ATLANTIC, Iowa -- Newt Gingrich wrapped up his 2011 campaign year with a bang…or at least with a rather flashy event.

Amongst flats of Coca-Cola products, the Newt Gingrich bus pulled inside a bottling company as music blared through speakers — an entrance with much more bells and whistles than normal for the former House speaker, and perhaps signifying a new phase of the campaign as the Iowa Caucuses linger just three short days away.

“This the opening three minutes of the Super Bowl, we're learning a lot about what our opponents will do. They are nastier and more dishonest than I expected, so we'll have to make some adjustments,” Gingrich told reporters during a press conference following the town-hall at Coca-Cola Atlantic Bottling Company. “It's just exactly like the Super Bowl, you see the opening series, you think about it, think about what you need to do next, it's going to be a very long game,” he noted saying this changes will come after the New Year.

This upbeat event, with patriotic songs “Only in America” and “Independence Day” playing as Gingrich took to and left the stage, comes during what has been a trying time for the campaign. The Speaker has been under constant attack on television and in mailboxes for weeks, his poll numbers have been slipping significantly in the Hawkeye State [new NBC News/Marist poll shows him in 5th place], and it seems his health has been dragging down his enthusiasm.

“I don’t know if I picked up a slight flu or something but I had about 24 hours of being less than my normal ebullient self,” Gingrich finally admitted to reporters who have been noticing a change in the candidate’s demeanor this week. He insisted that he has been “campaigning all this life” and is not tired just “piqued last night.”

This is the Speaker’s 19th event on his “Jobs and Growth Bus Tour “ across the first-in-the-nation caucus state. He hopes this last push in Iowa will help him win over caucus-goers before they head to caucus.

“I think we will have a pretty competitive Tuesday night,” Gingrich said.

One elderly gentleman, who will speak at his caucus on Gingrich's behalf, attended today’s town-hall with roughly 150 other Iowans and may have brought Gingrich the good luck he needs to win the nomination.

He told the Speaker the last two candidate's hands he shook hands with became president and now wants to shake Gingrich's hand.

"Now that's a good omen," Gingrich said after the two men shook hands.

Gingrich picks back up on his Iowa bus tour first thing New Years Day and the campaign said depending on the venue, this type of campaign style will be implemented.

Rick Perry hopes his money, organization, and a last-minute push can help him to a surprise showing in Iowa.

A source in the campaign says it has signed up 1,500 precinct leaders in preparation for Tuesday's caucuses and that there are more than 450 Texas-based "strike force" volunteers who are in town for the effort as well. (CNN first reported the numbers of Perry’s precinct leaders and ground game.)

There are 1,774 GOP caucus precincts. The aggressive ground game is one reason that aides on the ground here are optimistic that they may outperform polls because advocates at the vast majority of caucus locations will be working to make the last-minute sale on behalf of the governor.

In the latest NBC-Marist poll, Perry was in fourth place at 14%, but just a point behind the surging Rick Santorum, who does not have as strong an organization - which has struggled in the last couple days. Finishing third could be a coup for Perry and provide momentum heading into South Carolina, another conservative -- and also Southern -- state.

The Perry campaign has set up a makeshift headquarters for those out-of-state volunteers at a West Des Moines hotel.

COULMBIA, S.C. -- For Rick Perry, the sprint towards South Carolina’s January 21st primary begins not after New Hampshire, but just hours after the winner of the Iowa caucus is announced.

The Texas governor's tour of South Carolina begins on Jan. 4 in Aiken County at 3:30 p.m. with a walk through downtown Aiken followed by a “Rally in the Alley” there. He then travels west to North Augusta (about 15 minutes away from Augusta, Georgia) to meet with voters at Al’s Family Restaurant.

While Perry’s efforts in South Carolina so far have not paid off much (he had 6 percent in a December NBC News-Marist poll of voters here) his campaign is betting that with its evangelical voters and large military community, South Carolina is more fertile ground for a Perry revival than New Hampshire.

Perry’s campaign is not the only one looking to generate early South Carolina buzz. Newt Gingrich, who said earlier this week that South Carolina is a must-win for him (his spokesman later tried to walk that comment back), will start his South Carolina tour in the Upstate on the morning of January 11th, a day after the New Hampshire contest.

Gingrich’s campaign has already announced that he will be in Rock Hill, near Charlotte, N.C, for a town hall at 9 a.m. Later that day, he will be in Spartanburg, another voter-rich Upstate region, for a luncheon with the county Republican Party and a town hall meeting at the Beacon restaurant, a popular stop for presidential hopefuls.

Later that night, Gingrich and his wife Callista will attend a private house party in Greenville, which guests will pay between $500 and $5,000 to attend.

The day before the January 21st vote, Gingrich will participate in a get-out-the-vote rally at Coker College in Hartsville, located in the northeastern Pee Dee region of the state.

And while Jon Huntsman is staking a big claim in New Hampshire, his three daughters will be in Columbia on January 5^th as guests on Pub Politics, an Internet talk show hosted by Republican consultant Wesley Donehue, a Bachmann adviser, and Democratic strategist Phil Bailey. 

HAMPTON, N.H. -- Mitt Romney, campaigning in Hew Hampshire on Saturday morning, focused his attacks on President Obama before returning his focus this afternoon to his Republican foes in Iowa.

The Hawkeye State's caucuses are just three short days away, but the former governor of Massachusetts, in a brief overnight trip, wanted to let New Hampshire voters know that he hadn't forgotten about them, either. He assailed Obama before a crowd of 450 at one last breakfast stop this morning before returning to Iowa this afternoon.

