DES MOINES, Iowa –- Newt Gingrich today picked up two endorsements from top early state officials, but those endorsements were overshadowed as protesters interrupted the press conference inside the Iowa State Capitol.

“Mic check” a protester yelled after the Iowa and New Hampshire House speakers made their endorsements known, and as Gingrich moved to the podium. Protesters chanted: “Put people first. Put people first.” Gingrich security quickly forced them from the room.

“My experience campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire is you just saw the one-tenth of 1%,” Gingrich said as the protesters were being escorted from the room. “I was at University of Iowa the other day and that same one-tenth of 1%, all noise, no thought tried to drawn out conversations.”

Exactly a week ago while he was in Iowa City giving a speech on brain science, about a dozen or so protesters interrupted Gingrich with another “mic check.”

In the middle of Gingrich's speech here in Des Moines today, another protester -- Ross Grooters -- began heckling the presidential candidate again.

“Mr. Gingrich you really do need to put the people first,” Grooters said as he was escorted out –- but not before Gingrich said he would be happy to have a conversation after the press conference.

In the hallway afterward, Grooters asked Gingrich why he wasn’t following Franklin Roosevelt's roadmap to get out of the Great Depression. “Because he didn't end the Depression, World War II did. That’s why,” Gingrich responded.

“That's a horrible answer, sir, and you know it,” Grooters proclaimed and continued to follow Gingrich outside the state house.

As Gingrich hopped in his SUV to head to New Hampshire, protesters yelled, “See you in New Hampshire, Newt;“ and “We will be everywhere you go.”

“Good,” Gingrich responded as the car door closed.

The real reason Gingrich was in Des Moines today was to receive the official endorsements of Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen and New Hampshire House Speaker Bill O’Brien (who flew to Iowa to endorse together with Paulsen).

“Only one candidate has achieved meaningful change in Washington, and that candidate is Newt Gingrich,” Paulsen said to more than two dozen gathered reporters.

In his opening statement, O’Brien said, "We cannot afford candidates who put electoral convenience or extreme ideology ahead of bringing transformative change."

During a press conference afterward, a reporter asked the New Hampshire speaker to whom he was referring, and O'Brien hit Mitt Romney.

"Gov. Romney, I’m not sure who he is," he answered. "I do know in New Hampshire, he hasn’t reached out to me. He hasn’t accepted multiple invitations to speak to the New Hampshire House of Representatives. I think those are indications, along with a lack of support of our state during Nevada’s attempt to move its caucuses forward, that he’s taken New Hampshire for granted. That’s our concern. I think it’s just a convenience with him, and to some extent he takes convenient positions."

KEENE, N.H. --  On the first stop of his statewide bus tour today, Mitt Romney delivered a blunt message to rival Newt Gingrich when it comes to his Super PAC's attack ads: You think this is bad? You ain't seen nothing yet.

"I know that the speaker would like to say that we shouldn't have any negativity," Romney told NBC's Chuck Todd in an interview on MSNBC's The Daily Rundown. "But, look, if you can't handle the heat in this little kitchen, the heat that's going to come from Obama's Hell's kitchen is going to be a heck of a lot hotter. We have to show that we, as a Republican Party, and as a candidate that we can stand up to the barrage that's going to come from the Obama world."

Restore our Future, a super PAC supporting Romney, has purchased more than $3 million of advertising hitting Gingrich.

“I have a simple challenge for Gov. Romney,” Gingrich said yesterday. “This PAC was created by his former staff and funded by his personal friends. If he wants to stop it, he can say [so] publicly. I am told they are going to spend $1.4 dollars next week. He can demand that every ad be positive. I don't object to being out spent, I object to lies. I object to negative smear campaigns and I object to things the candidate himself refuses to support.”

Romney said he agreed on telling the truth.

"The speaker thinks all negative attacks should end," Romney said, "but this is after all a campaign and campaigns do point out differences between candidates, draw out those distinctions. It's important that they be accurate, tell the truth. But I've been the subject of some pretty tough attacks that have come both from the speaker but also from President Obama's Super PAC."

The warning comes as Romney looks to lock down his support in New Hampshire by engaging in a statewide bus tour, flanked by top surrogates.

This morning, Romney was touted by the entire panel at the Stage Diner here before taking questions. Former Sen. Judd Gregg, Sen. Kelly Ayotte, and Congressman Charlie Bass all praised Romney's experience and electability. New endorsers Jennifer Horn (a conservative activist) and the Keene Mayor-elect also spoke.

Why Republicans are losing (and may have lost) the message war on the payroll tax-cut fight, Ron Paul takes the lead in an Iowa poll, and NBC's Chuck Todd interviews Mitt Romney

.

The first session of the 112th Congress is ending essentially where it began: in a political stalemate.

Earlier this year, it took the Republican-controlled House, the Democratic-controlled Senate, and the Obama White House until the last minute to avert a government shutdown, which would have furloughed much of the federal workforce.

In the summer, those three bodies battled over raising the debt ceiling. And while they eventually raised it -- again at the last second -- the process led Standard & Poor's to downgrade the United States' credit rating.

And now they're now engaged in a political food fight over extending the payroll tax cut, which expires on Dec. 31.

This constant brinksmanship -- over people's employment, the U.S. credit rating, and Americans' tax cuts -- isn't endearing itself to the public.

According to the most recent NBC/WSJ poll, 42% called this Congress' performance "one of the worst" ever, the highest percentage on this question that dates back to 1990. Another 33% called the Congress "below average." So that's three-quarters of the public giving the Congress unsatisfactory grade.

What's more, 69% said they disapproved of the job that Republicans in Congress are doing, while 62% disapprove of the job Democrats are doing.

And asked what the public considers most disappointing about the current Congress, 28% cited partisan disagreement and not getting anything done; 17% said the GOP leadership is unwilling to compromise with Democrats; and 13% agreed that not enough is being done to fix the economy. 

