Majority of Conservatives See Romney as “Acceptable”  —  Only Romney now seen as acceptable by majority of Republicans  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Mitt Romney is the now the only candidate that a majority of conservative and moderate/liberal Republicans nationwide see as an “acceptable” GOP nominee for president.

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.

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 …

Poll: Americans, 2-1, Fear Obama's Reelection  —  When it comes to how Americans view President Obama going into the new year, there appears to be very little spirit of Auld Lang Syne.  Instead, according to the new Washington Whispers poll, many voters aren't forgetting what they dislike about Obama and want him out office.

New Hampshire polls open in Dixville Notch — with nine votes  —  DIXVILLE NOTCH, N.H. — The voters of this tiny hamlet, all nine of them, have spoken.  Very briefly.  —  The polls opened here at midnight and closed less than a minute later, and the tally was final by 12:05 a.m. On the Republican side …

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.

Bill Daley resignation: Why he had to go  —  The Bill Daley era on Monday screeched to a jarring, clattering conclusion.  —  Daley, who departs after a little more than a year as President Barack Obama's chief of staff, was never a great fit inside the West Wing — and Obama …

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 …

NC Elections Official Resigns Rather than Facilitate the Marriage Discrimination Amendment  —  This thunderous letter of support for equality was sent to PHB and BlueNC by Sherre Toler, who, until last week was the director of elections for Harnett County in my state.

N.J. Assemblyman Alex DeCroce collapses, dies in Statehouse after long legislative session  —  TRENTON — Longtime Assemblyman Alex DeCroce, the leading Republican of the state's lower house who represented Morris County for 23 years, collapsed and died in a bathroom inside the Statehouse late Monday night …

Rush: Newt using language of the left targeting Bain makes me uncomfortable  —  Rush pretty much lays the blame on Romney for all these scorched-earth ad campaigns now, but even so he says that Newt using the language of the left in beating up Romney over his company Bain Capital makes …

UPDATED: Herger to announce retirement; LaMalfa to run for his seat  —  After a quarter century representing the north state, U.S. Rep. Wally Herger will announce today he is planning to retire at the end of his current term and state Sen. Doug LaMalfa will be running for his seat.

Fidel Castro: ‘robot’ better than Obama, Republicans  —  Cuban revolutionary icon Fidel Castro said Monday that a “robot” would be better in the White House than President Barack Obama — or any of the Republicans candidates in the 2012 election race.  —  “Is it not obvious that the worst …

The name ‘Jew’ lands Christian in trouble  —  A man wrote that his name was ‘Jew Jurian’ on his national identity card form.  The data entry clerk then assumed he was a Jew.  Thus for the first time in the history of Computerised National Identity Cards (CNIC), a Pakistani was officially declared a Jew.

President Bashar al-Assad Vows to Crush ‘Conspiracy’ Against Syria  —  BEIRUT — In his first public address in months, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria on Tuesday lashed out at the Arab League for isolating Syria, taunted rebels as traitors and vowed to subdue what he cast as a foreign-backed plot against his country.

An open letter from the Honourable Joe Oliver, Minister of Natural Resources ,  —  on Canada's commitment to diversify our energy markets and the need to further streamline the regulatory process in order to advance Canada's national economic interest  —  Canada is on the edge of an historic choice …