Showcasing his front-runner status, Romney bypassed his GOP rivals and went straight for the incumbent president. He argued Obama would be remembered as "a footnote in history" to a roaring applause at the cozy Old Salt restaurant on New Hampshire's coast.

"I don't blame him for the recession," Romney said. "But I blame him for keeping it going for so long.”

Calling Obama a failure, Romney pointed out his support to increase the national debt, calling the move "simply wrong and inexcusable."

"People will look at us at the worst generation," Romney warned.

Interestingly, Romney did concede that the economy may see an uptick during the course of his campaign.

"I presume the economy will get better," he explained, before throwing more jabs at Obama. "I just think he is overwhelmed and in over his head."

Politicking aside, the lion's share of Romney's visit was focused on showing off his softer side. Flanked by his son Craig and former New Hampshire governor and surrogate John Sununu, Romney shared a swath of patriotic stories and childhood memories before slowly wading through the sprawling restaurant and even the restaurant's kitchen like a professional, hugging supporters close, calling out to old friends and kissing babies. One supporter tapped his shoulder and urged him to choose Rep. Michele Bachmann as his running mate, to which Romney responded, "She's a great lady."

Closing out his pitch on this raining morning, Romney asked supporters to "find a friend" and vote for him in groups on January 10. As his black Suburban pulled away from the restaurant, a handful of protesters heckled him among supporters and staff.

"See you in a few days. Happy New Year!" he waved.

Special weekend edition of First Thoughts… The moving parts we’re watching: Des Moines Register poll unveiled at 8:00 pm ET, and candidates campaign in IA and NH… Observations from the ground in Iowa… And observations from watching Santorum’s surge… Divided conservative endorsements… The Perry blame game begins… Obama White House wants to keep its distance from Congress… Santorum to appear on “Meet” tomorrow… And Happy New Year!

DES MOINES, IA -- Good morning and welcome to our weekend edition of First Thoughts. With three days until the Iowa caucuses, here are all the moving parts we’re watching today: The Des Moines Register, which nailed the eventual Dem outcome in ’08, is set to release its final poll before the caucuses at 8:00 pm ET. (Will it show the same results as the last two Iowa polls, or something different?) On the campaign trail, all the GOP presidential candidates are spending their entire day in Iowa with three exceptions -- Ron Paul is in Texas for the holiday weekend, Mitt Romney begins his day in New Hampshire before heading back to Iowa, and Jon Huntsman spends his whole day in the Granite State.

*** Observations from the ground: After talking to Iowa Republicans at Romney and Rick Perry events in the Hawkeye State, you realize that there are still A LOT of undecided voters. They like many of the candidates, and wish they could take the good aspects of each and make into the perfect nominee -- Romney’s business experience, Perry’s straight-talking persona, Santorum’s strong conservatism, Bachmann’s fighting spirit, and Gingrich’s intellect and grasp of history. Most of those who spoke with First Read have it down to two or three. Those thinking about voting for Romney are concerned about a Paul win or the chances of beating Obama in November, but there isn’t a lot of enthusiasm for him (even though he’s getting big crowds). For those thinking about Perry or Santorum, they like their values. And for the people who were once leaning toward Gingrich, they are now pushing away. At both the Perry and Romney events, Iowans said he has too much “baggage” and has “spent too much time in Washington.” (Sounds like those attack ads resonated, no?)

*** Observations from watching Santorum’s surge: As one of us spent the day with Santorum yesterday, it was fascinating to watch. He was clearly relishing the moment with the media throng now following him and the Iowa voters turning up to see him. And just look at the coverage he is now receiving. From the Washington Post: “In politics as in life, timing is everything. And if the former senator from Pennsylvania is finally having his moment, it couldn’t have come at a better time.” The Boston Globe: “Rick Santorum, riding a late tailwind that has moved him up in the polls, is suddenly a hot commodity on the campaign trail.” And Time: “Surging in Iowa, Santorum Revels in Newfound Attention.” 

*** Divided conservative endorsements: Yesterday’s NBC-Marist poll wasn’t the only evidence of how Iowa conservatives are divided -- creating the path for a Romney victory here in the Hawkeye State. So were yesterday’s endorsements. Last night, per NBC’s Alex Moe, conservative radio host Steve Deace announced he was backing Gingrich. “It is my prayer that next year that for once we actually have something to vote for, and not just something to vote against. I am making this endorsement in the hopes that will be the case,” Deace wrote. Earlier in the day, however, Iowa radio host Simon Conway announced that he will support Perry, citing his leadership during 11 years as the governor of Texas, NBC’s Carrie Dann reports. "It's his executive experience that put him over the top for me," Conway said on his program on popular conservative talk station WHO-AM.

*** The Perry blame game begins: While Perry has moved up in the latest NBC-Marist poll of Iowa, Politico writes that the new team of Perry advisers and consultants are blaming the old team for Perry’s stumbles. “Perry’s steep plunge from frontrunner to butt of jokes was chiefly the result of his own embarrassing verbal stumbles, most notably his insta-classic ‘oops’ moment when he couldn’t recall the names of the cabinet departments he wants to eliminate. Yet the view of the outsiders who took over Perry’s campaign is that the candidate was set up for failure by an insular group led by Dave Carney, the governor’s longtime political guru, which thought they could run a presidential campaign like a larger version of a gubernatorial race and didn’t take the basic steps needed to professionalize the operation until the candidate was already sinking.” Ouch.