Three reasons why the House GOP isn’t going to win the payroll tax-cut fight… Here’s another reason: WSJ editorial page tells House GOP to raise the white flag… What does the White House do next?… New Iowa poll shows Paul in the lead… Gingrich rails against the pro-Romney Super PAC… Team Romney, in NH, trying not to repeat what happened four years ago… Why Gingrich is in Virginia… And Paul responds to those newsletters.

*** Three reasons why the House GOP won’t win this fight: Ten days before the payroll tax-cut is set to expire, Washington is now locked in a political stalemate. House Republicans are demanding that the Senate come back from its holiday break to participate in a conference committee, while Democrats are arguing that the House GOP simply pass the already-approved Senate legislation to extend the tax cut for another two months before hammering out a longer-term agreement. But there are three reasons why the House GOP probably won’t win this fight, PR-wise, especially if the tax cut expires. Reason #1: House Republicans allowed the Senate to break for the Christmas holiday without explicit orders it would need to come back. In fact, Politico notes that the silence from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is deafening. Reason #2: The Senate passed its legislation by a bipartisan 89-10 vote, raising the question whether a conference committee could produce a deal that could get 60-plus Senate votes. Reason #3: The House GOP didn’t allow an up-or-down vote on the Senate bill, suggesting that it could have passed if they did. Those three reasons will be hard for the House GOP to explain away if the tax cut expires after Dec. 31.

*** WSJ editorial page: Time to raise the white flag: And here’s a fourth reason: The conservative Wall Street Journal editorial page is already asking the House GOP to raise the white flag. “The GOP leaders have somehow managed the remarkable feat of being blamed for opposing a one-year extension of a tax holiday that they are surely going to pass. This is no easy double play. Republicans have also achieved the small miracle of letting Mr. Obama position himself as an election-year tax cutter.” The editorial page goes on to say, “At this stage, Republicans would do best to cut their losses and find a way to extend the payroll holiday quickly. Then go home and return in January with a united House-Senate strategy that forces Democrats to make specific policy choices that highlight the differences between the parties on spending, taxes and regulation.”

*** What does the White House do next? Despite the PR advantages the White House has -- including the Wall Street Journal’s editorial above -- there’s a legitimate question it faces: What does it do next? While it might gain politically if the tax cut expires, the White House DOES WANT it to pass. So does President Obama call for Congress to return after Christmas, say on Dec. 27? And does he continue to postpone his own Christmas vacation? Meanwhile, a White House official tells NBC’s Kristen Welker that the White House yesterday called on Americans to add their voice to the payroll tax-cut debate. The message: “If Congress fails to extend the payroll tax cut, the typical family making $50,000 a year will have about $40 less to spend or save with each paycheck. Over the year, that adds up to about $1,000.”

*** Paul leads per new Iowa poll: Turning to the GOP presidential race, we have the first non-robo poll out of Iowa we’ve seen in a couple weeks. The Iowa State?Gazette/KCRG poll (conducted over telephone from Dec. 8-18) shows Ron Paul in the lead at 28% (up from 20% a month ago, when Herman Cain led in that poll), Newt Gingrich at 25% (up from 5%), Mitt Romney at 18% (up from 16%), Rick Perry at 11% (up from 8%), Michele Bachmann at 7% (down from 8%), and Rick Santorum at 5% (unchanged). But a warning about this poll: Given that it was conducted over 10 days (from Dec. 8-18) that’s a LONG time period that might not reflect the ups and downs that may have occurred in the race over the past week or so, especially with the negative TV ads raining down on Gingrich.

*** Gingrich rails against pro-Romney Super PAC: Speaking of those negative TV ads -- particularly from the pro-Romney Super PAXC -- directed at Gingrich, the former House speaker yesterday railed against the Super PAC ads and against Romney. “I have a simple challenge for Gov. Romney,” Gingrich said. “This PAC was created by his former staff and funded by his personal friends. If he wants to stop it, he can say [so] publicly. I am told they are going to spend $1.4 dollars next week. He can demand that every ad be positive. I don't object to being out spent, I object to lies. I object to negative smear campaigns and I object to things the candidate himself refuses to support.” It was almost as if Gingrich -- while in Iowa -- saw all the TV ads that are blasting him.

*** Ad spending to date: By the way, here’s the latest tally of all the ad spending in Iowa and New Hampshire to date: For Iowa: Perry $4.4 million, Restore Our Future (pro-Romney Super PAC) $2.8 million, Paul $1.75 million, Make Us Great Again (pro-Perry Super PAC) $1.5 million, Romney $1.1 million, Gingrich $475,000, Red White and Blue Fund (pro-Santorum Super PAC) $200,000. For New Hampshire: Our Destiny PAC (pro-Huntsman Super PAC) $1.6 million, Paul $700,000, Romney $650,000, and Perry $234,000.

*** Trying not to repeat what happened four years ago: Romney today kicks off a three-day bus tour through New Hampshire. And yesterday, he delivered a speech that amounted to his closing argument before the Iowa and New Hampshire contests. You get the impression that Team Romney doesn’t want to get caught in New Hampshire the same it did four years ago. The New York Times: “Four years ago, during his first presidential run, Mr. Romney’s lead in New Hampshire fizzled as he seemed to take his eye off the Republican primary here, pouring significant time, money and manpower into the Iowa caucuses. After a second-place finish in both states, his campaign for the White House was all but over. Determined to avoid that outcome in the final phase of a volatile primary campaign -- and uncertain of how he will perform in Iowa -- Mr. Romney is putting an unmistakable emphasis on New Hampshire.”

*** Why Gingrich is in Virginia: The fact that Gingrich, at 7:00 pm ET, is holding a rally in Arlington, VA tells you all you need to know about the state of his organization right now: They’re scrambling to compete for the long haul against Romney. Why is he in Virginia? As NBC’s John Bailey reported yesterday, tomorrow is the deadline for Gingrich to qualify for the March 6 Virginia primary. “Candidates must get 10,000 signatures from qualified voters, including 400 signatures from each of Virginia’s 11 congressional districts. If candidates submit the required signatures to the State Board of Election by 5:00pm on Thursday, those petitions go to the state party for verification.”

