- New Hampshire’s largest paper, the Union Leader (not to be confused with “union leaders”), endorses Newt Gingrich with an implicit case against Mitt Romney: “We would rather back someone with whom we may sometimes disagree than one who tells us what he thinks we want to hear.”
- The nod has historically helped candidates outperform expectations.
- Romney sees electability and immigration as his two best primary weapons.
- He’s making the former case explicitly and could run into some trouble on the latter.
- How do you know someone’s a front-runner? When the New York Times runs A1 stories about their hairdresser.
- Also: The DNC is already launching a TV ad hitting Romney in six swing states:
[youtube=http://youtu.be/CUOM9QvhG5I]
- Perry tests boundaries of campaign finance rules against Super PAC coordination.
- Lobbying seems to have a huge effect on corporate tax rate.
- Banks reaped some $13 billion through previously undisclosed emergency loans from the Fed during the financial crisis.
- Eurozone leaders pursue a binding continent-wide budget deal as the union teeters.
- Republicans edge away from a payroll tax cut extension.
- And a challenger to Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey goes to great lengths to make a simple point:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoF3-UemPWQ]