*** Obama in 2012: Keeping his distance from Congress: And turning away from Iowa and to the team at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. (or in Hawaii), NBC’s Kristen Welker reports that the Obama White House is in the process of distancing itself -- and contrasting itself -- from Congress. Speaking from Honolulu, where the president is vacationing, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, “We ended 2011 with the president basically rolling out, over the course of the last two months of the year about 20 different "We Can't Wait" initiatives,” he said, referring to the small-scale initiatives aimed at jumpstarting the economy. “You have an image of a gridlocked, dysfunctional Congress, [versus] a president who's leaving no stone unturned.” Earnest also said, "In terms of the president's relationship with Congress in 2012 … the president is no longer tied to Washington, D.C."  

*** Obama next week: Welker adds that Obama is planning to address his supporters -- via video-conference -- on the night of the Iowa caucuses and will travel to the battleground state of Ohio the very next day, a clear indication that he will not be sitting on the sidelines during the Republican primary contests.

*** Santorum on “Meet the Press”: A reminder that Rick Santorum will sit down with NBC’s David Gregory tomorrow on “Meet the Press.” 

*** Happy New Year! Whether you’re in Iowa, in New Hampshire, or at home with family and friends, have a happy and safe New Year!

Countdown to Iowa caucuses: 3 days
Countdown to New Hampshire primary: 10 days
Countdown to South Carolina primary: 21 days
Countdown to Florida primary: 31 days
Countdown to Nevada caucuses: 35 days
Countdown to Super Tuesday: 66 days
Countdown to Election Day: 313 days

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The final Des Moines Register poll is out tonight at 8:00 pm ET/7:00 pm CT.

The New York Times takes an in-depth look at the pro-Romney Super PAC ads that have pummeled Gingrich in Iowa. “The ads, which continue to blanket Iowa days before the caucuses here, were created and paid for by people with deep knowledge of the Romney campaign’s strategic thinking, close relationships with Mr. Romney’s most generous donors, and even research on what television viewers like and dislike most about Mr. Romney himself. Yet neither Mr. Romney nor his staff has had to lift a finger or spend a dollar to make it happen. In a stark illustration of how last year’s landmark Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance has created powerful new channels for outside money to influence elections, the negative onslaught is the work of a group called Restore Our Future.”

GINGRICH: “Gingrich, whose double-digit lead in Iowa is now a double-digit deficit, choked up when asked about special moments with his mother, drawing ‘awws’ from a largely female audience at a Des Moines town hall,” the New York Daily News writes.

He floated the idea of Sarah Palin as his Secretary of Energy.

PAUL: “Following an uproar over decades-old racist newsletters published under Ron Paul's name, a newly released ad seems designed to address the perception that the GOP presidential hopeful is prejudiced,” the New York Daily News notes. “The video, released by Revolution PAC, features a black man whose sick, pregnant white wife was neglected at a Texas hospital during the early 1970s because of what he saw as prejudice — until ‘Ron Paul came to the rescue.’ Paul worked as a doctor at the facility.”

ROMNEY: “While the rest of the Republican presidential field seeks a win in one or the other of the two lead-voting states, Mitt Romney campaigned in both yesterday,” the Boston Globe writes. “While the rest of the Republican presidential field seeks a win in one or the other of the two lead-voting states, Mitt Romney campaigned in both yesterday. It not only supported his boast of being a national candidate, but it also aimed at scoring perhaps insurmountable back-to-back wins in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.”

“Following his speech, Romney did not answer when asked if he planned to release his tax returns,” the Boston Globe writes. “On Thursday, his son Matthew alluded to a New Hampshire audience that the presidential candidate might release his tax returns if President Obama released his academic grades and birth certificate. Matthew Romney later said he was repeating a joke, and apologized.”

Here’s NBC’s Peter Alexander’s Nightly News report, including Andrea Mitchell’s interview with Romney and whether he’d release his taxes:

ROMNEY: You know, if I become president, why, I’ll consider that. It’s a little premature to be talking about that at this stage.
MITCHELL: Is there some secret? People know you’re wealthy. 
ROMNEY: Yeah, I understand. [laughs]
MITCHELL: There’s nothing to hide. 
ROMNEY: No, I agree. There’s nothing to hide.

Off message: “Mitt Romney's son stole a bit of the news cycle on Friday after he joked to a group of seniors in New Hampshire that his dad would release his tax records when President Obama released his birth certificate,” the New York Daily News writes. 

The New York Daily News: “Jersey Gov. Chris Christie tells Iowa voters: Vote for Mitt Romney, or else.”

The New York Post: “Mitt man Christie threatens Iowa — 'Jersey-style'.”

SANTORUM: “Rick Santorum, riding a late tailwind that has moved him up in the polls, is suddenly a hot commodity on the campaign trail as he attempts to consolidate the crucial but fragmented constituencies of social and religious conservatives,” the Boston Globe’s Mooney and Jan write. “But there are signs that leaders of Iowa’s influential evangelical Christian community are worried that divided loyalties in that group will help a less socially conservative candidate like former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney or Representative Ron Paul of Texas win the caucuses on Tuesday. Two pastors approached Santorum and Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota recently to urge one or the other to drop out and endorse the other to consolidate evangelical Christian support, the Associated Press reported. One of the pastors has since endorsed Santorum.”

Here’s NBC’s Chuck Todd’s Nightly News report, including an interview with Santorum. Santorum on Romney: “I don’t think a liberal Massachusetts governor is going to come and be able to relate to folks as well as the guy who grew up the grandson of a coal miner.”