*** Paul responds to those newsletters: Yesterday, Ron Paul responded to the incendiary and racially tinged newsletters that were issued decades ago. Paul has since disavowed them and said he didn’t write the un-bylined newsletters. “It's politics,” he said. “Nobody talked about it for 20 years until they found out that the message of liberty was making progress. Everybody knows I didn't write them, and it's not my sentiment, so it's sort of politics as usual.”

*** Huntsman tweaks Romney: NBC’s Jo Ling Kent reports that Jon Huntsman yesterday gave well-received remarks in front of 120-plus voters in New Hampshire, as he slammed Romney from across the state. "Romney is across town giving a speech on a teleprompter," he said to a room of laughter, referring to a speech the front-runner gave in Bedford, NH.

*** On the 2012 trail: Get on the bus: Mitt Romney embarks on his three-day bus tour through New Hampshire… Meanwhile, Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry (along with endorser Bobby Jindal) remain on their bus tours through Iowa… Gingrich, in Des Moines, IA, unveils his endorsements of the state House speakers of Iowa and New Hampshire, and Gingrich later attends a rally in Arlington, VA (in his effort to get on the ballot there)… Paul and Santorum campaign in Iowa… And Jon Huntsman tapes an appearance on David Letterman.

Countdown to Iowa caucuses: 13 days
Countdown to New Hampshire primary: 20 days
Countdown to South Carolina primary: 31 days
Countdown to Florida primary: 41 days
Countdown to Nevada caucuses: 45 days
Countdown to Super Tuesday: 76 days
Countdown to Election Day: 323 days

Click here to sign up for First Read emails.
Text FIRST to 622639, to sign up for First Read alerts to your mobile phone.
Check us out on Facebook and also on Twitter. Follow us @chucktodd, @mmurraypolitics, @DomenicoNBC, @brookebrower

*** Wednesday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up: NBC’s Chuck Todd interviews Mitt Romney.

*** Wednesday’s “Jansing & Co. line-up: MSNBC’s Richard Lui interviews GOP Rep. Greg Walden, Dem Rep Charlie Rangel (D-NY), former Sen. Alan Simpson, the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank, National Journal’s Reid Wilson, and University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato.

*** Wednesday’s “Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSBNC’s Thomas Roberts interviews Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver, former Gov. and DNC Chair Howard Dean, former RNC Chair Michael Steele, Democratic strategist David Goodfriend, the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein, Melissa Harris Perry, and Michael Tomasky.

*** Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: Guest host Chris Cillizza interviews Stephanie Cutter from the Obama campaign, GOP Rep. Tom Price, and the Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart.

*** Wednesday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell, GOP Rep. Kevin Brady, The Hill’s AB Stoddard, and MSNBC commentator Michael Smerconish.

The Des Moines Register notes that Iowans are being bombarded with ads.

PAUL: A new Iowa State University/Gazette/KCRG poll shows Ron Paul is the new front runner in Iowa: Paul 28% (up from 20 a month ago), Gingrich 25 (up from 5), Romney 18 (up from 16), Perry 11 (up from 8), Bachmann 7 (down from 8), Santorum 5 (same), Can’t decide 5 (down from 8). The previous ISU poll, conducted Nov. 1-13, had Herman Cain in the lead 25%-20% over Ron Paul with Gingrich in sixth. The latest poll, which surveyed the same people as the last poll, shows the plurality of Cain’s supporters (38%) went to Gingrich, then Paul (20%), then Perry 14%. Romney got 9% of them. (Caveat: The poll was conducted over 10 days. The pollsters note that Paul’s support appears to be the most locked in, and that the other candidates’ appear to be soft. The anecdotal evidence suggest Gingrich’s support may not be this strong any longer.)

“On a day when several Republican presidential candidates were touting endorsements from socially conservative leaders in Iowa and nationally, Texas Representative Ron Paul made clear why he was not getting them,” the Boston Globe writes. “Asked about Bob Vander Plaats, president of the Iowa Family Leader group who today endorsed former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, Paul said, ‘He had decided I wasn’t willing to nationalize enough and I’ve stuck to my guns…. The founders were right in letting states sort out the more difficult problems.’ On both gay marriage and abortion, Paul differs from most of his Republican rivals and from much of the conservative Republican base in not urging a federal law either to define marriage or ban abortion. It is particularly in the area of social issues that Paul’s libertarian leanings are evident.”

PERRY: “Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindall told Iowans here today that Texas Gov. Rick Perry offers the best choice among Republican candidates for the presidency,” The Des Moines Register notes. More Jindal: “Most importantly, he is a governor who has led. He will not need on-the-job training,” Jindal said.

ROMNEY: The Boston Globe’s lead on Romney’s closing argument: “Mitt Romney, in a speech tonight that his campaign billed as his “closing argument” before Republican voters start selecting their nominee, focused almost exclusively on President Obama and cast the election as ‘a battle for America’s soul.’”

SANTORUM: “Influential social conservative Bob Vander Plaats today endorsed former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, a blow to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has been trying to gain support from socially conservative voters,” the Boston Globe writes.

But: “Division amid Iowa’s evangelicals is so deep that it’s extremely unlikely they will unite behind one candidate in the two weeks before the caucuses, evangelical leaders agreed Tuesday, after the influential Family Leader organization announced it would not endorse in the race,” the Des Moines Register reports.

The Wall Street Journal: “The GOP leaders have somehow managed the remarkable feat of being blamed for opposing a one-year extension of a tax holiday that they are surely going to pass. This is no easy double play. Republicans have also achieved the small miracle of letting Mr. Obama position himself as an election-year tax cutter, although he's spent most of his Presidency promoting tax increases and he would hit the economy with one of the largest tax increases ever in 2013. This should be impossible. … The entire exercise is political, but Republicans have thoroughly botched the politics.”

