MASSACHUSETTS: Taegan Goddard writes, “Two years ago, while locked in a tight race to fill the seat of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Martha Coakley (D) defended her hands-off campaign style: ‘As opposed to standing outside Fenway Park? In the cold? Shaking hands?’ The quote epitomized how she managed to lose Kennedy's seat to Republican Scott Brown. President Obama called it one of the ‘great gaffes in modern American politics.’”

Well: “Over the weekend, Mother Jones reports that Elizabeth Warren (D), the leading Democrat to challenge Brown this fall, tweeted a photo of her shaking hands at Fenway Park in the cold.”

It was not a random sample and it will have no predictive value, but a quaint New Hampshire tradition – dating back to 1960 -- was preserved Tuesday just after midnight when voters in two tiny mountain towns, Dixville Notch and Hart’s Location, were the first ones to cast their ballots in the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary.

The winners in midnight democracy in Dixville Notch: Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney, with two votes each; the winner in Harts Location: Romney, with 5 votes. Ron Paul came in close second with 4 votes, followed by Huntsman with 2, according to the Union Leader.

Herb Swanson / EPA

Town Moderator Tom Tillotson checks his watch before opening the polls to let voters cast their ballots in the New Hampshire Primary, after the stroke of midnight in the northern town of Dixville Notch.

More photos: Votes cast in Dixville Notch

Another 250,000 or so voters are expected to join those early birds by casting their ballots later Tuesday. Polls in the Granite State close at 8pm ET.

In 2008, John McCain won the balloting in Dixville Notch with 4 votes. Mitt Romney finished second with only 2. McCain also won Hart’s Location in 2008, edging Mike Huckabee, 6 votes to 5.

EXETER NH--Ending his New Hampshire marathon exactly where he first began it, Jon Huntsman delivered his closing argument to his biggest ever crowd in the Granite State, hoping that his weekend surge will be enough to propel him to South Carolina.

“Something is happening out there,” Huntsman said, basking in deafening cheers at the quintessentially charming Exeter Town Hall. “I have no idea what it is going to mean tomorrow night, but I do know this:  we’re going to surprise a whole lot of people in this country.”

Alex Wong / Getty Images

Jon Huntsman speaks to voters during a 'Restoring Trust Rally' in Exeter, New Hampshire.

Huntsman launched his Granite State strategy on June 21 in the same town hall. Later, New Hampshire would become the singular focus of shoe-string strategy that was once a three-state approach. His sudden surge over the past several days has been a welcome change for a candidate who usually spoke to crowds of a few dozen until very recently.

Huntsman also hammered home a new mantra: “Country First.” The phrase
-- which was first used in John McCain's 2008 campaign -- is a ninth hour addition to his stump speech, after front-runner Mitt Romney questioned Huntsman's decision to serve as US ambassador to China under Democratic incumbent Barack Obama in two debates last weekend.
The Huntsman campaign began airing an television advertisement slamming Romney's position and generated new lawn signs emblazoned with the tagline to drive the point home in the final hours before New Hampshire votes.

“Our movement is here to put our country first. We’re tired of people putting politics first,” Huntsman said of Romney as his Exeter crowd roared.

The sizeable rally, which was utterly unfathomable just one week ago, featured an energetic Huntsman who spent the day crisscrossing the state drawing a contrast between himself and Mitt Romney. Clad in a leather bomber jacket, Huntsman brought up Romney's debate comments repeatedly.

"It has become abundantly clear over the last couple of days what differentiates Gov. Romney and me," Huntsman told reporters in Concord today. "I will always put my country first. It seems that Gov. Romney believes in putting politics first. Gov. Romney enjoys firing people.
I enjoy creating jobs."

Huntsman was referring to a comment on health care by Romney earlier in the day, during which Romney answered a question on health care.

"I like being able to fire people who provide services to me," Romney said this morning. "If someone doesn't give me the good service I need, I want to say I am going to get somebody else to provide that service to me."

Huntsman spent most of his final full day on the New Hampshire trail kissing babies, dropping by diners and bakeries, and shaking hands with any voter who would give him their attention. Starting from the northern reaches of the state and slowly working his way south, Huntsman told voters he wanted to "twist your arm and earn your vote."

"We're looking for a little help," a hopeful Huntsman told voters in Nashua. "We need help in getting out the vote tomorrow. We've worked very, very hard...no one has worked this state like we have."

By evening, a cloudy moment momentarily dampened the otherwise ebuillient mood.

Huntsman's application to appear in the Arizona primary ballot was rejected because of a missing notarized signature today, according to the Arizona Secretary of State's Office. This comes after the former Utah governor missed ballot requirements in Virginia and Illinois. The Huntsman campaign vowed that it did complete the application and plans to litigate to put his name on the ballot.

But Huntsman himself remained focused on leveraging his weekend surge into a performance worthy of the many days he has spent in the Granite State.

"Are we ready to rock and roll tomorrow?" Huntsman bellowed in Exeter.
"We are ready to rock and roll!"

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Newly an Iowa caucus veteran, Anita Perry told a group of Republican women here that she was “surprised” at her husband Rick’s fifth place showing because his crowds in the state had been so enthusiastic.

“I thought, oh, we’re going to do much better than we did, you know, sixth, or fifth or fourth,” she said.

Referring to a Texas Tribune columnist’s line a few days after the caucus, Perry said, “It truly felt like we were ‘kicked in the stomach’ because that was not what I thought was going to happen that night.”

Like her husband has done in the past, Perry attributed part of his poor showing to the caucus’ open format, where Democrats and independents can also vote. But South Carolina has an open primary too, although unlike Iowa, voters can’t register at the polls but have a 30-day cutoff. 

The Texas first lady was joined at the event, hosted by the York County Republican Women, by Rep. Mick Mulvaney, an early Perry supporter who also went to Iowa to make caucus speeches that he said were well-received but fruitless. 

“While everybody is saying the right things, only Governor Perry has actually done them,” Mulvaney said, then paused before he added, “That was, by the way, that’s the end of my 2-minute caucus speech. And we didn’t do so well.”

In an interview with NBC News after the event, Mulvaney said that Perry had been defined by his debate performances in Iowa and that in order to revive his campaign here, he needs to portray himself as a candidate who can win the presidency and not focus so much on his record as governor of Texas.

“I think that if we can convince people that he can win, he’s got a chance to win South Carolina.”

Mulvaney, a fiscally-focused legislator who helped craft Perry’s jobs plan, also said he would like Perry (as he would most lawmakers) to talk more about the economy, but said he understands Perry is contrasting himself with the other “non-Romney” candidates by painting himself as the most socially conservative choice.

“I think it’s just a dynamic of what this race has sort of shaken out as, which is sort of Romney and then the non-Romney candidate,” Mulvaney said. “One of the distinguishing factors between Gov. Perry, Sen. Santorum, Mr. Gingrich, would be on the social issues.”

The freshman congressman added that while he had initially been unsure as to whether or not Perry would drop out of the race after his poor Iowa results, he was happy he decided not to. 

“I was glad that he stayed in because it gives him, if nothing else, a chance to reclaim his reputation. There’s a reason the man has run the 13th largest economy in the world for the last 11 years. He’s really good at what he does.”

During her speech, Anita Perry also noted what she said was her husband’s resolve to continue on to South Carolina after Iowa.