The New York Times says, “President Obama, heading into a grueling re-election campaign, plans to step up his attacks against an unpopular Congress, concluding that he cannot pass any major legislation in 2012 because of Republican hostility toward his agenda, according to a senior administration official. Mr. Obama’s election-year strategy is an attempt to capitalize on his recent victory on a short-term extension of the payroll tax cut and on his rising poll numbers. As the stage is set for the general election in November, he intends to hammer the theme of economic justice for ordinary Americans rather than continue battling with Congressional Republicans, said the official, Joshua R. Earnest, the deputy press secretary, previewing the White House’s strategy.”

More: “‘In terms of the president’s relationship with Congress in 2012,’ Mr. Earnest said at a briefing, ‘the president is no longer tied to Washington, D.C.’ Winning a full-year extension of the cut in payroll taxes is the last ’must-do’ piece of legislation for the White House, he said. Instead, Mr. Earnest said, Mr. Obama will step up his efforts to showcase unilateral measures he is taking to revive the economy, though he declined to give details. Mr. Obama has used his executive authority in recent weeks to provide job training for returning military veterans and help students pay back their student loans. Further underscoring the jobs theme, Mr. Obama plans to return to the road, starting with a trip to Cleveland in early January to speak about the economy.”

Win Mcnamee / Getty Images

Republican presidential candidate and Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks to Iowa voters Friday at The Fainting Goat bar and restaurant in Waverly, Iowa.

MASON CITY, IOWA -- Gov. Rick Perry on Friday appeared to endorse making English the official language of the United States, agreeing with a questioner who put forward a strongly worded defense of the idea.

"I don't know how the rest of the conservatives in the room feel," said a questioner at Perry's last event of the day. "Personally, I'm fed up with seeing the directions on every single product on every single shelf of every single store written in foreign languages. And I'd like to say English should be the official language of government in this country."

"That is a statement. That's not a question. And I can agree with that," Perry responded without elaborating further.

A spokesperson for the governor said that while Perry has in the past been open to changing the law to make English the official language, he has typically said he views other economic and social issues as more pressing matters for legislation.

Perry, accompanied by his wife, daughter and son-in-law, spoke to about 50 Republicans at a fundraiser for the Cerro Gordo County GOP in Mason City. Also in attendance was Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, the influential west Iowa conservative whose endorsement has long been sought after by Republican presidential candidates.

King told reporters before the event that he is still not sure whether or not he plans to support a candidate in the race.

"At this point, I just don't know," he said, shrugging.

Asked after his remarks if he'd asked King for his endorsement, Perry joked that the courtship was even more intense than his famously long wooing of his wife Anita.

"I've asked him for his endorsement more times than I asked my wife to get married!" he said.

"I told him I'm going to keep asking," he added.

MASON CITY, Iowa -- Rick Perry made a positive impression on undecided voters gathered here at this modest country club amid farmlands and an industrial railroad across the street.

First Read spoke with more than half a dozen of the 50 people here for dinner and a county GOP fundraiser. None of those half a dozen or so were decided -- and it could be shaping up to be a race for third place In Iowa between Perry and Rick Santorum.

“I was principally Santorum before tonight,” said Martha Pauley, of Clear Lake, here with her husband, Don. She said it was the first time she’d heard Perry and likes him. “I’m going to take a close look at him.”

Bev Lunsman, of Mason City, who was seated at the Pauleys’ dinner table, said it’s between Santorum and Perry for her also. “Both are really solid conservatives,” she said.

Don Pauley, who was wearing a Perry sticker – one given out on the way in -- said he’s undecided, but now “would consider him” [Perry] after his speech tonight. The speech was unremarkable for a Perry speech, hitting on many of the same notes he normally does.

But Lunsman, for example, said she was impressed with his tone. “He’s a straight talker,” she said. (All three said they liked Herman Cain. “Herman Cain is everything Obama’s not,” Lunsman said.)

“I like his values,” Don said.

The Pauleys said they caucused in 2008 for Michele Bachmann, despite her not running that year and Mike Huckabee, who won the state and this county, Cerro Gordo (translated, it mean colloquially "big shot" and literally "fat hill or mountain"), that year.

But this year, they’re not voting for Bachmann because they don’t see her as presidential. Bachmann likes to compare herself to Margaret Thatcher, but Don and Martha disagreed, saying she hadn’t won statewide and didn’t have the experience.

Don was blunter: “She’s not old enough. Give her 10 years.”

(Bachmann is 55. Santorum is younger. He’s 53.)

Another couple, Burt and Barbara Tekippe, both of Mason City, said coming in, they were undecided between Gingrich, Romney, and Perry – though they were leaning toward crossing Gingrich off their list. After tonight, though, Gingrich was eliminated in their minds. And Barbara was sold: “I’ve made up my mind,” she said affirmatively, saying the final decision for her was about abortion and a moment that highlighted that tonight.

A woman stood up and said she had an abortion when she was 18 before she “found the Lord.” She said she regretted it after having a child years later. She endorsed Perry, who gave her a hug after she spoke.

“That was it for me,” Barbara said.

For his part, Burt was still torn between Romney and Perry. He said he likes Romney’s business experience, but worries he’s not conservative enough. But he said he thought Perry had spent too much time in government.

“I like what he did in Texas,” Barbara interjected, directing her comment to her husband, who smiled.

Each Iowan said they would decide in the next couple of days – and maybe even on caucus night.

With a notepad full of notes she’d taken from various candidates she’d heard, Jodee Jones, of Mason City, said, she’ll listen to those that speak for the candidates on caucus night and is open to being convinced. 