More: “After a year of the tea party House, Mr. Obama and Senate Democrats have had to make no major policy concessions beyond extending the Bush tax rates for two years. Mr. Obama is in a stronger re-election position today than he was a year ago, and the chances of Mr. McConnell becoming Majority Leader in 2013 are declining. At this stage, Republicans would do best to cut their losses and find a way to extend the payroll holiday quickly. Then go home and return in January with a united House-Senate strategy that forces Democrats to make specific policy choices that highlight the differences between the parties on spending, taxes and regulation. ... The alternative is more chaotic retreat and the return of all-Democratic rule.”

“President Obama’s top campaign officials are attacking Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for an economic plan they say will benefit wealthy Americans, not the middle class,” the Boston Globe writes. “ ‘His plan gives tax breaks to millionaires, billionaires, and large corporations while doing nothing to help middle class families,’ said Obama for America Campaign Manager Jim Messina. Messina and Obama campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt held a conference call with New Hampshire reporters [yesterday], the day before Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, kicks off a bus tour of the state.”

VIRGINIA: “A new Quinnipiac poll in Virginia shows George Allen (R) taking a small lead over Tim Kaine (D) in the closely-watched U.S. Senate race, 44% to 42%,” Political Wire notes.

BEDFORD, N.H. -- Speaking before a crowd of more than 150 supporters Tuesday night, GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney laid out a stark choice of visions for America and said the selection of the next president is a matter of choosing America's destiny.

"This America of long unemployment lines and small dreams is not the America you and I love. It is not a live free or die America. These troubled years are President Obama’s legacy, but they are not our future," Romney said. "This is an election not to replace a president but to save a vision of America, It’s a choice between two destinies."

The remarks were the clearest articulation yet of Romney's "closing argument," which the former Massachusetts governor has been test-driving for weeks. It proposes that America must choose between a society based on entitlements under President Barack Obama, or a society based on merit, risk and growth, under Romney’s leadership.

"In a merit-based society, people achieve their dreams through hard work, education, risk-taking, and even a little luck.  An opportunity society produces pioneers and inventors; it inspires its citizens to build and create. As these people exert effort and take risks, they employ and lift others and create prosperity. Their success does not make others poorer, it makes others better off," Romney said. "President Obama sees America differently.  He believes in an entitlement society."

Romney called an entitlement society one in which everyone is more equal, but everyone is worse off.

"President Obama’s entitlement society would demand a massive growth of government. To preserve opportunity, we must shrink government, not grow it," Romney said.

The speech, which was lit and staged with television cameras in mind, did not mention any of Romney's GOP rivals, focusing on Romney’s vision and on Obama.

"I have a vision of a very different America, an America united not by our limits but by our ambitions, our hopes and our shared dreams. I am tired of a president who wakes up every day, looks out across America and is proud to announce, ‘It could be worse.’ It could be worse?" Romney asked rhetorically.  "Is that what it means to be an American? It could be worse? No. If I am president I will wake up every day and remind Americans that not only must we do better but also that we can do better!  I believe in America!"

Romney later accused Obama of inverting President John F. Kennedy's famous call to service.

"President Barack Obama has reversed John Kennedy's call for sacrifice. He would have Americans ask, ‘What can the country do for you?’" Romney said.

Within an hour of the speech's conclusion, Obama campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt issued a statement defending the president's record and argued that Romney's stated positions were a smokescreen for an agenda designed to help only Wall Street and the most well-to-do.

“Only a candidate like Mitt Romney could give a speech like this with a straight face. Governor Romney claims to want to level the playing field to create opportunity, but all his policies do is stack the deck against the middle class.  He has repackaged the same policies that caused the economic crisis and led to the insecurity middle class families have been facing," LaBolt said. "The president is fighting to build an economy where hard work and responsibility are rewarded, everyone plays by the same rules whether on Wall Street or Main Street, and economic security for the middle class is restored.”

Romney, who recent polls show is now locked in a dead heat with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich nationally, is on a four-day, 10-stop bus tour across New Hampshire, his most vital early primary state, to sell his message and to attempt to solidify his formidable lead here. Next week, he'll be in Iowa for a three-day swing.

After the official speech ended and the applause died down, Romney re-took the microphone Tuesday night  to urge his supporters to begin the hard work of actually turning out the votes in New Hampshire.

"We don't have a long time to go," Romney told the crowd, urging them to make calls and talk to their friends.

"We want to win in New Hampshire," he said.   

DEWITT, Iowa -- Sauntering through snowy streets with a dozen cameras in tow, two sitting United States governors on Tuesday talked haircuts and football with the residents of an eastern Iowa town, population about 5,000. 

Must be caucus season. 

Gov. Rick Perry, accompanied by endorser Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, stopped in DeWitt for a tour with the mayor as part of Perry's last-ditch-effort bus tour of over 40 cities in the first-in-the-nation caucus state. 

Perry signed an NFL jersey, played with an infant, and even mimed giving a customer at Art's barbershop a haircut as he made his way through town, insisting on shaking the hand or slapping the back of everyone he met -- even a bystander absorbed in a frosted danish. 

“Two things you don’t want from me: Singing to you and giving you a haircut," Perry joked with haircut-recipient Leroy Claussen, moments after holding the barber's tools inches from Claussen's head. 

It's the retail campaigning for which Perry is known, and which his campaign team hopes will vault him above his conservative rivals to a better-than-expected finish in the Jan. 3 contest. 

Jindal, who endorsed Perry in September, joined him on the road Tuesday for two days of the bus tour. At the first stop of the day, Jindal introduced his neighboring chief executive with a specific focus on Perry's leadership. 

"I've seen Rick Perry lead," he said in his introduction speech at the Decker Hotel in Maquoketa. "I have seen first hand the difference between a man who's been governor of a state for 11 years and another man who gives a great speech, was a senator for a couple of years and then ran for president of the United States." 

The Louisiana Republican's steady and deliberate delivery of five reasons he's supporting Perry came with a fluidity that often escapes the candidate that he's endorsed. At one point, Jindal even came to his rescue after Perry flubbed one of the details of his own tax plan. 

"Thank you for correcting me on that governor," Perry replied when Jindal gently chimed in with the facts about deductions under Perry's flat tax proposal. "Not that I ever make a mistake. It's always good to have Bobby here to correct me."

With Jindal at his side, Perry largely avoided his usual daily attacks on rivals in front of Iowa audiences. But he told reporters that his "outsider" status differentiates him from Romney and Gingrich, both of whom formerly supported the individual health insurance mandate much-reviled by conservatives. 

"[Romney] has a real problem with this issue of being consistent on this Obamacare/Romneycare issue," he said at a brief press conference outside his bus as snow flurries swirled above. "Newt's an insider. So the issue's going to be do you want an insider - whether it's Wall Street or whether it's Washington - or do you want an outsider like myself." 

Perry, unlike Gingrich, has not called for a ceasefire of inter-candidate punches, and he said Tuesday that such contrasts are fair rather than wholly "negative." 

"As long as no one's misstating the facts then I don't consider that to be negative," he said. "I think it's always in the eye of the beholder." 

OSKALOOSA, Iowa -- Newt Gingrich accused Mitt Romney Tuesday of running “negative smear campaigns,” and challenged the former Massachusetts governor to speak out publicly against Super PACs running negative ads.
 
“I don’t object to being out spent, I object to lies. I object to negative smear campaigns and I object to things the candidate himself refuses to support,” Gingrich told the media after a speech at Al-Jon manufacturing in Ottumwa.
 
Gingrich said Romney’s comments on Morning Joe Tuesday morning about not having control over his Super PACs “are palpably misleading, clearly false, and are politics in its worst form.”
 
“I’m not allowed to communicate with the super PAC in any way, shape or form,” Romney said on MSNBC this morning and acknowledged there are flaws with the Super PAC system.
 
But Gingrich said the PAC, Restore Our Future, was created by and funded by Romney’s friends and former staff. “If he wants to stop it, he can say publically…he can demand that every ad be positive.”
 
“Understand, these are his people running his ads, doing his dirty work while he pretends to be above it,” Gingrich noted.
 
Restore Our Future has been hammering Gingrich both on TV and in the mail for the past few weeks, linking the former House Speaker to Nancy Pelosi, labeling him as a “flip-flopper” and saying President Barack Obama wants to run against Newt.
 
“I think these guys hire consultants who just sit around, get drunk and write really stupid ads. I am so fed up with this stuff,” Gingrich admitted to about 100 people in the crowd.
 
The Speaker has vowed to run a positive campaign and allow Iowans and Americans “render judgment” between which campaign style they prefer: negative or positive. To that end, Gingrich, who's vowed to steer clear of negative campaigning, launched a petition online Tuesday asking fellow candidates to tell supporters not to donate to super PACs that go dirty.
 
“They can’t hit me with enough negative ads to make me go negative,” told a crowd at Smokey Row, a local coffee shop here.
 
Gingrich holds one more event in Iowa today and will receive the endorsements of both the Speaker of the House of Iowa and New Hampshire tomorrow at the state capitol in Des Moines.

Who has the upper hand in the payroll tax fight - and what happens politically if it's not extended? Thanks to Yellowdog Mark D for the question!

Video edited by NBC's Matt Loffman

P.S. - look for several more Boiler Rooms in the next few days and weeks answering your questions.

EXETER, NH -- Ron Paul, whose surging poll numbers have made him a top-tier presidential candidate in Iowa, was vetted like a frontrunner campaign stops in New Hampshire on Tuesday.

The Texas congressman took to the trail as news outlets reported on a renewed interest in Ron Paul newsletters from the 1990s that contained slurs against homosexuals and African Americans. The most recent issue of The Weekly Standard dug up some of Paul's old newsletters.  An article from June 1992 reads "Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks,”  the magazine reports.  Another suggested that AIDS patients should not be allowed to eat in restaurants since, according to the opinion, "AIDS can be transmitted by saliva.”

But today, Paul maintained he did not write the articles, which contained no byline. Instead, he said it was an example of a political attack stemming from his rise in popularity.

"Nobody talked about it for 20 years until they found out that the message of liberty was making progress," Paul said outside a variety store in Manchester. "And everybody knows I didn’t write them, and it’s not my sentiment, so it’s sort of politics as usual.”

The presidential candidate faced similar questions about the writings in 2008, though not as much was uncovered about the publications and Paul had not risen to the profile he now holds. Then, like now, he denied knowing the author.

After a town hall meeting on Monday night Paul told reporters, though cautious, he considers himself the frontrunner in Iowa.  Though he may be on the verge of breaking through in the Hawkeye State, the presidential candidate spent two days in New Hampshire, where polls have him closer to the middle of the pack. 

Before the resurrection of Paul's newsletter, one of his biggest criticisms had been what his Republicans rivals have called a weakness on foreign policy.  Paul has expressed an unwillingness of U.S. involvement in foreign affairs -- even in instances where national security is at stake.  But the 76-year-old Texan has dismissed the claims that his policy is one of isolationism.

"The other Republicans are saying, 'Boy, this is his downfall, how can he do it with his foreign policy?'" Paul said Monday. "I happen to think its one of the reasons I'm rising in the polls is because the American people are tired of the wars, and are tired of spending their money, so I think it's a big positive."

His rise in popularity today was apparent with the media contingent following him on the campaign trail.  Press flocked to four campaign stops here, despite the fact that Paul did not so much as deliver his stump speech. Instead, he took a tour of a small business, took questions from high school students, and popped in to surprise shoppers at a convenience store in Manchester.  Later in Exeter, Paul made what his campaign called "a retail stop," where the candidate walked into a series of local businesses and introduced himself.