“Within five or six hours he called me up - he’d gone for a run – and said, ‘Are you ready to go to South Carolina?’ And I said ‘yes I am,’” Perry said as the group of Republican women applauded.

While the women seemed happy to host a candidates’ spouse, at least one of the group’s leaders expressed dissatisfaction that Gov. Nikki Haley decided to declare a preference in the primary: Mitt Romney.

“It really was unfair to the other candidates because it points toward somebody as far as the members of your state. And so I am disappointed in that,” said York County Republican Women president Pogo Olson.

MANCHESTER, NH -- On the eve of the primary New Hampshire, the Newt Gingrich campaign canceled an event at their state headquarters here for "security concerns."

"My apologies for having to cancel tonight's event. We had security concerns regarding the entrance and exit from our headquarters,” Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond told reporters over the phone on the press phone.

Gingrich was scheduled to have a meet and greet with supporters inside his New Hampshire headquarters tonight where volunteers gathered to hear him speak rather than make phone calls the night before the first-in-the-nation primary. Roughly 75 people crammed inside the small office as almost as many protesters gathered outside on the sidewalk shouting and holding signs. Among them were dozens of Ron Paul supporters, Occupy protesters and supporters of long shot presidential candidate Vermin Supreme.

After the traveling press were inside for about 30-minutes, a Gingrich staffer came around and told the press to quietly go get back on the bus.

On the way back out through the crowd of volunteers, NH State Director Andrew Hemingway told a few reporters on passing that the event at the HQ was canceled and Speaker Gingrich was not coming there. Volunteers in earshot were disappointed and began whispering and asking each other what was going on.

Those loyal volunteers, the campaign said, would be taken care of.

“What we have done is combined both events and our New Hampshire staff is currently inviting our hard working volunteers to join us for football” up the road in Concord, Hammond said. “Folks will come on up and for those who can't make it, we will reach out to you separately."

Gingrich’s security decided to pull out of the event before the Speaker ever came in the building though the campaign gave "no comment on security operations" other then saying they do not believe "the good voting public of New Hampshire” is a threat.

BEDFORD, NH-- Maybe it was sharing the stage with N.J. Gov. Chris Christie last night that did it, but Mitt Romney was ready to engage when Occupy protesters disrupted his rally for the second night in a row. 

As chants of "Live Free or Die, Always Occupy" broke out in a familiar refrain, and police closed in, Romney did something few in the hall expected, or had seen before. He told one protester to stop shouting and ask a real question.

"How about instead of shouting, why don't you say what you think, say your view. What’s your view madam, what do you think?" Romney asked. 

While the question was unclear - the protester was deep in the crowd - Romney's answer unambiguously laid the elevated role of money in presidential politics squarely at the feet of President Obama.

"The answer is, this president is spending money and has spent money, we have had over the history of this country a public funding plan for our presidents, and you know what? This president has been the first one to throw aside the public funding program to break all those barriers and to spend massively more than any president in history," Romney said. "This country is too important to hand over to President Obama for a second term."

In 2008, then candidate Obama chose to forgo matching public financing for his campaign, and ultimately spent a record $747 million dollars pursuing the White House - a controversial decision at the time. Romney had spent $17.6 million dollars this election cycle through the end of September, according to the latest filing data available.

With the crowd energized, the frontrunner Romney closed out his stump speech by urging the supporters to vote in tomorrow's primary, telling them "you're going to make a big statement tomorrow."

SALEM and NASHUA, N.H. -- Most voters at two events for Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich today said they were undecided, have narrowed their choices to a couple of candidates and will decide tonight.

But one thing was clear after interviews with more than a dozen voters: even though front-runner Mitt Romney does not inspire the base, most said they would still vote for him in a general election if he’s the nominee.

Kim Litman, of Derry, had harsh words for the former governor of bordering Massachusetts who owns a home in the Granite State. She called him "pompous” and “really a Democrat.”

“He doesn’t come right out and say what he believes,” she charged. “I can’t trust him.”

Even so, “if it were between him and Obama, I’d vote for him," she said.

Marsha and Earl Dunbar of Loudon pulled their children from school today to take them on the campaign trail.

"It's a good civics lesson," Earl said.

Marsha voted for Romney in 2008, but “not this time,” she said.

Earl finished her sentence.

“I’m not sure about his core,” he said.

But after a pause, he added with a shrug, “I’d vote for him in a general election.”

ANDERSON, S.C. –- Seeking to help her husband revive his presidential campaign after a fifth-place showing in the Iowa caucuses, Anita Perry recalled the peak of enthusiasm for Rick Perry's campaign as she addressed a local Republican club.

“If some of you were thinking about Rick Perry when we were here in August, I hope you're still thinking about him,” Anita Perry said, referring to Perry’s presidential announcement on Aug. 13 in Charleston. 

“If not, I hope you will go back and visit his record of cutting spending, reducing taxes, and helping build the nation’s strongest economy in Texas,” she told a group of about 50 members of the Anderson County First Monday Club, meeting at a Chinese restaurant here.

Perry told the group that she and her husband had not taken the decision lightly to jump into the presidential race, adding that he still had her full support. “If I didn’t think my husband was the right man with the right record to lead this country, we would have stayed in Texas,” she said.

She took a veiled jab at her husband’s opponents, drawing an implicit contrast between what she called his political consistency -- both on the trail and in office. “With Rick Perry, you don’t have to wonder whether as president you’re going to get the same person you saw as a candidate,” she said.

Speaking with NBC News after her speech, Perry denied that her husband ever considered suspending his presidential campaign after Iowa, despite his late-night announcement on caucus night that he was returning to Austin to “reassess” the campaign.

“We were never going to suspend the campaign. We always said we were going to reassess, and we did and it took us no time at all and we’re happy to be here in South Carolina,” she said. “We are not quitters.”

While her husband continues his bus tour through the state, Anita Perry will visit with the York County Federation of Republican Women tonight in Rock Hill.

UDPATED AT 6:10 PM ET

SALEM, N.H. and NASHUA, N.H. -- If the battle for conservatives in this state is between Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, then they’re doing it in very different ways -- both in style and setting.

“When people say, the GOP is for big business, I double over and laugh,” Santorum said before a couple hundred people at the Derry-Salem Elks Lodge. “We’re the party of the little guy.”

Contrast that with Gingrich’s event at the Nashua Country Club speaking before a more tony, blazer-and-tie crowd.

He touted his hand in developing “supply-side economic” theory before members of the Rotary Club of Nashua while facing windows that overlooked a golf course.

Santorum, donning his signature sweater vest and stonewashed jean, used no podium and spoke at length before taking questions. He answered just six in an hour-and-a-half because of his lengthy answers, which often meandered far from the central points of the questions.

Gingrich, wearing a dark suit and red tie -- accompanied by wife Callista in a formal suit -- spoke from a podium, but only for about five minutes. He then moved quickly from question to question in an event that lasted about half an hour.

Santorum struck populist chords with talk of manufacturing and textile mills. "We’re going to give small-town America the chance to come back," he said before deriding migration to big cities: “Our basic values will look more like Barack Obama" if it continues.

Gingrich stuck to generic talking points about “Saul Alinsky” radicalism and went deep into policy weeds during questions, rattling off one proposal after another.

Lots of undecided voters
At the Santorum event, voters were mostly split between Santorum and Gingrich. At Gingrich’s event, the vast majority of the half a dozen or so interviewed by First Read were actually for front-runner Mitt Romney. Romney often attracts a more buttoned-up, country club crowd.

Just one person at Gingrich's event said they were considering voting for Gingrich.

Shelly Sousa of Salem said she saw Gingrich Friday night, described him as “intelligent,” has “thought-out policies,” and understands “history.” But she likes Santorum’s “devotion to family.” She’s torn.

“I’m going to pray on it,” she said.

Kim Litman from Derry said she, too, was trying to decide between Gingrich and Santorum. “I was impressed,” she said of Santorum after his event. But “I’m concerned; does he have enough knowledge as Gingrich?”

Earl and Marsha Dunbar from Loudon said they, too, were trying to decide between Gingrich and Santorum, though Earl also said he was considering Jon Huntsman.

“He was so boring in the debates,” he said. “I want to see him in person.”

Earl said he saw a measure of hypocrisy in how Gingrich has complained about Super PACs.

“He says he’s not part of the PACs and then turns around and does it himself,” Earl said. “I see it as being two-faced and plastic.” 

Now, he’s leaning toward Santorum.

In Nashua, Mark Nash from Hudson said he’s voting for Gingrich.

“Newt’s a very aggressive guy,” he said. Of front-runner Mitt Romney, he echoed a point of New Hampshire pride.

“It bothered me that people in Massachusetts liked him,” Nash said with a wry smile. “He was a Massachusetts-type person. We don’t like people from Massachusetts. We try to make it a little more conservative here.”

But that wasn’t the prevailing opinion with the Rotary Club members.

Betty Hall, who’s lived and voted in New Hampshire since 1953, said she is voting for Romney and made that decision “a long time ago.” She cited that he’s a “business man,” he’s a “good manager,” and “hasn’t been in Washington” like other candidates.

Gloria Fields of Hudson echoed that.

“I made up my mind when he first announced he was running for president,” she said with a smile. “He’s a business man."

Robert Boisvert of Manchester said he's "50-50" between Romney and Gingrich. It's between who would be the "better candidate against Obama" and who is "closest to conservative values," he said.

He said he'll dive into notes and research tonight that he has been keeping.

"What I want," Boisvert said, "is for there to no longer be a Barack Obama."

HUDSON, NH -- With an-off-the-cuff comment about liking "being able to fire people who provide services to me" ricocheting around the internet -- and with at least one GOP rival using it to brand the former Massachusetts governor as "out of touch" -- Mitt Romney held a rare press avail this afternoon to say the remark had been taken out of context.

"I was talking about insurance companies. Yeah, we like to be able to get rid of insurance companies that don’t give us the insurance we need. I don’t want to have to live in a world where we have Obamacare telling us which insurance we have to have, which doctor we can have, which hospital we go to," Romney said. "I believe in a setting as I described this morning where people are able to choose their own doctor choose their own insurance company. If they don’t like their insurance company or their provider, they get rid of them. That’s the way America works."

While speaking to a group of business leaders at a breakfast in Nashua this morning, Romney was asked a question about how he would replace Obamacare. He responded, in part:

"I want individuals to have their own insurance that means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep you healthy; it also means if you don’t like what they do, you can fire them. I like being able to fire people who provide services to me. You know, if someone doesn’t give me a good service that I need, I want to say I’m going to go get someone else to provide that service to me."

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who has risen to third place in some recent polls out of New Hampshire and has long made Romney a target of his jabs from the stump, weighed in hours later at his own press avail.

"Gov. Romney enjoys firing people; I enjoy creating jobs," Huntsman said.

Later, Huntsman's campaign looked to further capitalize on the moment, emailing a statement to reporters.

"Today, Mitt Romney reminded voters why he's one of the weakest front-runners in presidential history. 'I like being able to fire people' doesn't exactly scream electability," Huntsman senior strategist John Weaver said in a statement. "Voters are looking for someone they can trust. That's Jon Huntsman, not Mitt Romney."

Also today, the Rick Perry campaign offered on its website a downloadable ring tone repeating "I like being able to fire people."

At his own press conference, Romney said rivals taking comments out of context simply "comes with the territory."

"You know the context of what I was saying, which was we all like to be able to choose our own insurance company. And if they don’t do the job for us being able to get rid of them and that’s what I was referring to," Romney said. "I understand in politics people can decide to grasp at anything and take it out of context and make it something it’s not. That’s the nature of the process. I’ve got to be an adult about it and recognize it comes with the territory."

Later in the day, Romney's campaign released a memo to reporters, saying: "Our opponents are taking Gov. Romney’s comments completely out of context. Gov. Romney was talking about firing insurance companies if you don’t like their service. That is something that most Americans agree with."

Outgoing White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley was brought in with two goals in mind: to improve White House relations with the business community and to figure out how to work with congressional Republicans.

Those goals, you could argue, weren't achieved during Daley's one-year tenure as chief of staff, and they partially explain his exit.

Then again, the Obama White House experienced several successes during his time at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Osama bin Laden's death (Daley's included in that iconic photo). The complete withdrawal from Iraq. Khaddafy's death. And the two-month extension of the payroll tax cut.

"Bill has been an outstanding chief of staff during one of the busiest and most consequential years of my administration," President Obama said at a news event today announcing Daley's departure.

"We were thinking back, just a year ago this weekend, before he was even named for the job, Bill was in the Situation Room getting updates on the shooting in Tucson. On his very first day, Bill took part in a meeting where we discussed Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad. This was all before he even had time to unpack his office."

NBC has learned that Daley decided over the holiday season to leave. President Obama asked him to reconsider. He did, but in the end decided to go. This was all Daley's idea. Don't forget: White House senior adviser Pete Rouse had already been brought back in to help with congressional relations.

Daley isn't leaving Team Obama's orbit. He will become an Obama re-election campaign co-chair.

And, unlike other chiefs of staff, new Chief of Staff Jack Lew will have little -- if any -- role in the campaign.

HUDSON, NH -- On the campaign trail, Mitt Romney talks a lot about jobs.

But never before have so many questions and attacks been directed at his jobs -- especially which one of them he once feared he might lose.

Yesterday, as he described his private-sector experience during a campaign event in Rochester, NH, Romney said he knew what it was like to fear losing his job.

"I've learned what it's like to sign the front of a paycheck not just the back of a paycheck. And to know how frightening it is to see if you can make payroll at the end of the week. These are experiences that many of you know," he said. "I know what it's like to worry about whether you're going to get fired. There were a couple of times I wondered if I was going to get a pink slip. And I care very deeply about the American people."

Romney, who's rise to fortune and prominence at Bain Capital has been well documented, provided no examples at the time of when he feared for his job, and was asked to do so at a press avail this morning.

"Oh sure, as you probably know in your profession, you never quite know about what’s going to happen. And I think people imagine that I came in at the top of Bain and Company, the consulting firm. The Boston Consulting group, I started at the bottom," Romney said. "I came out of school and got an entry-level position like the other people with freshly minted MBAs. And like anybody who starts at the bottom of an enterprise, you wonder when you don’t do so well whether you’re going to be able to hang on to your job, and you wonder if the enterprise gets in trouble will you be one of those laid off."