“Someone might say something that makes you think, ‘Well, I didn’t think of that,’” she said.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post had the incorrect translation of "Cerro Gordo.")

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Stumping for Mitt Romney in Eastern Iowa today, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie described his own uphill election battle in 2009, and how Romney's support -- when Christie faced long odds -- is one of the reasons he now supports the former Massachusetts governor.

"He came down, he worked for me. He campaigned for me. And more than anything else, he was a resource and a friend at a time when nobody in this country knew who I was -- and half the people in New Jersey didn't know who I was yet," Christie said.

"And those are the kind of friends that you remember, because they're the people who aren't there for the fame or for the glory. They're there because he believed in me and what I was doing and what I was talking about."

Christie, whose campaign also received $6,800 in donations from Romney's Free and Strong America PAC, said this afternoon he was "thrilled" to return the favor for the man he now vociferously backs.

"He was willing to travel to New Jersey a number of times and put his name next to mine, at a time when his name, you know, was, as it is today, the most important thing he has. It's his reputation, and he put that on the line for me," Christie said. "So I'm thrilled to be here today to put my reputation on the line for him, with all of you."

Christie isn't the only recipient of Romney's financial help who's now backing the former Massachusetts governor. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who endorsed Romney earlier this month, received $62,00 from various Romney-affiliated PACs and several campaign appearances by Romney. (However, the most impactful endorsement Haley received during her primary campaign was from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.)

LE MARS, Iowa -- Texas Rep. Ron Paul defended his foreign policy views on Friday amid signs that those views, and how they jibe with the Republican base, could be a vulnerability in his bid for the GOP's presidential nomination.

Paul held steadfastly to his anti-war message before a crowd of 200 people, despite being attacked by other presidential hopefuls, who have assailed Paul's views as dangerous to national security.

Addressing this criticism Paul asked the crowd, "Guess where I get the strongest support? Active duty people."

"They don't want these kind of wars. They're not anxious to get involved in wars that are not in our national defense," the libertarian-minded congressman continued.

Paul said in response to a question about Republicans who viewed his foreign policy as radical that it was the same belief system he'd held for three decades.

Paul went on to explain that he felt the same way when he was drafted in 1962 during the Vietnam War, saying the nation wasn't threatened by the Vietnamese.

Paul said he felt as though his opponents had seized because he doesn't "have any flip-flops" and they had to do something. He said that it was unfair to characterize him as an isolationist, and defended it from assertions that he was weak, asserting, it's "not weak to talk," before dropping bombs.

For the second day, while warning about the encroachment of civil liberties, Paul spoke about a bill in Congress that would regulate the Internet. He said the Internet is a good "unlicensed" way for people to talk to each other and told the crowd the issue of civil liberties is important because "it eventually attacks all our liberties," and that means "religious liberties can be attacked."

Paul said his "message won't be on evening news," but a small group of people can change the world -- even quoting Samuel Adams -- saying there are "so many brushfires" burning across the country and that they are being spread in "a viral manner through the internet."

EXETER, NH -- As Jon Huntsman campaigns in New Hampshire for votes one handshake at a time, the pro-Huntsman Super PAC Our Destiny has purchased $218,000 of air time in the Granite State labeling Mitt Romney a "chameleon."

It is the first TV ad of the cycle to single out and criticize Romney, the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination.

The ad, which will appear in both New Hampshire and the greater Boston area, attempts to paint a narrative that Huntsman and Romney are the "two serious candidates" left in the race.

"Two serious candidates remain. One willing to say anything; be anything. One who can actually do the job," the narrator says in the ad. "Stop the chameleon, vote Jon Huntsman."

The new spot coincidentally aligns with Huntsman's new -- and more aggressive -- verbal jabs at both Romney and Ron Paul in the past two weeks.

Last night in Wolfeboro -- the New Hampshire town where Romney owns a vacation home -- Huntsman called Romney "establishment." Two weeks ago, he also named the former Massachusetts governor a "serial flip-flopper."
 
"You know the establishment wants to tell you that we've already got somebody chosen in Gov. Romney. I say nonsense," Huntsman bellowed to an audience of more than 200 last night in what is considered Romney country. "The last thing this country needs is a status quo president at a time when change is so desperately required."

In the past, Huntsman has told NBC News he is grateful for any outside support. Operating on a shoe-string budget with little fundraising, Huntsman consolidated his campaign from a multi-state strategy to just New Hampshire this fall.

Earlier today, NBC's Andrea Mitchell interviewed GOP front-runner Mitt Romney from Iowa on a host of different topics. Below are some of the exchanges and answers:

On his prospects in Iowa:

Well, I want to do well here. I don't think you can predict who's going to do well in Iowa; it’s a state where you don’t know who's going to come to the caucus or how they're going to make up their minds. But you do hope to get to some of the delegates from Iowa. I need some delegates from New Hampshire and then we go on to South Carolina and Florida. It’s going to probably be a very long road.

On the pro-Romney Super PAC TV ad attacks on Newt Gingrich:

If you can't stand the heat in this little kitchen wait until you get Obama's Hell's Kitchen! It’s going to be a battle of ideas. But, of course, recognize that campaigns are going to point out distinctions between the candidates.

On Romney's charge that President Obama has "apologized" for America:

Mitchell: You say that you wouldn't apologize for America, fact check has never found any incidents where Obama has apologized for America...

Romney: Well when he went to the Arab world in his first weeks in office, and said that American had dictated to other nations, that America had been divisive, these kinds of words are certainly apologetic in tone and nature.

