memeorandum: TRENDING: Christie takes on protesters chanting at Romney rally (Kevinliptak/CNN)

9:20 AM ET, January 9, 2012

Top Items:

Romney holding steady in NH — Mitt Romney continues to be headed for a comfortable win in New Hampshire. PPP's final poll there finds him with 35% to 18% for Ron Paul, 16% for Jon Huntsman, 12% for Newt Gingrich, 11% for Rick Santorum, 3% for Buddy Roemer, and 1% for Rick Perry.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, FiveThirtyEight and The Politico

New York Times:

Pro-Gingrich PAC Details Ads Against Romney's Bain Role — MANCHESTER, N.H. — Thanks to a $5 million donation from a wealthy casino owner, a group supporting New Gingrich plans to place advertisements in South Carolina this week attacking Mitt Romney as a predatory capitalist who destroyed jobs …

Discussion: GOP 12, The Politico, Los Angeles Times, The Caucus, New York Post, Talking Points Memo, LewRockwell.com Blog, Taylor Marsh, Runnin' Scared, Hullabaloo, Prairie Weather, ABCNEWS, Mediaite, Hot Air, Campaign 2012, Outside the Beltway, msnbc.com and RedState

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

The Boffo Awfulness — In the preceding post I referenced this swift-boat-style ‘documentary’ on Mitt Romney and Bain Capital which the Gingrich-backing SuperPAC (Winning Our Future) has bought and will use as the battering ram against Romney in South Carolina. They've put up a trailer for it now which you can see after the jump.

Discussion: Campaign 2012, No More Mister Nice Blog, Balloon Juice and Political Mojo

Mark Maremont / Wall Street Journal:

Romney at Bain: Big Gains, Some Busts — Mitt Romney's political foes are stepping up attacks based on his time running investment firm Bain Capital, tagging him with making a fortune from the rougher side of American capitalism—even as Mr. Romney says his Bain tenure shows he knows how to build businesses.

Discussion: The Enterprise Blog, Campaign 2012 and Taegan Goddard's …

Quinnipiac University:

Romney Has Big GOP Likely Voter Lead In Florida, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Most Voters Say They Might Change Their Mind — With 36 percent of Florida Republican likely primary voters, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has a double-digit lead three weeks before the nation's …

Discussion: The Hill and The Caucus

Mike Allenand Jim Vandehei / The Politico:

New Hampshire primary: The land of make-believe — MANCHESTER, N.H. - The trappings are here: debates ... diner stops ... satellite trucks. — But the contest isn't: Mitt Romney is holding onto his apparently huge lead over rivals in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, and is looking so strong …

Discussion: New Yorker, ABCNEWS, Ballot Box and CNN

WMUR:

Poll Shows Battle For 2nd In Primary; Romney Keeps Lead — Huntsman Moves Into Tie With Santorum — MANCHESTER, N.H. — The top spot in the latest WMUR/University of New Hampshire poll still belongs to Mitt Romney, but the race for second and third place is very close.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Ballot Box and GOP 12

Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico: Debate shows super PACs' strength

Meghashyam Mali / Ballot Box:
Romney tells voters he knows what it's like to fear getting a ‘pink slip’

Discussion: The Politico

Buzzfeed Politics / Politics:
Romney's Inexplicable Debate Fibs

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Boston Globe, 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com, Weekly Standard, National Review, Firedoglake, The Mahablog, Power Line and BuzzFeed

Kevinliptak / CNN:

TRENDING: Christie takes on protesters chanting at Romney rally — Exeter, New Hampshire (CNN) - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie fired back at protesters at a rally Sunday for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in New Hampshire. — The brash Republican governor …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit and The Politico

Katrina Trinko / National Review:
Christie Squares Off with Occupiers at Romney Rally

Discussion: Washington Post, Ed Driscoll and Nice Deb

Alex Spillius / Telegraph:

White House ‘covered up’ Tim Burton-staged Alice in Wonderland Halloween party — The White House covered up an Alice in Wonderland-themed Halloween party staged by film director Tim Burton and actor Johnny Depp for fear of creating the wrong impression during a recession, a new book on the Obamas has claimed.

Discussion: Big Journalism, The Gateway Pundit and blogs.telegraph.co.uk

New York Post:
White House threw secret ‘Alice in Wonderland’ bash during recession

Discussion: Verum Serum, The PJ Tatler, Big Hollywood, Don Surber, Atlas Shrugs, Weasel Zippers, The Lonely Conservative, Doug Ross and New York Magazine

Carol E. Lee / Washington Wire: New Book Portrays Explosive White House Dynamics

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Record-High 40% of Americans Identify as Independents in '11 — More Americans identify as Democrats than as Republicans, 31% to 27% — PRINCETON, NJ — The percentage of Americans identifying as political independents increased in 2011, as is common in a non-election year …

Discussion: The Politico and National Review

David Eldridge / Washington Times:

Ex-Times Editorial Page Editor Tony Blankley dead at 63 — Tony Blankley, a noted conservative author and commentator and former editorial page editor of The Washington Times, died Sunday morning, according to family sources. He was 63 and had been battling stomach cancer.

Discussion: Hot Air, The Other McCain, The Daily Caller, NewsBusters.org, The Sundries Shack, Scared Monkeys, Ricochet Conversations Feed and Outside the Beltway

Gschwarzcnn / CNN: Tony Blankley, conservative author, dies at 63

Richard Wolf / USA Today:

U.S. debt is now equal to economy — WASHINGTON - The soaring national debt has reached a symbolic tipping point: It's now as big as the entire U.S. economy. — The amount of money the federal government owes to its creditors, combined with IOUs to government retirement and other programs, now tops $15.23 trillion.

Discussion: The Politico

Benjy Sarlin / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:

TPM2012 — Carl Paladino Trash-Talks The Entire GOP Field (Except Newt) — MANCHESTER, NH — Ron Paul's about to “get on the mother-ship and go back to the mother planet,” Rick Perry's going nowhere unless it's to “hang around the shooting range,” and Jon Huntsman clearly loves the Chinese so much he “should move to China.”

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog