memeorandum: Stephanopoulos struggles with fairness during NH debate (Matthew Boyle/The Daily Caller)

12:55 PM ET, January 8, 2012

Top Items:

Romney: Politics For The Rich — His father told him he shouldn't go into politics if he had a mortgage to pay. Most people have mortgages to pay. — (Reuters / JIM BOURG) — Mitt Romney suggested in today's debate that only rich people should run for office, and then quickly celebrated …

Discussion: Politics, Washington Monthly, 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com, Taegan Goddard's …, ThinkProgress, msnbc.com, The New Republic and No More Mister Nice Blog

Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:

Stephanopoulos struggles with fairness during NH debate — ABC News commentator George Stephanopoulos directed pointed, hard-edged questions to Republican presidential candidates during Saturday night's New Hampshire debate, often attacking without providing evidence to justify his broadsides.

Discussion: Power Line, Campaign 2012, National Review, Wizbang, The Gateway Pundit, NO QUARTER, Doug Ross, The Lonely Conservative and Instapundit

ABCNEWS:

Why Mitt Romney Didn't Get Attacked In Saturday Night's Debate — The assumption was that Saturday's ABC/WMUR debate was going to produce some serious fireworks. — After all, you have a front-runner who is quickly assuming the mantle of the “inevitable” nominee.

Discussion: msnbc.com, Campaign 2012, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway, Taylor Marsh, Hot Air and The Other McCain

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:

Romney Trips On Contraception Question: 'It's Working Just Fine, Just Leave It Alone' — At tonight's ABC News/WMUR Republican presidential debate at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney stumbled badly on a Constitutional question …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Los Angeles Times and The Daily Caller

New York Times:

Romney Eludes Rivals' Attacks at Republican Debate in N.H. — GOFFSTOWN, N.H. — A relaxed and self-assured Mitt Romney sailed above the fray at a crucial debate on Saturday night as his Republican rivals engaged in a spirited fight to determine which of them would emerge as his most formidable opponent …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Outside the Beltway, FiveThirtyEight and The Caucus

Byron York / Campaign 2012:

Team Romney: Steph ‘obsessed’ with contraception — MANCHESTER, NH — Aides to Gov. Mitt Romney were left shaking their heads late Saturday night after a question directed to Romney by ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on the issue of contraception. After the debate, one top Romney aide …

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative and NewsBusters.org

Michael O'Brien / msnbc.com:
Sunday debate offers GOP hopeful second chance at fireworks

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Slate, The Gateway Pundit and Reuters

ABCNEWS:
Anti-Romney Movie Attacks to Bain Career

Discussion: Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit and TomDispatch

Alexander Burns / The Politico:
New Hampshire primary: Mitt Romney rises above squabbling pack

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

Benjy Sarlin / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPM2012 — Debbie Wasserman Schultz: Romney's A ‘Job Cremator’

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Reality-Based Community, The Raw Story and The Political Carnival

Washington Post:
Mitt Romney under attack from other GOP candidates ahead of N.H. debate

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, State of the Union, The Page and New York Times

Josh Lederman / Ballot Box:
Romney's private sector record cross-examined in NH Republican debate

Discussion: The Politico and CNN

A.Killough / CNN:
Gingrich in friendly attack-mode ahead of debate

Discussion: The Politico, ABCNEWS, The Page, Los Angeles Times and Hot Air

James V. Grimaldi / Washington Post:

Billionaire Adelson gives millions to Gingrich Super PAC — Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson has given $5 million to an independent committee supporting GOP presidential aspirant Newt Gingrich, the first of what is expected to be many millions the Las Vegas billionaire plans to spend this election year.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Daily Caller and The Politico

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Romney up in South Carolina

Discussion: 2012 Decoded, Guardian, The Politico, Taylor Marsh, Balloon Juice and Weekly Standard

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Social conservatives start to coalesce around Santorum

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Gary Bauer to endorse Rick Santorum

Discussion: Reuters, The Politico and CNN

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Rick Santorum to get Gary Bauer endorsement Sunday

Discussion: The Other McCain, Don Surber, Hot Air and ABCNEWS

Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:

2012 ABC/Yahoo!/WMUR New Hampshire GOP primary debate (Transcript) — SAWYER: And good evening to all of you. Welcome to Saint Anselm College and the first debate of the year, 2012. The voting is underway. And, George, those eight votes in Iowa reminded us on Tuesday every vote counts.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and Althouse

Associated Press:

MSNBC chief: No decision on Pat Buchanan's return — (AP) PASADENA, Calif. — MSNBC's top executive said Saturday that he hasn't decided whether conservative commentator and author Pat Buchanan will be allowed back on the network. — Buchanan, a former GOP presidential candidate …

Discussion: The Impolitic, Crooks and Liars, The Raw Story and Outside the Beltway

Free exchange:

The zero lower bound in our minds — PRIOR to the crisis, there was a general (if tenuous) accord among macroeconomists of many different stripes, that the Federal Reserve could and would act to stabilise the economy when necessary. Then, in December of 2008, the Fed hit the zero lower bound …

Discussion: EconLog and ParaPundit

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

The Grating Santorum — MANCHESTER, N.H. — RICK SANTORUM was locking down the youth vote. — The man who fondly recalls nuns rapping his knuckles with rulers did some verbal knuckle-rapping of his own on Thursday with students at a forum in Concord hosted by New England College.

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:

McCain downplays tension with Romney — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) downplayed any past bad blood between he and former rival Mitt Romney Sunday, days after he endorsed the former Massachusetts governor. — Appearing on CBS's “Face the Nation,” McCain was shown a montage …

Discussion: The Politico

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

Trailing in New Hampshire, Jon Huntsman takes the long view — MANCHESTER, N.H. — More than 160 New Hampshire events and counting to his name, Jon Huntsman is hoping to pull off a political miracle Tuesday with the same shoe-leather campaign Rick Santorum ran with success in Iowa.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Outside the Beltway, The Reality-Based Community and CNN

Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Paul pushback on Huntsman video

Discussion: Doug Ross, The Caucus, RedState, The Spectacle Blog, Connecting.the.Dots and Ballot Box

DPA / Haaretz:

Iranian cleric calls Facebook ‘un-Islamic’, membership a ‘sin’ — 17 million Iranians have a Facebook account, despite heavy restrictions and filtering imposed by the government. — Get Haaretz on iPhone — Get Haaretz on Android — An Iranian ayatollah has said that the social …

Discussion: Israel Matzav, Jihad Watch and Weasel Zippers