Paul holds a town hall event tonight before heading back to Iowa.

Newt Gingrich is facing more ballot access issues as state filing deadlines approach, most harrowing being Virginia's Dec. 23 deadline to qualify for the state's primary ballot.

Thursday's deadline for Republican candidates to get their names on the ballot looms large, especially for the former House speaker's campaign, which has struggled to overcome organizational challenges and qualify for some of the largest primaries.

With 46 delegates at stake as part of Virginia's March 6 (Super Tuesday) primary, the state has some of the toughest ballot access requirements in the country. Candidates must get 10,000 signatures from qualified voters, including 400 signatures from each of Virginia’s 11 congressional districts. If candidates submit the required signatures to the State Board of Election by 5:00pm on Thursday, those petitions go to the state party for verification.

Once the petitions go to the state party, dozens of volunteers will spend their pre-Christmas Eve Friday verifying the signatures. But any candidate with more than 15,000 signatures is usually verified without and detailed signature by signature check.

Mitt Romney’s campaign announced yesterday that Virginia Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling, who is Romney’s state chairman, would file the former Massachusetts governor’s petition papers with the State Board of Elections. The Romney campaign tells NBC News it gathered more than 16,000 signatures (16,026 signatures to be exact), putting Romney well over the 15,000 mark.

A GOP source tells NBC News that the Ron Paul campaign will bring in more than 12,000 signatures.

The Gingrich campaign appears to be on less stable ground. Earlier today, Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond told NBC News that the campaign is trying to get double the number of required signatures in Virginia. Gingrich himself, however, seemed less sure Monday afternoon, telling reporters that the campaign is scrambling to file in the Old Dominion.

“We barely made it in Ohio and we may barely make it Thursday in Virginia,” said Gingrich. “We're asking all of our friends in Virginia to go to Newt.org and volunteer to get petitions signed in the next 48 hours.”

To that end, the campaign sent out an email to supporters Monday asking for help getting on the Virginia ballot. The email, which also announced Gingrich will himself be in Virginia Wednesday for a rally, asked supporters to get people out to one of nearly a dozen signature stations the campaign has set up in at least eight of the state’s 11 congressional districts.

Despite the campaign’s effort to get double the required signatures, the campaign may barely crest  the 10,000 mark. When those signatures go to the state party for verification, the campaign runs the risk of falling below the necessary number of signatures to get on the ballot. Even one signature below the 10,000 valid names required would disqualify a candidate from being on the March ballot.

NBC's Alex Moe and Garrett Haake contributed to this post.

NASHUA, NH -- The ad wars in New Hampshire are heating up, and Texas Rep. Ron Paul's campaign reserved the largest of several ad buys in the state just weeks before its primary.

The libertarian-minded congressman has reserved over $160,000 worth of airtime between Dec. 21-27, according to local station WMUR. That's good enough to run 142 spots on morning news, evening news and primetime ABC shows.

The ad Paul will run is an extended, 60-second version of his ad, "The One," which casts him as the only candidate suited to take on the environment in Washington.

It was the largest of several ad buys announced Tuesday.

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who's pinned his hopes of winning the GOP nomination on winning the New Hampshire primary, was also the beneficiary of new spending from Our Destiny PAC, the political action committee established on his behalf.

Our Destiny bought just under $100,000 in airtime to air a total of 58, 30-second spots during morning and evening news between the dates of Dec. 20 and Jan. 1. Our Destiny also ran a full-page black and white print advertisement in the New Hampshire Union Leader's front section yesterday with almost the exact same quotes as the television spot.

Huntsman, at a town hall in Nashua, dismissed the importance of Jan. 3's Iowa caucuses in favor of the Jan. 10 New Hampshire primary.

"Iowa will do their thing and I believe the results of Iowa will kind of be forgotten in a day or two," Huntsman said. "And then the people of New Hampshire can stand up and you will render a judgment. And I like our position here. We've worked this state harder than anybody else."

Huntsman sits at 2 percent nationally according to a CNN/ORC poll released Monday, but enjoys slightly higher support (13 percent according to a Suffolk/7News survey) in New Hampshire. That's a noticeable rise after wallowing in low single digits for most of the summer and fall.

"This wave effect is happening," Huntsman said in Nashua. This morning's town hall marked his 127th public campaign stop in New Hampshire.

The campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who leads in most polls of GOP primary-goers in the state, doled out about $60,000 for 161, 30-second spots over the same Dec. 21-27 time frame.

House Republicans find themselves in a corner on the payroll tax cut… And Boehner finds himself on an island… New national WaPo/ABC poll shows Gingrich and Romney all tied up (but how much stock should we put in national polls at this stage?)… Gingrich continues to explain Freddie Mac… A family affair: Gingrich daughter stumps for Newt in SC… Should the Paul newsletters get the same kind of scrutiny as that Perry rock?... And it’s officially two weeks out until the Iowa caucuses.

*** Cornered: To understand how House Republicans have backed themselves into a corner on extending the payroll tax cut, two Senate Republicans running in some of the most competitive contests next year are distancing themselves from the House GOP. “The House Republicans’ plan to scuttle the deal to help middle-class families is irresponsible and wrong,” said Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), who most likely will run against Democrat Elizabeth Warren in 2012. “The refusal to compromise now threatens to increase taxes on hard-working Americans and stop unemployment benefits for those out of work.” And Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV), who will run against Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley, added: “What is playing out in Washington, D.C., this week is about political leverage, not about what’s good for the American people. Congress can work out a solution without stopping the payroll tax-cut extension for the middle class.” Bottom line: You know where the politics on this issue are when Brown and Heller are for/against something. Two other veteran senators, Richard Lugar and Olympia Snowe, also both up for re-election in states carried by President Obama in ‘08, have joined the chorus of Republicans asking the House GOP to simply vote out the Senate bill.

*** No up-or-down vote: What’s more, House Republicans today WILL NOT allow an up-or-down vote on the Senate bill that extends the tax cut for two months, NBC’s Frank Thorp and Luke Russert report. Instead, the New York Times says, they “will implement a procedural maneuver in which they will ‘reject’ the Senate bill while requesting to go to conference with members of that chamber in a single measure, protecting House members from having to actually vote against extending a payroll tax cut. During the conference meeting among Republican members, some members expressed concern about effectively voting for a tax increase on the eve of an election year, said some who attended.” How many times did House Republicans complain about procedural moves like this when they were in the minority? This move suggest three things: 1) They might lose the vote; 2) they don’t want to vote for something that could be spun into being a tax increase; and 3) they don’t want to have to whip against a tax cut.

*** Boehner on an island: House Republicans aren’t the only ones who have put themselves into a corner; so has House Speaker John Boehner. How did he so badly misread his House GOP conference on this measure? We are pretty confident that there’s no way Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell would have left Boehner high and dry on this payroll tax cut -- and given that high five -- if it was undesirable to Boehner. Boehner’s speakership could be badly damaged from this episode. Is he leading or simply trying to stay in front of the crowd?

*** All tied up? Turning to the GOP presidential contest, a new national Washington Post/ABC poll finds Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney tied at 30% among Republican voters and GOP-leaning independents. And this survey comes a day after a CNN poll showed Gingrich and Romney tied at 28%. But at this stage of the GOP race -- with two weeks until Iowa and three weeks until New Hampshire -- national polling is usually a LAGGING indicator. After all, at this point four years ago, our national NBC/WSJ poll showed Hillary Clinton with a 22-point lead over Barack Obama, 45%-23% (and he was just weeks away from winning Iowa). And it showed Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney tied at 20%, with Mike Huckabee (the eventual Iowa caucus winner) at 17%, and John McCain (the eventual GOP nominee) at 14%. Whoever wins Iowa and New Hampshire will change the national polls…

*** Explaining Freddie Mac: Meanwhile, Gingrich is still explaining his work for Freddie Mac. And, in politics, if you’re explaining (and still explaining after six weeks), you aren’t winning. “Freddie Mac hired Gingrich Group, which is a firm which had offices in three cities,” Gingrich said yesterday, per NBC’s Morgan Parmet. “Of the total contract, it was a six-year-period contract. Of the total amount they keep talking about, I probably got about $35,000 a year. Now that's less than I was making per speech so that's what my particular interest in it was that amount.”

*** A family affair: It’s also worth noting how Gingrich’s campaign has become a family affair. Yesterday, per NBC’s Ali Weinberg, daughter Jackie Gingrich Cushman stumped for her father in South Carolina, where she responded to Gingrich’s past divorces. (Cushman is the daughter of Gingrich’s first wife, Jackie Battley.) “Most families have gone through terrible things, whether it’s divorce or tragedy. That’s life,” she said. “We’ve healed, we’ve reconciled.” She later told Weinberg: “I try to frame it in a way that makes sense and resonates with people,” adding: “Like many families, we had a hard time and we’ve all moved on. And we’re all focused on helping each other.” This is a very important message for Gingrich to get out -- that his family is supportive. This matters a lot to evangelicals, who may be looking for a reason to forgive Gingrich for his past indiscretions. Keep an eye out for some big evangelical endorsements today in Iowa, something Gingrich badly needs. No guarantee he gets them.

*** Those Paul newsletters: Ron Paul supporters often complain that their candidate doesn’t get enough media attention. But if they wanted him treated like a typical front-runner, they might see more coverage like today’s New York Times look at “decades-old unbylined columns in his political newsletters that included racist, anti-gay and anti-Israel passages that he has since disavowed.” One example: “A 1992 passage from the Ron Paul Political Report about the Los Angeles riots read, ‘Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks.’” Also: “A passage in another newsletter asserted that people with AIDS should not be allowed to eat in restaurants because ‘AIDS can be transmitted by saliva.’” And: “[O]ne of his publications criticized Ronald Reagan for having gone along with the creation of the federal holiday honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which it called ‘Hate Whitey Day.’” Paul has said that he didn’t write these things in his newsletter and that he disavows them. But just think all the scrutiny that Rick Perry got for that Texas ranch rock. These newsletters are just as problematic -- if not more so…

*** Could Paul winning Iowa kill the caucuses? Politico’s Martin raises that very question. “Paul poses an existential threat to the state’s cherished kick-off status, say these Republicans, because he has little chance to win the GOP nomination and would offer the best evidence yet that the caucuses reward candidates who are unrepresentative of the broader party. ‘It would make the caucuses mostly irrelevant if not entirely irrelevant,’ said Becky Beach, a longtime Iowa Republican who helped Presidents Bush 41 and Bush 43 here. ‘It would have a very damaging effect, because I don’t think he could be elected president and both Iowa and national Republicans wouldn’t think he represents the will of voters.’”

*** On the 2012 trail: It’s another BUSY day: Bachmann, Gingrich, Perry, and Santorum all campaign in Iowa… And Huntsman, Paul, and Romney campaign in New Hampshire… Also in Iowa today, Bob Vander Plaats, president & CEO of The Family Leader, will announce his endorsement at 11:30 am ET.

Countdown to Iowa caucuses: 14 days
Countdown to New Hampshire primary: 21 days
Countdown to South Carolina primary: 32 days
Countdown to Florida primary: 42 days
Countdown to Nevada caucuses: 46 days
Countdown to Super Tuesday: 77 days
Countdown to Election Day: 324 days

Click here to sign up for First Read emails.
Text FIRST to 622639, to sign up for First Read alerts to your mobile phone.
Check us out on Facebook and also on Twitter. Follow us @chucktodd, @mmurraypolitics, @DomenicoNBC, @brookebrower

*** Tuesday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up: Senate Democratic Policy Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD), the freshman liaison to the House GOP leadership, on the payroll tax fight… Perry supporter Steve Forbes on the GOP field… And more 2012 news with Politico’s Jonathan Martin, Democratic pollster Fred Yang and the National Journal’s Beth Reinhard.  

