Crowd boos mentioning of McCain's name at Santorum event  —  SOMERSWORTH, N.H. — Drawing an implicit contrast with Mitt Romney on the eve of the first-in-the-nation primary, Rick Santorum on Monday implored New Hampshire not to settle for a centrist, establishment candidate.

William Daley to step down as Obama's chief of staff  —  White House Chief of Staff William Daley, left, confers with White House Press Secretary Jay Carney as President Barack Obama addresses the media in the briefing room of the White Hous.  (Win McNamee/Getty Images / December 8, 2011)

Why You Cannot Say You ‘Like’ Firing People  —  As Derek Thompson points out on our site, and as the Romney campaign will be fully justified in reiterating, obviously Mitt Romney did not mean that he enjoys the process of telling people “you're gone!” when he made his infamous “I like being able to fire people” remark in New Hampshire.

Texas Voting Rights Case Heard by Supreme Court  —  WASHINGTON — Several members of the Supreme Court appeared frustrated on Monday as they surveyed the available options and looming deadlines in a major voting rights case from Texas that could help decide control of the House.

Poll: Among GOP hopefuls, Romney fares best against Obama  —  CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto.  —  Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney holds a two-point lead against President Obama …

N.J. Gov. Chris Christie Responds to Female Hecklers With Offensive Oral Sex Joke … - New Hampshire Debate: Gingrich Attacks Romney for His “Pious Baloney” - CBS Stakes Its Claim as the Adult Contemporary of the Network Morning Shows  — Chris Christie Responds to Female Hecklers With Lame …

Gayest Cities in America, 2012  —  It's no secret that megalopolises New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles have robust LGBT life — and we've even heard tell of little queer hoods like the Castro and P-Town.  This isn't that list.  —  There's the official census with information …

Todd Palin Endorses Newt Gingrich  —  ABC News' Santina Leuci and Z. Byron Wolf report:  —  Sarah Palin's husband is endorsing Newt Gingrich for president, Todd Palin told ABC News today.  —  But Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and John McCain's 2008 Republican running mate …

Conservatives vs. Capitalism  —  The last two presidential election cycles have revealed a stinking hypocrisy in conservatives: They profess their love of capitalism and entrepreneurship, but when offered a real capitalist and entrepreneur, they go, “Eek, a mouse!”  And they tear him down in proud social-democrat fashion.

Pain: The David Gregory Solution  —  Before we leave the weekend's debates behind, and in keeping with the blog's first rule of economics — Fk The Deficit.  People Got No Jobs.  People Got No Money.  — I would be remiss not to mention the performance on Sunday of Dancin' Dave Gregory …

Satan Cheers Graham, Osteen, Starr for Not Telling the Truth About Mormonism  —  Contact: Bill Keller, bkeller@liveprayer.com, 727-420-7005  —  Bill Keller, the world's leading Internet Evangelist and the founder of LivePrayer.com, with over 2.4 million subscribers worldwide reading …