After another bad debate, is Rick Perry finished?  —  HANOVER, NH — It would be an understatement to say that Texas Gov. Rick Perry's top aides are unhappy with press reports casting Tuesday night's Republican debate as a make-or-break moment for the Texas governor.

Mitt Romney builds case for inevitability  —  HANOVER, N.H - Hours after Chris Christie signaled he believes Mitt Romney is the Republican party's inevitable nominee, Romney and the rest of the GOP field went about proving him right.  —  Romney again outclassed the opposition in Tuesday's Bloomberg/Washington Post debate.

Who is Rich Lowrie?  —  Herman Cain says his much-touted “9-9-9” plan is the product of extensive testing and thinking, but the only man he cited as involved with its research — Rich Lowrie, of Cleveland, Ohio — is not a trained economist.  —  Instead, Lowrie — who's the only economic adviser Cain …

First Thoughts: Is Romney a sure thing?  —  By NBC's Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Brooke Brower  —  Is Romney a sure thing?  All signs point in that direction, but the numbers tell a different story... Recapping last night's debate: Another missed opportunity for Perry …

The Shame Of The Crowded Field  —  The ridiculous thing about these Republican debates is that you keep needing to wade through this vast field of candidates who are essentially doing book tours in order to hear the actual presidential candidates debate.  Rick Santorum is not going to be a major party presidential nominee.

99 Percenters, Meet the 53 Percenters  —  In response to Occupy Wall Street, some conservatives are blasting the 47 percent of Americans who don't pay federal taxes.  Do they have a point?  —  The slogan doesn't exactly sing: “We are the 53 percent!”  But this new campaign …