Chad’s Morning Brief: Gingrich May Challenge Florida Delegates & More

Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of February 2nd, 2012. Give us your feedback below and tune in to Lubbock’s First News with Chad Hasty for these and many more topics from 6-9 am.

1.Gingrich May Challenge Delegate Count (link)

It's official, Newt Gingrich is looking petty. FOX News was reporting that last night the Gingrich camp is getting ready to challenge the results of the Florida primary. They know that Romney won, but team Newt wants to enforce the RNC's own rules that say no contest can be winner-take-all until after April 1st.

It was assumed that Mitt Romney, who won Tuesday's contest, would gain all 50 of the state's delegates. But the Gingrich campaign plans to challenge Florida's allocation and demand the delegates be divvied up proportionally. (See Gingrich memo.)

Fox News has learned exclusively that on Thursday, a Florida Gingrich campaign official will begin the process of trying to have the RNC rules enforced so that the Sunshine State delegates are distributed based on the percentage of the vote each candidate got.

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus warned Florida Republican Party Chairman Lenny Curry of the violation in a December letter quoting the rule, "...'winner-take-all' states cannot hold a primary or caucus before April 1, 2012."

Of course Gingrich and his team weren't saying anything like this prior to Tuesday night's clobbering at the hands of Mitt Romney. Seems as though when Gingrich was leading in Florida, he was happy to take all the delegates, but since he lost he isn't too happy.

2. Gambling in Texas

I normally agree with Michael Quinn Sullivan and the folks at Empower Texans, but yesterday Sullivan posted a blog about the horrors of allowing expanded gambling in Texas. I agree with Sullivan on the point that casino gambling won't be the magic pill. Of course it won't be. We should absolutely slash spending first. However, I still see no reason not to expand gambling and welcome casinos into our state. Sullivan and others point to high unemployment in neighboring states like New Mexico and Louisiana. Those are fine points, but are you really only blaming casinos for that? Just because we have a casino in Texas doesn't mean we are going to flip and become a liberal state. I think the State of Texas is in a much better spot financially than these other states Sullivan brings up. Adding casinos would just keep Texas money in Texas. What's the problem with that?

3.  Texas Tech Weekend Bus Service (link)

It's no secret that college students like to party. If they get a little too carried away, the bus is here to help them home.

Bus service will now accompany Texas Tech’sSafeRide program.

The S-Bus will now run from 9 p.m. until 3 a.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, and is free to any student at Texas Tech with a valid student ID.

The bus will make stops at Broadway and the Intersection of 18^th Street and Buddy Holly Avenue in the Depot District, as well as all of the apartment complexes within the Overton Area, including University Fountains, University Pointe, University Trails, The Centre, The Suites, and the Cottages. The expected route time is 24 minutes. The bus will run anytime school is in session, including the summer months.

This sounds great and all, but I'd hate to be the person who cleans these buses. I remember back to my days at Tech and there were days that the bus would make me sick to my stomach just riding around. I can't imagine how it will be with a bunch of drunk students. No thank you.

4. Dumb story of the morning (link)

Do we really have to let Facebook creep into every part of our lives?

Facebook voters preferred “Madelyn” over “McKenna,” so that’s what a Crystal Lake couple named their 7-pound, 14-ounce daughter when she was born early Tuesday.

Not that it was a tough call for Madelyn’s dad, Dave Meske.

“That’s my favorite — I’m very happy about it,” Meske said Wednesday.

In the fall, he and wife Lindsey launched a Facebook poll to help break the deadlock they’d hit over what to name their forthcoming second daughter. Dave, 27, liked Madelyn; while Lindsey, 24, favored McKenna.

To end the impasse, the couple turned to Facebook, adding two other names they liked (Emily and Addilyne), then letting anyone who cared to vote pick their favorite name — and publicly promising to abide by the results.

The 2-1/2-month survey ended early Tuesday, when Lindsey Meske was induced to deliver the baby. In all, more than 4,200 people from around the world cast votes for the baby’s name.

I wonder if the baby already has a Facebook account?

Other Top Stories:

Some People Don't Understand Private Property Rights

American Airlines Will Cut 13,000 Jobs. Ouch.

Texas Planned Parenthood Clinics Bracing for Komen Cuts

Internet Addiction Grows

Toilet Texting

Diet Soda Bad For You

These and many more topics coming up on today’s edition of Lubbock’s First News with Chad Hasty. Tune in mornings 6-9am on News/Talk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App.