Rick Santorum focuses on gay marriage  —  He suggests to a New Hampshire audience that an imprisoned father is preferable to a same-sex parent.  —  Mitt Romney leaves a campaign event outside an old peanut warehouse in Conway, S.C. (David Goldman, AP / January 6, 2012)

Paul pushback on Huntsman video  —  Ron Paul supporters have pushed back furiously in the last 24 hours on the charge that one Paul backer posted an offensive video questioning Jon Huntsman's national loyalty, and showing clips of Huntsman speaking Mandarin with his adopted Chinese daughter.

Michelle Obama and the Evolution of a First Lady  —  Michelle Obama was privately fuming, not only at the president's team, but also at her husband.  —  In the days after the Democrats lost Edward Kennedy's Senate seat in January 2010, Barack Obama was even-keeled as usual in meetings …

Rep. Elton Gallegly to retire  —  U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Simi Valley, the longest serving congressional representative in Ventura County history, announced this morning that he will not seek re-election and will retire at the end of the current Congress.

The G.O.P.'s ‘Black People’ Platform  —  That didn't take long.  —  As we've gotten around to casting votes to select a Republican presidential nominee, the antiblack rhetoric has taken center stage.  —  You just have to love (and despise) this kind of predictability.

The Left's So-Called Empathy  —  Lest you doubt that we're headed for the most vicious election year in memory, consider the determined effort, within ten minutes of his triumph in Iowa, to weirdify Rick Santorum.  Discussing the surging senator on Fox News, Alan Colmes mused on some of the “crazy things” he's said and done.

Occupying Grand Central Station  —  Five hundred people returned to Zuccotti Park on New Year's Eve, with drums, chants of “Whose Year?  Our Year!”, and a tent, which they say they gave to police in exchange for entrance to the park.  An hour before midnight, police and occupiers attempting …

Hilarious!  McCain mistakenly refers to Romney as Obama  —  Oh man, this is classic.  McCain totally referred to Romney as “President Obama” and went on for a few seconds before Gov. Haley corrected him.  Hilarious!  You know what they say about drunk people being more truthful, right?

Nigeria sect kills 15; Christians vow defense  —  MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — A radical Muslim sect attacked a church during a worship service in Nigeria's northeast during assaults that killed at least 15 people, authorities said Saturday, as Christians vowed to defend themselves …