*** Tuesday’s “Jansing & Co. line-up: MSNBC’s Richard Lui interviews DCCC Chairman Rep Steve Israel (D-NY), the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein, Iowa Secretary of State (and Santorum endorser) Matt Schultz, former Gingrich spokesman Rick Tyler, former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, The Nation’s Ari Melber, the Des Moines Register’s Jennifer Jacobs, and Tea Party Nation’s Judson Phillips.

*** Tuesday’s “Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSNBC’S Thomas Roberts interviews Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY), National Journal’s Ron Fournier, and Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich.   

*** Tuesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: Guest host Chris Cillizza interviews House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, DNC Communications Director Brad Woodhouse, the Washington Post’s Dan Balz and Jonathan Capehart, and the New York Times’ Mark Landler.

*** Tuesday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell, GOP Rep. Jack Kingston and MSNBC commentator Michael Smerconish.

“The stalemate over how and whether to extend an expiring payroll tax cut will drag into Tuesday after House Republicans delayed a planned vote to reject a Senate bill to extend the tax holiday for two months,” msnbc.com’s Michael O’Brien reports.

The New York Times: “[R]ather than have a straight up-or-down vote, the House will implement a procedural maneuver in which they will ‘reject’ the Senate bill while requesting to go to conference with members of that chamber in a single measure, protecting House members from having to actually vote against extending a payroll tax cut. During the conference meeting among Republican members, some members expressed concern about effectively voting for a tax increase on the eve of an election year, said some who attended.”  

The Washington Post adds, “GOP critics of the two-month deal said it would be a half­measure that would not solve the larger problem of stimulating the economy. One House member who had been a businessman argued that “at minimum” it should have been a 90-day extension to match the quarterly schedule on which many corporations pay taxes. ‘That’s logic, but again, what I’m learning down here is we don’t use logic,’ said freshman Rep. James B. Renacci (R-Ohio).”

GINGRICH: He’s adding some members to his South Carolina team, including Sally Atwater, daughter of Republican strategist Lee Atwater; Adrian Grimes, who worked in Rep. Tim Scott’s communications department; and Anne Badgley, the founder of a crisis pregnancy center and abstinence education advocate, NBC’s Ali Weinberg reports. Atwater, a senior at Furman University in Greenville and vice chairman of the South Carolina College Republicans Federation, will head the campaign’s South Carolina Young Republicans coalition.

Getting coverage in South Carolina is Gingrich leading in a new Clemson poll, showing him up 38%-21% over Romney. (But a MAJOR caveat here: It was conducted from Dec. 6-19, a very long time to be in the field and a lot of things have happened over those two weeks.)

“Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich called on his supporters last night to demand that all negative ads targeting him be removed from the airwaves,” the Boston Globe writes. Gingrich said in Davenport, IA, “It’s very disappointing to see some of my friends who are running putting out so much negative junk.”

HUNTSMAN: Our Destiny PAC (a pro-Huntsman Super PAC) has a new ad out, which pushes that he’s a “consistent conservative,” NBC’s Jo Ling Kent reports. It also took out a full-page ad in the New Hampshire Union Leader touting Huntsman as "more conservative than Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich combined."

ROMNEY: On “Morning Joe” this morning, Romney was asked if he believes Gingrich is the front-runner. He cited that Gingrich still has a lead in national polls, but pointed out it’s not as big as it had been, and then said, “I suspect he’ll lead until he doesn’t lead.”

Asked if he would call on a Super PAC (Restore Our Future) supporting him to stop negative attacks, Romney laughed and said, “It’s illegal” and that if he did he would go to the “big house.” He then pivoted and said campaign-finance laws have made a “mockery” of the political system. And said the country should “get rid of these super PACs.”

He has criticized Gingrich as a “life-long politician” and said there’s “nothing wrong with a life-long politician. We have one in the White House right now.” He also praised Gingrich, in part, for the Contract with America, something he once criticized.

He dismissed the notion that he can’t win over conservatives, saying that 25% in the polls at this point is high historically. And he said he has dealt with rejection, noting when he was a missionary for the LDS Church in France he knocked on doors for five months and “didn’t convert one person.”

He downplayed his chances in Iowa. Asked if he had to win New Hampshire, he said, “Today, you don’t HAVE to win anything.” And cited the number of delegates needed to win the nomination instead.

On O’Reilly last night Romney “criticized both his Republican rival and the Democratic president he hopes to face next year, calling the ideas of Newt Gingrich ‘not practical’ while saying that if President Obama is reelected the country will ‘hit a Greece-like wall,’” the Boston Globe says.

On with Charlie Rose last night, Romney acknowledged that his biggest weakness is authenticity, per the Boston Globe:

ROMNEY: “I have a friend who said to me, ‘Every candidate has a but,’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ They said, ‘Well, so and so’s great but -- and so and so’s great but --.’”

ROSE: “Romney’s great but …”
ROMNEY: “Oh, but he’s not authentic.”

He also “suggested that at town hall meetings and other settings people often leave saying, ‘Hey, that guy connects pretty darn well with people.’”

He did the Top 10 on Letterman last night. It included, per NBC’s Garrett Haake: “No. 2: Newt Gingrich, Really?”

From the new Washington Post/ABC poll: “Obama’s job-approval rating is now at its highest since March, excluding a temporary bump after the killing of Osama bin Laden: Forty-nine percent approve, and 47 percent disapprove. Perhaps more important to the battle over the payroll tax cut, Obama has regained an advantage over Republicans in Congress when it comes to ‘protecting the middle class.’ In the new poll, 50 percent say they trust Obama on this issue, compared with 35 percent who choose the GOP — a major change from last month, when the two sides were more evenly matched on the question.”