It was deemed the apology tour by many. The London Times reported that this president had been more critical of his own country on foreign soil than nay American president in history. And so many of us -- appropriately I believe -- saw this as a apology by the president for the United States of America of which I disagree.

On whether he'll release his tax returns, especially if he becomes president:

Romney: That's not something that I’m thinking about today but never say never.

Mitchell: But if you were elected would you release? Every president does.

Romney: You know ,if I become president, then I'll think about that. [Laughs.] It’s a little premature for me to be talking about that.

WATERLOO, Iowa -- This tune might sound familiar to John McCain.

Gov. Rick Perry continued to hammer rival Rick Santorum over his past support for earmarks Friday, taking a page from the 2008 GOP nominee's playbook by ridiculing individual pork barrel projects of dubious-sounding value.

"Just yesterday, once again, he defended his prolific pork barrel spending," Perry told over a hundred Iowans at Doughy Joey's pizza parlor in Waterloo. "So, Sen. Santorum, just to get a little more specific here, please tell me why you asked taxpayers to support the bridge to nowhere in Alaska.  Why did you ask the taxpayers of Iowa to support a teapot museum in North Carolina, an indoor rainforest in Iowa, and the Montana sheep institute?  Why were those important enough for you to vote for?"

Earmarks for seemingly trivial projects -- notably the $400 million Ketchikan bridge and the $50 million rainforest center in Coralville, IA (less than 100 miles from Perry's morning visit today) -- were frequent fodder for the anti-spending rhetoric that launched McCain to the 2008 Republican nomination.

Perry's attack continues the volley first deployed by the campaign yesterday in the candidate's appearances and in a new radio ad. In response, Santorum, who has surged above Perry in two recently released polls, defended his past earmarks but said that he would uphold the temporary moratorium placed on the practice in late 2010.

On Friday, Perry also slammed his rival for supporting debt ceiling increases during his time in Congress.

"You voted to raise the debt ceiling 8 times while he was in the United States Senate -- more than doubling the debt in this country from 4.1 trillion to 9 trillion dollars," he said of Santorum.  "And I got to ask you, how is that fiscally conservative?"

"Asking a Washington insider to stop runaway spending is like asking a bank robber to guard the vault," he added.

Perry's visit marked a return to the city where he launched his Iowa campaign in August, receiving a raucous welcome at a GOP dinner marked by a comparatively lukewarm reception for Ames Straw Poll winner and Waterloo native Michele Bachmann.

Standing virtually ignored at the back of the event as Perry was mobbed by crowds back then?

Rick Santorum.

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- In an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd this week, Newt Gingrich said he did not need to win nominating contests in Iowa or New Hampshire as long as he won South Carolina.

“You have to be in the top three or four,” said Gingrich. “I would like to come in second in New Hampshire.” But, he continued, “You need to win South Carolina. Everyone who has won South Carolina has been the nominee."

And while Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond seemed to downplay that prediction, saying “no state is a must-win,” a memo obtained by Real Clear Politics today belies that sentiment.

The memo, written by new members of his Iowa team, said Gingrich is positioned to “perform consistently well in both Iowa and New Hampshire and then win in South Carolina and Florida.”

While every eventual Republican nominee since 1980 has in fact won South Carolina's primary, Gingrich is seeking to accomplish what no other candidate in the 30-year history of modern primaries has: a South Carolina victory after losses in the first two states.

The former House speaker stands in fifth place in Iowa, according to the NBC/Marist Iowa poll released Friday. And some Palmetto State Republicans doubt that Gingrich would be able to achieve victory here after losses in Iowa and New Hampshire, even in spite of the fluidity of the Republican field.

“No one has gone 0-for-2 and won South Carolina,” said Warren Tompkins, a longtime strategist here who worked on Mitt Romney’s 2008 campaign and today announced he would be advising the campaign on a volunteer basis.

One factor is the boost in fundraising and buzz brought on by an Iowa or New Hampshire victory. If Gingrich doesn’t have that momentum coming in to South Carolina, the path to a win for Mitt Romney here becomes clearer, some experts say.

Hammond countered: "The must-win is the nomination."

PUTTING IT ALL ON PALMETTO

Past candidates who downplay early states have done so at their peril, noted former South Carolina Republican Party chairwoman Karen Floyd, citing Rudy Giuliani’s Florida-centric bid in 2008 and Romney’s decision that year to pull out of South Carolina after New Hampshire.

“When they decided not to play in some of the carve-out states, they lost the earned media,” she said.

That earned media – cable chatter, word-of-mouth, online buzz -- could compensate somewhat for Gingrich’s inability to match his opponents’ big ad buys. A lack of that energy, however, could be problematic in South Carolina, a state driven more by media than retail politics.

“It’s not like suddenly he’s going to be able to spend a ton on TV ads,” said one unaligned national consultant who worked for Romney’s 2008 campaign and is familiar with South Carolina politics.

Gingrich’s top-four threshold might not be enough to quell a perception that he’s running out of steam, said Jim Dyke, a South Carolina-based national strategist.

“I think if he does not do very well -- one or two -- in Iowa, he’s going to have a further sinking, which is going to make it more difficult in New Hampshire and it’s going to make it extremely difficult in South Carolina," Dyke said.

But Clemson political science professor and Republican consultant David Woodard said he would not count Gingrich out here, saying he’s been impressed with the former speaker’s “unconventional” presence.

“He is working something that the others aren’t doing and it’s primarily this social media kind of thing,” he said, noting the volume of emails and Facebook bulletins he receives from Gingrich supporters (Woodard added the Bachmann campaign is also reaching him through social media).

