seconds from malaria. If I want to save him, fine, I can pay. But if not, I’m not going to." [Anonymous former Bush administration official via London Review of Books / Paul Farmer] "You’re a girl at a porn convention. You belong to everyone." [TPM / Gaby Dunn] "There are eight stars on the NFL's logo. They stand for the long-term mental and physical trauma of its own people, the eagerness to lie about that trauma, the stubborn refusal to offer the assistance they deserve, the unmistakable contempt of women, the proud defense of a racial slur, the weird financial paradise of a for-profit disguised as a non-profit, the $168.57 a schoolteacher spends on his own supplies for his second-grade class because Roger needs tax money to pour some more concrete by the waterfront, and probably the Dallas Cowboys." [SB Nation / Jon Bois] Read the latest Vox Sentences here!

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