(Yet as the New York Times recounted last month, Romney was no ordinary MBA grad. He was a superlative student at Harvard Business School, and his father -- a former presidential candidate -- was Nixon's HUD secretary. "His class performances were outstanding; his peers described him as precise, convincing and charismatic. He won the high grades he craved, becoming a George F. Baker Scholar, a distinction awarded to the top students in every business class, and would graduate from the law school with honors as well.")

But while Romney defended the comment, both Democrats and his Republican rivals had a field day with it, hoping to paint Romney and Bain as corporate raiders, and Romney as out of touch.

"I have no doubt that Mitt Romney was worried about pink slips, whether he was going to have enough of them to hand out -- because his company Bain Capital and all the jobs that they killed," Texas Gov. Rick Perry said in South Carolina today. "I'm sure he was worried that he would run out of pink slips."

A Romney spokesperson called Perry's attack "desperate," and said it showed he was talking about a subject he did not understand

"We expect attacks on free enterprise from President Obama and his allies on the left – not from so-called ‘fiscal conservatives,’" campaign spokesperson Andrea Saul said in a statement.

Not to be outdone, one of President Obama's top "allies on the left," released a statement today mocking Romney's remark.

"Romney’s absurd rhetoric is inconsistent with the facts surrounding his own situation and insensitive to the thousands of American who lost their jobs so Romney could extract millions for himself," read a statement from Priorities Action USA.

SALEM, N.H. -- Rick Santorum said today if he were president and covert operations, funding revolutionaries, and stricter sanctions didn’t work in shutting down Iran’s nuclear facility, he would “take it out.”

“More needs to be done to stop Iran now,” Santorum stressed, adding, “We’re going to take it out for you” with a “tactical strike.”

He continued, “We have to take this facility out, so we don’t have” an all-out war with Iran. 

Santorum’s saber rattling toward Iran is common on the campaign trail. He often says that President Obama has not done enough to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and that more needs to be done. But his remarks today, in response to a questioner who asked what he would do to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, went a step further.

First of all, Santorum said, “Iran’s already declared war against us.”

If Iran were to acquire a nuclear weapon, he contended, events like the terrorist attacks on 9/11 would become “a routine occurrence.”

MANCHESTER, NH -- For the second time since Saturday, Ron Paul this morning planned to have breakfast at a local restaurant -- but the establishment was packed with camera crews, photogs and reporters.

Paul made his way around the Moe Joe's restaurant, where they had a table reserved, but his campaign decided to leave.

"I'm overwhelmed," Paul said outside his vehicle. It's "a little but chaotic" he continued.

"I'm a little more calm."

Asked about the possibility of skipping the Florida primary, Paul explained: If "this keeps up I may need to reconsider."

On influencing the Republican Party, Paul said the "best way to influence is win... The young people are looking for something" different.

Paul called front-runner Mitt Romney "part if the status quo" and said Romney's "been all all over the place politically."

Some patrons were disappointed Paul had to leave. One woman even squeezed her way through the media to ask his security detail if Paul would come back in to meet her elderly mother. Paul's campaign manager, Jesse Benton, explained to her that because of the media presence, that couldn't happen.

She later told the media, "they all blame the press. But that's part if it. Make your way through it ... All the other candidates do."

Later in the day, Benton issued this statement: “Dr. Paul has been committed to meeting one on one with New Hampshire voters, and has aggressively campaigned at town halls, house parties, and meet and greets since early last spring. This morning, he attempted to hold an event at Moe Joe’s Diner in Manchester, to speak with patrons and supporters in the last push before the New Hampshire primary. Unfortunately, Dr. Paul and his family were forced to leave early after over 120 members of the press created a mob-like atmosphere that was deemed to be unsafe for the candidate, Moe Joe’s customers, and reporters themselves."
 
More Benton: “While we are very welcoming of media coverage and grateful for the interest in Dr. Paul and his campaign, basic safety simply must come first. On behalf of Dr. Paul and his campaign team, I would like to apologize to customers at Moe Joe’s who may have been distressed by this incident, and extend our gratitude and apologies to the owners, who were kind enough to have us."

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- What if there was a debate but nobody watched it because they were in church?

That seemed to be the case for some in this heavily evangelical, voter-rich region, who skipped the Sunday morning NBC/Facebook debate –- the last chance to see candidates on stage together before the New Hampshire vote –- because they were attending services.

Shopping at a Greenville mall Sunday afternoon, Lisa Eickholt, a 51-year-old adult education professional from Pickens County (which had 26.39% turnout in the 2008 primary, the second-highest in the state), said she and her husband Jeff were getting ready for the 10:30 am service at Five Point Church in Easley when the debate was on.

And in a state where football, too, is a religion, the Eickholts missed the ABC debate the night before.

“Football was on!” Eickholt said simply when asked if she watched the Saturday debate.

The Eickholts said they were both leaning towards Mitt Romney, though they still had not made up their minds completely. “He’s not the most conservative, but probably the one who the independents would probably vote for too so he would be more likely to get the nomination,” Lisa Eickholt said.

Don Phillips, a 57-year-old support program manager from Greer, was attending the 9:40 a.m. service at First Presbyterian Greenville with his wife during the debate. He said, however, that he’s largely tuned out the candidates’ sparring matches.

“Quite frankly, I don’t care to watch Republicans tear themselves apart. They’re just absolutely making ammunition for the opposite party.”

His wife Sharon agreed. “If all they can show me is ‘I can pick on the boy next to me more than you can pick on the boy next to me,’ then they’re not electable.”

Both Don and Sharon Phillips also said they had landed on Mitt Romney as their likeliest pick, although Don said he felt “appalled” with the Republican field overall.

“I feel like out of a nation of 300 million, and let’s say 50% of them are Republican, this is the best we can come up with? It’s amazing.”

Neither of the Phillips said that Romney’s Mormonism was an issue for them, despite the fact that he fared poorly among evangelical voters (many of them concentrated in the Upstate) in 2008.

“I would guarantee you 90% of the folks in South Carolina know zip about what Mormonism is. I believe they need to be more informed before they start tearing one another down. Jesus would not do that,” Don Phillips said. “Don’t do it and profess it and sit your butt in a pew in the church and say you’re a Baptist or a Catholic or whatever, and tear him down for his religion.”

Hoyt Dorn, a 52-year old employee at the American Cancer Society, was at the Reedy Grove Pentecostal church in Waterloo during the debate, but he too said he had largely given up on watching them.

“I think we’ve started the process way too early. I think there’s a lot of wasted time, energy and funds that could be used otherwise,” Dorn said.

A one-time Rick Perry fan who was now leaning towards Rick Santorum, Dorn also said that Romney’s Mormon faith was not an issue for him. “I take a person on face value. I don’t look at their background unless I felt it would be totally detrimental to what we’re trying to accomplish as a country,” he said.

But one disqualifier for him, he added, was a candidate’s focus on attacking his opponents, and he proposed a unique way to deal with negativity during debates.

“The first one that starts the so-called mudslinging, they’re dropped,” he suggested.

Billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson agreed to cut a $5-million check to the Super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich's campaign late last week as a "last act of loyalty" to an old friend. But Adelson plans to spend many millions more than that -- no matter the eventual GOP nominee -- to defeat President Obama, two close associates tells NBC News.