S.C. FOR THE MASSACHUSETTS MORMON?

While Romney’s campaign has been setting low Iowa expectations for months, he is now leading some polls there, including the NBC/Marist poll, which showed him at 23 percent. He is garnering larger, more enthusiastic crowds than his campaign said they had anticipated.

That atmosphere is leading some observers in South Carolina to say he could ride a stronger-than-expected showing in Iowa, plus a New Hampshire win, to a victory here.

“They have done a masterful job of managing expectations,” Dyke said, adding that an outright win in Iowa  “would really solidify the argument that he’s the candidate who can win everywhere.”

That argument could be strengthened if Romney wins socially conservative South Carolina, some of whose voters balked at his Mormonism in 2008, according to the national consultant who worked on Romney’s campaign that year.

“You’re the Mormon from Massachusetts who flip flopped on social issues who just won in South Carolina. It beats the expectations. No one would expect it," the consultant said.

Dyke drew a parallel between Romney and 2008 nominee John McCain, whose record did not jibe perfectly with voters here but who eked out a 33 percent victory over Mike Huckabee, who took most of the Evangelical vote.

“[McCain’s] record wasn’t necessarily tailor made for this state, whether it was immigration or judges, but there was a recognition that he was the best candidate for the fall,” Dyke said.

Even if Romney doesn’t win in Iowa, he still has the ability to sustain his campaign without an Iowa fundraising boost.

“These other guys have to win states in order to stay alive,” the consultant said. “Mitt Romney doesn’t have to run a marathon, he just has to make sure that his terminal disease isn’t as fast as the other guys.”

Plus, Romney can invest in South Carolina’s relatively inexpensive media markets (he made a $230,000 broadcast ad buy here on Thursday) while simultaneously buying some of Florida’s much pricier airtime, the national consultant said.

“Florida is a must-win. And South Carolina is the perfect setup for it. Last time, they got cold feet [in South Carolina] and pulled the plug and they probably saved about half a million dollars. In the overall scheme of what that campaign spent, they spent more than that on rock climbing walls for the Iowa straw poll.”

While the Romney campaign isn’t investing in as much gym equipment this time around, they do have a low-key, but persistent, presence in South Carolina. In addition to holding a tele-town hall with voters here on Monday, Romney has a robo call, which Floyd received, in which he says he intends to “earn the trust of every person in the state of South Carolina,” according to Floyd.

Plus, in addition to Tompkins, Romney also signed on Luke Byars as an unpaid adviser – adding bulk to his three-person South Carolina team.

Romney’s sotto voce presence here, gradually crescendoing, could lay the groundwork for a Romney win in South Carolina -- but the persistence of a few other candidates past Iowa could complicate that calculus.

THE LONG SHOT AND THE WILD CARD

Rick Santorum’s recent Iowa surge (he’s in third at 15 percent in the NBC poll) has some observers here drawing comparisons to Mike Huckabee. the former Arkansas governor who campaigned, like Santorum, mostly on social issues. After winning in Iowa, Huckabee narrowly lost to McCain in South Carolina with 30 percent of the vote.

“I think Santorum could be the next Huckabee, I really do,” Woodard said, adding that the difference between 2008 and now is that “neither of the two frontrunners are a McCain. Neither Gingrich nor Romney have inspired the kind of loyalty that McCain could.”

But Dyke dismissed the Huckabee parallel, saying that Huckabee’s background as a pastor gave him a stronger connection to evangelical communities than Santorum has. “It’s just apples and oranges,” he said.

One candidate who could become a thorn in the side of any candidate in South Carolina is Ron Paul, who is expected to do well in Iowa (he's in second, with 21 percent, in the NBC/Marist Iowa poll) and has some support here (he took 8 percent of likely Republican voters in the most recent NBC/Marist poll here, third behind Gingrich and Romney).

Paul today also received the endorsement of former South Carolina treasurer Thomas Ravenel, who resigned after being indicted on a federal cocaine charge. In a Facebook post, Ravenel praised Paul’s position against drug prohibition.

Paul’s organization in South Carolina is not as robust as in Iowa -- and that's not even to mention that Paul does better in a caucus setting than a primary -- but his presence here is enough to vex any candidate looking to make South Carolina, where the 2008 nominee won by just a three-point margin, a firewall.

“It will be at least a three-way race, and Ron Paul’s not getting out. So it’s not like it’s as clean and clear as I think Speaker Gingrich is articulating it,” said Tompkins. But a Ron Paul victory in Iowa could be a rallying point for South Carolina voters lukewarm towards Romney, the national consultant said.

“If Ron Paul comes in first, then all of a sudden there’s a scary bogey man we’ve all got to rally around – look, Mitt might not be our guy but we can’t let it be Ron Paul.” Regardless of the various scenarios that pundits will no doubt be gaming out between now and the South Carolina primary, one fact remains certain: a win here, preceded by losses in Iowa and New Hampshire, would be a first in South Carolina’s 30-year history of picking Republican nominees.

NBC's Alex Moe contributed

HONOLULU -- President Obama will delay informing Congress of his intention to raise the debt limit, after congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle asked for him to wait to give Congress a chance to come back into session.
 
Bicameral leaders asked for the delay, because when the president formally informs them of the increase, it starts a 15-day clock for Congress to reject it. The catch: Members are not expected to return to Washington in this time frame; the House returns from vacation on Jan. 17 and the Senate returns on Jan. 23. According to White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest, “The administration is in discussions with leaders in both houses to determine the best timing for submission of the certification and any subsequent votes in the two houses.”
  
