"People are asking who I think will win the Republican nomination. I don't know who's going to win and I don't root for anyone. I cannot possibly cover the election in a fair way if I'm rooting for somebody. It's my job to ask the toughest questions I can, and to tell you the truth about each person who wants power over you. And I think I do that using facts and clarity. Today there is new polling and Donald Trump has a big lead in the Republican sweepstakes. Ted Cruz is second, Marco Rubio third. At this point those three men seem to have the only chance for the nomination. On the other side, Hillary Clinton will defeat Bernie Sanders unless she is indicted in the email deal. Sanders is competing well in Iowa and New Hampshire, but he is simply too far left even for many Democrats. The American media is covering the race the way it always does: chaotically. On talk radio you have rooting and there's nothing wrong with that. TV, as always, leans left except for Fox News, which gives conservatives a voice. However, at FNC I don't see any pattern of support for anybody - it's all over the place. On the Internet there is deception and you should understand how bad this situation is. In Politico.com, a recent article by Jack Shafer is a total distortion. He wrote: 'If Trump were a cable news show he'd be a less articulate version of The O'Reilly Factor, which channels many of the same century-old media currents Trump exploits.' The story was designed to mislead readers into thinking I am supporting Trump, a blatant deception. This is the problem with American journalism. There are no standards, each outlet does pretty much what it wants to do with little accountability. That makes it harder for you the voter to decide who really is looking out for you."

The Factor welcomed Ted Cruz, who defended his use of the term "New York values" to diminish his rival Donald Trump. "The term 'New York values' didn't come from me," Cruz said, "it came from Donald when he explained that he is pro-choice and supports partial birth abortion. His explanation was that he had lived his whole life in New York and those are their values. Right now Trump supports taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood and he supports using eminent domain to condemn private property to give it to giant corporations. Those are New York values!" Cruz also theorized that his doctrinaire conservatism will enable him to win the White House. "Republicans keep nominating moderate centrists and then getting clobbered. I believe this will be an election like 1980 and we will win by painting in bold colors, not pale pastels. We will bring back millions of conservatives and evangelicals and Reagan Democrats."

A young questioner at a Monday night town hall in Iowa reminded Hillary Clinton that she is widely viewed as dishonest. Republican Andrea Tantaros and Democrat Mary Anne Marsh analyzed the exchange. "She didn't help herself," Tantaros said, "because she changed her response on the email issue by saying she did nothing wrong. She can't connect with young people and she made it worse." Marsh, though, sang Hillary's praises from a different hymnal. "She handled it really well. She knows she doesn't have a lot of the youth vote now, which is with Bernie Sanders, but she's playing for November. She knows the more she is attacked, the more her poll numbers go up." The Factor reminded Marsh, "Her poll numbers on character and trust are abysmal, I've never seen a candidate with such poor numbers."

Tens of thousands of minors have been placed in homes across the USA after crossing from Mexico. An AP investigation found that dozens of those children have been victims of neglect or sexual abuse. The Factor spoke about the outrage with Kennedy and Katie Pavlich. "Children are being trafficked," Pavlich lamented, "and forced to work in order to have a place to sleep. The government was supposed to have stringent rules about where they were being placed, but those rules were put aside." Kennedy contended that the problem may be even worse than the report indicates. "There are hundreds of other kids who just went missing, and these abused kids are only the ones we know about. This is an awful situation and it is getting worse."

The Factor was joined by comedian and Saturday Night Live alumnus David Spade, who recently criticized President Obama for spending too much time on reality shows. "I'm not a super-political guy," Spade said, "and that was 'David Spade, political comedian' for one day only. I got so much hate over that and I was just being funny." Spade also recalled his upbringing in a conservative part of Arizona. "I asked for a nerf gun when I was ten but I got a shotgun. My mom said you're a Democrat when you're younger and a Republican when you get older. I'm still somewhere in the middle."

A Texas grand jury has indicted the anti-abortion group that surreptitiously taped conversations showing Planned Parenthood officials selling fetal body parts. The Factor turned to legal analysts Lis Wiehl and Kimberly Guilfoyle for clarification. "They have been charged with using fake IDs," Wiehl said, "in order to get into Planned Parenthood. So the grand jury really turned everything on its head." Guilfoyle predicted that the anti-abortion folks will never be convicted. "They wanted to go in and use investigative journalism to expose what Planned Parenthood was doing. Planned Parenthood subsequently changed their policies and procedures based on the fine work that this group did to expose them." The Factor described the indictment as "perhaps the most bogus charge I have seen in the 20 years of doing this program."

Greg Gutfeld and Bernard McGuirk spent Monday night watching the Democratic town hall. The boys joined The Factor and handed in their notes. "The only group more milquetoast than the Oscars are these three," Gutfeld said. "When you compare them to the Republicans, it's like comparing heavy metal to John Tesh. It's quite a statement when the most entertaining Democratic is an elderly socialist who is yelling at you as if he's ordering a sandwich at a deli." McGuirk was equally uncharitable. "It was a coma-inducing rally for three lackluster losers. If the Republican debates are ultimate fighting, the Democratic debates are a knitting competition. The communist coward Bernie Sanders doesn't even have the stones to go after Hillary where it hurts - on the emails and her treatment of the victims of Bill's sex attacks."

Nick Lorenzo, Slate Hill, NY: "Krauthammer is no different than George Will. He's an elitist who thinks he knows better than everyone else. Keep him off the air."

Steve Marshall, Gillette, WY: "Mr. O'Reilly, you compromised your values by spinning Trump's comments on illegal immigration. Charles Krauthammer held you accountable."

Albert Bianchini, Pittsburgh, PA: "Bill, you always preach against personal attacks, but that's all Krauthammer does when talking about Trump."

Jeff Danelek, Lakewood, CO: "Saturday Night Live does influence politics. Many Americans actually believe Sarah Palin said she could see Russia from her house when it was Tina Fey who said it."

Eating dinner a bit on the early side is good for your digestive system and, not to be overlooked, enables you to get those 'early bird' specials.