One of the associates said that Adelson's contributions to the anti-Obama cause may be greater "by a factor of five" than the donation he made last Friday. That suggests he may give as much as $25 million to GOP Super PACs gearing up to run attack TV ads against Obama.

"This is about a 20-year friendship with Newt," said one associate, who asked not to be identified but who has participated in discussions about the $5-million contribution Adelson made to Winning Our Future, the pro-Gingrich Super PAC. "He wanted to do something to help his friend who needs his help."

"But in his mind, whatever fallout there comes from this will be more than made up by the support he brings to the table" for the fall campaign, the associate added. "He has made clear he'll spend whatever it takes to defeat Barack Obama and support whoever is the nominee."

Adelson "agonized over" the contribution, said a second source close to the casino magnate, in part because he knew that Mitt Romney's campaign  would be "pissed."

But Adelson understood that "Newt's got to perform well" in South Carolina and "in a time of need, he felt he had an obligation to help his friend," the second source said.

The $5-million donation by Adelson is the largest known donation yet to so-called "Super PACs"-- groups that can take unlimited funds from wealthy donors and corporations. It dramatically illustrates the outside role that billionaire donors are having in shaping the GOP race.

After receiving the money from Adelson on Friday, Winning Our Future immediately made a $3.4 million ad buy in South Carolina in order to run blistering attacks on Romney's record as chief executive of Bain Capital, accusing him of reaping millions of dollars in profits by buying up companies and shutting down their factories. The ads will be based on clips from a 27-minute film, "King of Bain: When Mitt Romney Came to Town," that describes the GOP front-runner as a "predatory corporate raider."

Whether Adelson's contributions for the presidential race reach $25 million, or even exceed that, there is little question he has the resources to make such donations. The 77-year-old chief executive of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. -- who personally owns more than 40% of the stock of the international gambling firm -- is  currently ranked as the eighth-richest American by Forbes Magazine, with a net worth of $21.5 billion. 

A longtime generous GOP donor, he has been especially close to Gingrich, having given the former speaker's political organization more than $7 million in the last five years and making one of his jets available to fly Gingrich around the country to speaking engagements.

Adelson is also controversial: He has been involved in ferocious battles with labor unions in Las Vegas over his efforts to build non-union casinos. His  worldwide gambling firm is currently under criminal investigation by the U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly paying bribes to Chinese officials to secure a casino license in Macau. (The firm has adamantly denied the charges and said they stem from unfounded allegations made by a "disgruntled former employee.") 
He is also a staunch backer of Israel and owns a newspaper in that country -- a publication that has featured Gingrich on its front page. After Gingrich recently stirred controversy by saying the Palestinians were an "invented"  people," Adelson rushed to his defense telling a pro-Israeli group, "Read the history  of those who call themselves Palestinians and  you will see why" Gingrich said what he did.

Ron Reese, a spokesman for Las Vegas Sands, declined to comment on Adelson's contribution on Monday.  
 
The first Adelson associate acknowledged he was surprised to see that Adelson's money  is being used to fund ads based on the film about Romney and Bain Capital. The movie features interviews with workers who lost their jobs and had their homes foreclosed allegedly because of Bain Capital's actions aimed at boosting the profits of the companies. 

Adelson's own fights with union workers in Las Vegas -- and boost his own company's profits -- become so fierce that he was forced to retain full time security because of threats he received from the workers whose jobs were being jeopardized, the associate said.
  
"The whole thing is ironic," said the associate.

Bill Daley is stepping down as President Barack Obama's chief of staff.

The president made remarks from State Dining Room of the White House at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Budget Director Jack Lew will replace Daley. The change will be effective at the end of the month.

One senior administration official tells NBC News that Daley offered his letter of resignation to the president last Tuesday and Obama asked him to think about it. Daley returned on Wednesday and re-affirmed his decision to leave Washington and return to his hometown of Chicago.

"Obviously this was not easy news to hear," said Obama on Monday. "But in the end, the pull of the hometown we both love ... was too great."

The president added, "Chicago is only a phone call away."

Obama selected Daley for the post in January of last year. He's the brother of retired Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and the son of legendary Windy City Mayor Richard J. Daley.

Obama praised Daley's "extraordinary work" and said "no one in my administration has had to make more decisions, more quickly, than Bill."

Obama said he and Daley believe Lew to be the "clear choice" to serve as the next chief of staff.

*** UPDATE *** NBC's Kristen Welker has additiona reporting:

In the wake of this summer's debt-ceiling debate -- which left all sides battered -- Beltway insiders started to question whether Daley was the right fit for the job. Some aides on the Hill complained that they didn't feel as though they had a strong line of communication with Daley. 
           
In October, Daley openly complained about Congress during an interview with Politico; "Both Democrats and Republicans have really made it very difficult for the president to be anything like a chief executive," Daley said, "this has led to a kind of frustration."  Daley also insisted he would stay with the president through the re election year. 

But eyebrows were raised again in November when the White House announced Pete Rouse, a senior Obama aide, would take on an expanded role within the administration, essentially sharing some of the tasks that had initially fallen under Daley's purview. 

According to several senior administration officials, Daley went home during the holidays and realized he wanted to permanently return home to Chicago. Officials say Daley offered his letter of resignation to President Obama last Tuesday. Surprised, the president told Daley to think about it for 24 hours. Daley did exactly that, but returned with his letter of resignation the following day saying that he was certain about his decision to return to Chicago.

Senior administration officials say Daley recommended that the current Budget director, Jack Lew, replace him and the president agreed. Daley will become a campaign co-chair when he returns to Chicago.

ROCHESTER, N.H. – Supporters of Mitt Romney wonder when other Republicans will see the light.

John Makely / msnbc.com

Supporters of Mitt Romney turn out for a spaghetti dinner at The Tilton school, Firday, Jan. 6.

The former Massachusetts governor is the most electable Republican versus President Barack Obama this fall, according to his supporters here in New Hampshire. They blame a Republican Party that’s become more ideologically rigid and single-issue voters who scorn the big picture for Romney’s apparent inability to coalesce conservatives behind his campaign, a rift, they worry, that could scuttle the GOP’s chances of retaking the White House in November.

“The one thing you don’t want to do is throw your vote away to somebody who really doesn’t have a good chance in the general,” said Larry Wilson, an undecided voter heading into Tuesday’s primary here who attended a Friday spaghetti dinner hosted by Romney in Tilton. “I just think Romney’s the most electable, in terms of the general election with the perception that he is a little more pragmatic, more moderate, more seasoned.” 

Following the NBC News-Facebook debate on Sunday, longtime Romney supporter Martha Haley attended a rally in Rochester, N.H., and said voters need “to look at somebody who’s definitely going to defeat Barack Obama.”

Watch: Uncovering Mitt Romney's Mexican heritage

It’s tension that mirrors an internal struggle that has marked the Republican Party since the 2010 mid-term elections, when conservative and Tea Party primary candidates in House and Senate races bested more establishment-minded candidates who were recruited by the national establishment because of their electability. 

Echoes of that battle are now playing out nationally, and Romney is betting that electability is the trump card in his hand in his battle with primary opponents. While national and swing-state polls consistently show Romney faring best against Obama, many of those same polls show Romney struggling to win a basic level of support from the party’s most conservative members  –  the enthusiastic voters who could help drive him to victory.

John Makely / msnbc.com

Supporters of Mitt Romney turn out for a spaghetti dinner at The Tilton school.

New Hampshire voters who attended Romney events pointed to a variety of potential reasons for candidate’s struggles. They say his wealth, his (Mormon) religion, the media, relatively moderate stances on social issues, and – yes – his reversals on issues have driven doubts for Romney.

“I kind of understand how Romney’s been back and forth on some issues,” said Matt Goodrich, a recent college graduate who’s been substitute teaching while searching for a full-time job, on Friday. “I don’t expect somebody to feel the same way about something their entire political career.”

For Romney fans – and even potential Romney fans – the former Massachusetts governor is being held to an unreasonable standard.

“A lot of people don’t think he’s conservative enough,” said Tom Witham of Meredith, N.H.,“… But if he were conservative as people would like him to be, he wouldn’t be electable.”

Ideology versus electability has become a core issue here in the closing hours before the New Hampshire vote, the nation’s first primary and the second nominating contest of the 2012 cycle following last week’s Iowa caucuses. 

"I think what Republicans have to ask is who's most likely in the long run to survive against the kind of billion dollar campaign the Obama team is gonna run," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Sunday during the debate. "And I think that a bold Reagan conservative with a very strong economic plan is a lot more likely to succeed in that campaign than a relatively timid Massachusetts moderate who even The Wall Street Journal said had an economy plan so timid it resembled Obama."

Romney has tried to maintain a careful balance throughout the campaign between winning over the conservative primary electorate while maintaining general election viability. And he’s been the beneficiary of a divided field of conservatives vying to become his chief alternative. His 8-vote victory in last week’s Iowa caucus was due, in part, to a split conservative vote. That phenomenon might repeat itself in Jan. 21’s South Carolina primary, a win in which could seal the nomination for the former Massachusetts governor.

Romney’s campaigning has been directed at trying to seal that deal among those skeptical conservatives, an effort that has paid off with some voters here.

“I’m obviously very concerned about the so-called flip-flops, and I want to look at them,” said Northfield’s Linda Stone, who attended the dinner in Tilton. “That’s probably my biggest concern, but he sounded very good tonight. If this is my exposure to him, it would be very positive.”

Of doubters, “I would say come and listen to him,” said Denyse Fortier, a native Canadian who became a U.S. and New Hampshire citizen with her husband, Herm, in the 1970s.

John Makely / msnbc.com

Supporters of Mitt Romney turn out for a spaghetti dinner at The Tilton school.
Denise Fortier came to the event in Tilton to listen to candidate Romney.

"I can’t help the social direction of the country, but for myself, I’m not going to waste my vote on a popularity vote,” said Dennis McElreavy of Lee, N.H., who caught Romney’s exchange with Gingrich in Sunday morning’s debate before heading for the Rochester rally.

Democrats have been mindful of the difficulties Romney has faced in conveying himself as authentic, and they plan to make an issue of it, too, in the general election. The Democratic National Committee gleefully circulates emails under the “Which Mitt?” header, pointing to perceived flip-flops or inconsistencies in Romney’s public record. The attacks are reminiscent of the ones Republicans used against another wealthy and occasionally awkward Massachusetts politician: Democratic Sen. John Kerry during his 2008 presidential campaign.

Romney has also faced accusations of running a campaign directed toward the general election rather than conservative primary voters. But he also seems to be drawing erstwhile Democrats into his candidacy.

A Connecticut businesswoman who drove to Romney’s post-debate appearance at an opera house in Rochester said she voted for Obama in 2008, but thought “Romney’s the best person to beat him, but also the best person for this country.”

But if another Republican were to win the nomination, she said, she might reconsider supporting Obama.

Another registered Democrat, Maureen Farmer, said Friday in Tilton that she would vote for Romney as long as she was reassured that he wouldn’t support giving illegal immigrants access to social services.

A different nominee could alienate Democrats – and, more importantly, independents – crucial to winning a national election, according to supporters of Romney. And that’s what frustrates Wilson, the undecided voter who’s leaning toward Romney, and who urged primary voters to think a little more pragmatically on Tuesday.

“If you’re looking for the guy who is most likely to win the general election, vote for Romney,” he said. “If you strictly want to vote with your conscience … go with who you like, but it’s not necessarily going to accomplish anything.”

NASHUA, NH -- Newt Gingrich received the backing today of Sarah Palin’s husband, but not from the former Alaska governor -- at least not yet.
 
The Gingrich campaign says Todd Palin spoke with Gingrich by phone shortly after news of his endorsement spread, coming as a pleasant surprise to the campaign.
 
“He is going to speak out on behalf of my candidacy and I really appreciate that,” Gingrich told the Nashua Rotary meeting here. It is unclear if Todd will actually campaign with the former speaker. 
 
What this endorsement will do is begin speculation of a pending endorsement by Sarah, who considered running for president herself this year.
 
“Todd told Gingrich that he has no idea what Sarah is going to do,” Gingrich campaign spokesman R.C. Hammond told NBC News.
 
“We look at the endorsement for exactly what it is: one Reagan-conservative supporting another Reagan-conservative,” Hammond said. “It shows that people don’t want a status-quo nominee. They want someone with big ideas who can change Washington.”

The Grio.com's Perry Bacon writes that four years and one day ago, President Obama narrowly lost his New Hampshire primary race against Hillary Clinton. And it was in his concession speech where he unveiled the words: "Yes We Can."

But when he went on stage that night at Nashua High School South, Obama reshaped his loss into a defining moment in his political career. His speech and it's "Yes We Can" refrain turned into a theme for his campaign, a Will.I.Am music video that became an Internet sensation and one of the prime examples of how Obama had captured Democrats, particularly the young, like no candidate since John F. Kennedy.

Can Obama ever recapture that magic? Polls suggest the president remains very popular with Democrats overall, particularly those under 30 and African-Americans. But it's not clear if the enthusiasm of 2008, when supporters went across the country to campaign for him and Hollywood seemed enthralled with the potential president, can return again.

Could Mitt Romney become the first non-incumbent Republican presidential candidate to win in both Iowa and New Hampshire? After all, what happens in the Hawkeye State doesn't always follow in the Granite State...

Produced by NBC's John Bailey.

ANDERSON, SC -- Accusing front-runner Mitt Romney of causing painful layoffs in South Carolina during his leadership at a Boston private equity firm, Texas Gov. Rick Perry mocked the former Bain Capital CEO for claiming yesterday that he once feared losing his job.
  
"I have no doubt that Mitt Romney was worried about pink slips, whether he was going to have enough of them to hand out -- because his company Bain Capital and all the jobs that they killed," Perry said. "I'm sure he was worried that he would run out of pink slips." 

The Texas governor was referring to a comment Romney made in New Hampshire yesterday, when he said, "There were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip.” But as the New York Times notes, his campaign could not cite specific examples of Romney almost getting a pink slip, although a spokesman said that “as a young person just out of college, [Romney] worked his way up the career ladder knowing that his continued employment was by no means guaranteed.” 
 
Perry -- who named a steel manufacturer in Georgetown, SC, and a photo album company in Gaffney that he says gutted jobs as a result of Bain's actions -- said that residents of those communities would be stunned by the remarks of "the son of a multi-millionaire." 
 
"There's something inherently wrong when getting rich off failure and sticking it to someone else is how you do your business. I happen to think that is indefensible," he told the breakfast crowd of about 75 at Mama Penn's restaurant here in Anderson. "If you're a victim of Bain Capital's downsizing, it's the ultimate insult for Mitt Romney to come to South Carolina and tell you he feels your pain. Because he caused it." 
 
The Texas governor continued to blast his rivals as a whole for being "insiders" chained to the DC status quo, although he did offer some complimentary words for Texas colleague Ron Paul when he asked if the famously anti-Fed congressman would make a good Federal Reserve chair. 
 
"Congressman Paul would be an ideal person to head up the Fed and put a little fear in their heart," he replied after chuckling that Paul would "probably scare all of those people to death." 
  
Perry, who hopes to score momentum from evangelicals in the Palmetto State, spoke at length about his faith, and joked that his identity as a Christian is fitting given his rocky moments as a candidate.
 
"God gives us what we can't give ourselves, and that's the gift of redemption," he said. "If you watch my debate performances, it's good to get a little bit of redemption every now and then. Get a second chance."

*** UPDATE *** Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul responds, "It is no surprise that, having spent nearly half a century in government between them, Speaker Gingrich and Gov. Perry have resorted to desperate attacks on a subject they don’t understand. We expect attacks on free enterprise from President Obama and his allies on the left – not from so-called ‘fiscal conservatives.’"

DOVER, NH –- As the nominating process continues and poll numbers remain in flux, Newt Gingrich is backing away from his positive-only campaign for president in an attempt to capture the Republican nomination before it’s too late.
 
“I was going to stay totally positive and the truth is, I did OK [in Iowa] considering the weight of advertising against me,” Gingrich told one of his largest crowds on the campaign trail Sunday evening in Derry. “Now, my conclusion has been to draw a much sharper contrast.”
 
The former House speaker, who finished fourth in last week's Iowa contest, was constantly attacked on the airwaves and in mailboxes throughout the Hawkeye State by GOP rival Mitt Romney and a pro-Romney Super PAC (plus by Ron Paul and Rick Perry to a lesser extent). But Gingrich, who in the past has been criticized for his lack of discipline, never hit back in any type of paid advertisements.
 
“I didn’t want to get into a dance where Romney would put up ad No. 1, I would answer it and they would put up ad No. 2, and I would answer it,” Gingrich told his audience at Pinkerton Academy. “And since he has vastly more money than I do, I would end up consistently using up all of my money telling you what’s wrong with those ads.”
 
But Gingrich, as well as a pro-Gingrich Super PAC, are going on the offensive now just days before the New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida primaries.
 
On Sunday night, Winning Our Future -- that Super PAC -- released a nearly three-minute trailer of its 27-minute film hitting Romney for being a “raider” while working for Bain Capital.

 
“Think you know Mitt? Think again,” the trailer for ‘When Romney Came to Town’ says. “For tens of thousands of Americans, the suffering began when Mitt Romney came to town.”
 
Winning Our Future is expected to spend $3.4 million in South Carolina focusing on Bain.
 
Gingrich promised to “disown” any Super PAC that attacked his rivals on his behalf numerous times while campaigning in Iowa, but the former speaker says things have changed.
 
“Well, it turns out that there are some things when you describe them, they are negative. If you accurately describe some things that are negative, it’s pretty hard to draw a distinction there in terms of accuracy,” Gingrich said at a house party Monday morning.
 
The campaign itself has even started launching “contrast” attacks at the supposed front-runner for the nomination.
 
“This is not my first preference on how to run the campaign. As you know, I was having a great time being totally positive, talking about big ideas and big solutions and I would be glad to go back to that,” Gingrich acknowledged to reporters Monday. “But ... I don’t believe in unilateral disarmament, and I don’t believe that if the other person sets the standard of being very tough that you can back off or you look like you can’t defend yourself.”
 
At some point today, the campaign will release a new YouTube video laying out all of the tax increases Mitt Romney made while he served as Massachusetts governor.
 
And new site, NOTROMNEY.org, was launched Saturday by Gingrich citing the reasons that Romney is a moderate –- at least in the eyes of the  former speaker. “Romney is not a conservative. Romney is not a Reagan Republican. Romney is not electable,” the flier on the site reads.
 
Television ad buys in both New Hampshire and South Carolina –- and likely Florida, too -– were made by the campaign to air a 30-second spot again contrasting Gingrich and Romney in similar ways.
 
“I’m not going to try and match the Romney campaign’s negative ads. I am prepared to say, I am a Reagan conservative; he is a Massachusetts moderate,” Gingrich said Sunday. “That seems to actually hurt almost as much as his ads.”
 
But it seems as Gingrich is growing “broad shoulders” to withstand the heat from Romney, the former speaker is dishing it back out there just on slightly different terms.
 
“That if you are faced with somebody who is determined to be negative, you have to at least draw a sharp and clear contrast so people understand who the person is running the negative ads. You don’t have any choice,” he said.

            The Supreme Court jumps squarely into the partisan battles of 2014 Monday, refereeing a legal fight that could help determine whether Republicans take control of the House of Representatives. 

            Texas, by virtue of its expanding population, is entitled to four new seats in in the House, bringing its total to 36.  Nearly 80 percent of that growth came from an increase in the state's Latino and African-American populations, groups that tend to vote for Democratic candidates. But the Texas legislature drew a new map of congressional districts that virtually guaranteed three of the new seats to Republicans. Civil rights groups immediately sued, and a federal court came up with a map of its own on an emergency basis for this year's elections.

            Both sides are asking the Supreme Court to rule by early February on which map to use -- the one drawn up by the Republican controlled legislature, or the court-drawn map, which would likely give Democrats more of the new seats. Due to its history of discriminating against minority groups, Texas is among the states required to get permission for any change in its election process. Texas opted to seek that approval from a federal court in Washington, D.C., but several Democrats and civil rights groups filed a separate lawsuit in Texas to block the new map. It is that case which is before the Supreme Court.

Recommended: First Thoughts: A New Hampshire surprise?

            The state argues that the Texas court exceeded its authority in drawing up its own map and should have ordered instead that the legislature's map would be used on an interim basis for the 2014 election, while the state pursues permanent approval for its redistricting plan.

            The Texas court, argues Paul Clement, the lawyer for the state, should not have tossed out the legislature's new map and substituted one of its own.

            "Redistricting is an inherently political process," Clement said. "In the absence of some violation of statutory or constitutional law, it is wholly committed to the discretion of state legislatures." 

            However, the groups challenging the revised state map say the legislature went out of its way to dilute the voting power of Latinos and African-Americans by splitting up politically active portions of those populations and replacing them with residents who tend not to vote.

            "Although Hispanics and African Americans together now outnumber Anglos in Texas, the congressional redistricting plan the legislature enacted actually reduced the number of districts in which minority voters would be able to elect their candidates of choice," says John Devaney, a lawyer representing the challengers.

            The state's plan, Devaney said, reflects an effort to "pick off, split up, and drown out minority voters to ensure that minority population gains would not translate into minority electoral gains." 

            The case also involves a challenge to the state's plan for redrawing districts for state legislative elections. Both sides urge the court to act with unusual speed.  "Usable maps must be in place by February 2, 2012, even in order for the delayed primary elections to go forward," Clement said.

            Lurking in the background of the case is the future of a key part of the federal Voting Rights Act. Section 5 requires states with a history of discrimination to get permission, known as preclearance, before changing any of their election procedures.  While Texas does not challenge the constitutionality of that provision directly, some civil rights advocates worry that the case could present an invitation for the justices to strike it down.

            The Supreme Court came close to weakening Section 5 in a 2009 decision, also involving a Texas voting change.  While the justices declined to overturn the preclearance requirement, several suggested it may no longer be needed.

            "Things have changed in the South," wrote Chief Justice John Roberts.  "Blacks now register and vote at higher rates than whites," he said, in some covered states. Roberts said the historic accomplishments of the law are undeniable, but added the federal burdens it imposed "must be justified by current needs."

            The civil rights groups challenging the new Texas congressional map urge the court to steer clear of reviewing Section 5.

            "The question whether those burdens are justified is neither raised nor necessary to a decision," says John Devaney, the lawyer for the groups.  "It must be left for another day."

            Many legal scholars doubt the Supreme Court will reach the Section 5 question in this case.

            "The court recognizes that it must act more quickly than usual, given the time pressures involved with primary elections looming shortly down the road.  For all those reasons, the court is likely to focus on the narrowest issues needed to resolve the particular legal issues presented," says Prof. Richard Pildes, an election law expert at the New York University School of law.

A New Hampshire surprise?... The battle for second place… The battle over Bain Capital… A new negative narrative emerges for Romney: his struggles with revising history… Revenge on Valerie Jarrett… And a busy day in New Hampshire.

MANCHESTER, NH -- The New Hampshire primary has often been the place for surprises. In 1964, a write-in candidate actually won the GOP primary here (Lodge). In 1996, Pat Buchanan upset Bob Dole. In 2000, John McCain didn't just win -- but shocked most pollsters when he blew out front-runner George W. Bush. And on the Democratic side in 2008, Hillary Clinton pulled one of the biggest surprises in primary politics when she defeated Barack Obama. Yet with Mitt Romney leading in New Hampshire by 20 points or more in most polls -- a new WMUR survey has him leading Ron Paul by 24 points, 41%-17% -- this year’s New Hampshire surprise will probably be for second place. Right now, we’re seeing Paul and Jon Huntsman battle for independents. And we’re seeing Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum battle for conservatives. Whoever best consolidates one of those groups (either indies or conservatives) could emerge as this cycle’s surprise and “Comeback Kid.” By the way, only three campaigns are really up on the air in the NH/Boston market right now in New Hampshire: Romney, Paul, and Huntsman.

*** The battle over Bain: There’s also another battle going on in the GOP presidential contest: the battle to define Bain Capital. We saw it emerge as a topic in yesterday’s debate. We’re about to see it emerge in South Carolina, as the pro-Gingrich Super PAC Winning Our Future is planning to air advertisements in the Palmetto State. “Thanks to a $5 million donation from a wealthy casino owner [Sheldon Adelson], a group supporting Newt Gingrich plans to place advertisements in South Carolina this week attacking Mitt Romney as a predatory capitalist who destroyed jobs and communities, “the New York Times reports. NBC’s Michael Isikoff adds that Winning Our Future’s ad buy in South Carolina is $3.4 million, a huge sum for that state. And the DNC is out with a new video questioning Romney’s claim that Bain created a net 100,000 jobs. The issue of Bain is becoming enough of a concern for the Romney campaign that NBC's Garrett Haake reports that yesterday, Romney – for the first time -- brought up Bain to DEFINE his time there.

*** “You can’t handle the truth”: Besides Bain and also the flip-flopping charges that could carry over to the general election, a new negative narrative on Romney has begun to emerge: accusations that he’s not always telling the truth or that he’s revising history. One obvious example came at yesterday’s NBC/Facebook debate, when he maintained he had not seen the pro-Romney Super PAC ads hitting Gingrich. “With regards to their ads, I haven't seen them,” Romney said. Then moments later, he repeated the ads’ attacks -- almost word for word. “The ad I saw said that you'd been forced out of the speakership. That was correct. It said that you had sat down with Nancy Pelosi and argued for a climate change bill. That was correct.”  The DNC also has produced another new video, entitled “Mitt, why not just tell the truth,” seizing on that exchange at yesterday’s debate.

*** Revising history: Stumping in New Hampshire yesterday, Romney also mentioned that he can relate to people who know what it’s like to worry about getting fired. “There were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip.” But as the New York Times notes, his campaign could not cite specific examples of Romney almost getting a pink slip, although a spokesman said that “as a young person just out of college, [Romney] worked his way up the career ladder knowing that his continued employment was by no means guaranteed.” And as an example of possibly revising history, Romney said at yesterday’s debate, “I went to Massachusetts to make a difference. I didn't go there to begin a political career, running time and time again.” Yet Gingrich later called that line “pious baloney,” pointing out that Romney had run for Massachusetts senator in ’94, then for governor in ’02, and then began making plans for a presidential bid in ’06.

*** Romney opens up a big lead in Florida: Remember when Newt Gingrich had a sizable lead in the Sunshine State? Well, that appears long gone. Per a new Quinnipiac poll, Romney has opened up a double-digit edge over Gingrich among likely Republican primary voters in Florida, 36%-24%, with Santorum in third at 16%.

*** Revenge on Jarrett? The new Jodi Kantor book about the Obamas, as a couple, is the type of book that at another point in the calendar would be getting a LOT more buzz in the political world. But because of the New Hampshire primary, it's not getting the attention that it might deserve. While the book is supposed to focus on the relationship of the Obamas to each other and to Washington, there's a fascinating subplot to what is clearly the sourcing on the book: it's the revenge of the senior Obama staff on the longtime personal friend to the Obamas, Valerie Jarrett. Senior Obama folks we've talked to were actually surprised by how many fappeared to talk to the author and the theme, when it comes to how the White House has worked, revolves around one LARGER narrative: Jarrett's use of her personal access to sometimes drive a wedge within the senior West Wing staff. The grumbling about Jarrett by Obama folks started the day she showed up on the campaign trail in late 2007. Back then, she was perceived as Michelle Obama's "eyes and ears." And for better or worse, neither the senior political folks (or the White House senior staff) never seemed embrace Jarrett nor does it appear she tried as well as she could have to ingratiate herself. Either way, this book is exposing a riff that the White House current and former senior aides have tried to keep under wraps. Not anymore.

*** On the trail: On the final day before the new Hampshire primary, almost all the campaign activity is in the Granite State: Santorum stumps in Nashua, Salem, Derry, Somersworth, and Manchester… Gingrich hits Dover, Manchester, Nashua, Hudson, and Concord… Huntsman is in Lebanon, Claremont, Henniker, Concord, Dover, Nashua, and Exeter… Romney campaigns in Nashua, Hudson, and Bedford… And Paul visits Manchester, Hollis, and Stratham… Meanwhile, Perry remains in South Carolina, stumping in Pickens and Greenville.

Countdown to New Hampshire primary: 1 day
Countdown to South Carolina primary: 12 days
Countdown to Florida primary: 22 days
Countdown to Nevada caucuses: 26 days
Countdown to Super Tuesday: 57 days
Countdown to Election Day: 302 days

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