It is expected that the House of Representatives will want to vote on a resolution of disapproval of the debt limit increase, but that this would not pass in the Senate -- and the increase would happen as expected.

On Tuesday, the Treasury Department announced that by today, the country would be within $100 billion of the debt ceiling. This requires the president to send a “letter of certification” to Congress to trigger raising the limit by $1.2 trillion. 

The process was laid out in this summer's Budget Control Act, the compromise law that allowed the debt limit to be increased after a bitter bipartisan battle.

Delaying the debt limit increase by a few days is not expected to affect the country’s credit rating, according to a senior White House official.
 
The Treasury Department believes that without using “some extraordinary measures,” the debt ceiling will be reached during the first week of Jan. 2012. However, the measures they will employ will buy Congress some time to respond to the probable debt limit increase.

NBC's Matt Loffman edited this video.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Newt Gingrich teared up during a campaign stop on Friday, speaking about his late mother in front of a group of mothers in Des Moines.

Gingrich displayed emotion in response to a question from GOP pollster Frank Luntz, who asked the former House speaker to recall special memories of his own mom.

"First of all, you'll get me all teary eyed," Gingrich warned at the outset of his response.

"My mother sang in the choir and loved singing in the choir. I don't know if I should admit this, when I was very young. She made me sing in the choir," he said, wiping away a tear. "But I identify my mother with being happy, loving life, having a sense of joy in her friends, but what she introduced me to is late in her life she ended up in a long term care facility, she had bipolar disease and depression, and she gradually acquired some physical elements."

The emotional display comes at a particularly fragile moment for Gingrich's campaign. In just about a month, he's slid from frontrunner status in Iowa's caucuses to flfth place, according to today's NBC News-Marist poll. Over that time, Gingrich has been besieged by negative ads by super PACs and rival campaigns; he's vowed to stay positive and has responded by challenging competitors to take down their ads. He hasn't had much pushback on air in part because of his campaign's low cashflow.

Those attacks may have worn on Gingrich, whose outburst Friday is almost reminiscent of 2008, when Hillary Clinton broke into tears at a campaign stop in New Hampshire when reflecting on the difficulties of the campaign trail. That moment was interpreted to have helped Clinton politically.

Pausing again, Gingrich said that if he could talk to his mom now he would say "I will do everything I can as a candidate to be worthy" of her, and her generation's sacrifice.

At another point during his answer, Gingrich quipped: "I do policy a lot better than I do personal."

WEST DES MOINES, IOWA -- Undeterred by the cold or by a steady drizzle, some 600 Iowans came out this morning to hear Mitt Romney, along with his surrogate and enforcer, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, rally the troops before Tuesday's Iowa caucus begins the 2012 primary campaign in earnest.

Romney, as he has done all week in Iowa, set the stakes for 2012 high, telling the crowd the race was not about just changing occupants of the oval office, but also about "saving the soul of America."

No one wages that fight better than Christie, said Romney; the New Jersey governor returned the favor.

"As we always do every four years, America's watching Iowa and Iowa's gonna be, gonna be the folks who are gonna help to start this process to get us going to make sure that the Republican Party nominates the very best person to take on President Obama in November," Christie told the shivering crowd. "Now when you look at that stage in these debates, I think you've gotta come to the conclusion I've come to: there is no person better qualified by his experience and his character to take on Barack Obama and to lead the United States of America than Gov. Mitt Romney"

Christie also jokingly warned the crowd that there would be consequences if they did not support Romney at Tuesday's caucuses. Christie said that he would return to Iowa "Jersey Style," a statement with different, but equally terrifying meaning, to fans of "The Sopranos" and "Jersey Shore" alike.

And while Romney largely focused his message today on sweeping patriotic themes and his own "business guy" credentials, the pugnacious New Jersey governor made certain to dispense some harsh words for President Obama in his closing thought.

"President Barack Obama came out to Iowa three years ago and he talked to you about hope and change.  Well let me tell you, after three years of Obama, we are hopeless and changeless and we need Mitt Romney to bring us back, to bring America back," Christie said.

With just four days until the Iowa caucuses, here's an update on the ad-spending race in the GOP presidential contest.

The headlines:
-- Rick Perry and Ron Paul have spent the most (both in Iowa and early states)

-- The pro-Romney Super PAC Restore Our Future has spent nearly $3 million in Iowa (and much of that hitting Newt Gingrich in negative ads)

-- The Gingrich campaign has spent less $1 million, and the primary pro-Newt Super PAC Winning our Future has spent just over $250,000 -- far less than the Romney/Restore Our Future and Perry/Make Us Great Again totals.

-- And the pro-Santorum Super PAC Red White, and Blue Fund has spent more than $500,000 benefiting Santorum

Iowa
Perry $4.3m
Paul $2.8m
Restore Our Future (pro-Romney Super PAC) $2.8m
Make Us Great Again (pro-Perry Super PAC) $1.6m
Romney $1.5m
Gingrich $980,000
Red White and Blue Fund (pro-Santorum) $530,000
Citizens for a Working America (pro-Romney) $460,000
Winning Our Future (pro-Gingrich) $263,000
Bachmann $181,000
Santorum $30,000

Total
Perry $5.7m
Paul $4.7m
Restore Our Future $3.7m
Make Us Great Again $3.4m
Romney $3m
Our Destiny PAC $1.6m
Gingrich $980,000
Red White and Blue Fund $530,000
Citizens for a Working America $460,000
Winning Our Future $263,000
Bachmann $181,000
Santorum $30,000

SOURCE: NBC/Smart Media Group Delta