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Ron Paul To Everyone But Mitt: Drop Out — Campaign says unite behind Ron Paul to defeat Romney. — (Getty Images / Chip Somodevilla) — MANCHESTER, New Hampshire—Rep. Ron Paul's campaign called on the rest of the Republican field to drop out of the race and unite behind him in order to defeat Mitt Romney.
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Mitt Romney vs. the dead-enders — HOOKSETT, N.H. - Any remotely sympathetic observer would have to say that Mitt Romney easily cleared the bar on what he needed to do in the New Hampshire primary, and in the process took a big step toward the Republican presidential nomination.
Discussion:
CNN, The Mahablog and Taylor Marsh

A tale of two speeches — After watching Mitt Romney's speech in New Hampshire last night, I went back and watched Barack Obama's speech in New Hampshire, delivered almost exactly four years ago. The contrast told me quite a bit about the two candidates. — Obama, who'd just lost …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice

Romney Looks Strong in South Carolina and Beyond — The conventional wisdom holds that South Carolina is likely to be the toughest test yet for Mitt Romney's campaign. But I'm not so sure that's true. From my vantage point, Mr. Romney's position there looks fairly robust.
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, The Politico, New York Times, Washington Post, The Caucus, Daily Kos, Democratic Strategist, Politics and Saint Petersblog


Attack Film Depicts Romney as ‘Ruthless’ Rich — Mitt Romney is depicted as a financier “more ruthless than Wall Street” and a son of privilege responsible for laying off thousands of workers in a 28-minute film set to be released tomorrow in South Carolina bankrolled by supporters of Newt Gingrich.

Santorum gambles, and loses, in NH — Rick Santorum gambled, and lost, by campaigning in New Hampshire following his strong second-place showing in Iowa. — A lot of Santorum's hard-earned Iowa momentum has been lost after a rough week in New Hampshire, a libertarian-leaning state …
Discussion:
The Politico, The State, NY Daily News, msnbc.com and CNN

First Thoughts: Next up: The last stand — Next up: The last stand of South Carolina... And it's likely to get nasty there... How will Romney emerge 10 days for now: battered or the de facto nominee?... The message that could take on Romney (but is there a messenger to deliver it?)...
Discussion:
The Political Carnival and ABCNEWS

Romney raises impressive $24M in fourth quarter — Mitt Romney followed up an easy victory in the New Hampshire primary by announcing he raised $24 million in the last three months of 2012, further establishing himself as the candidate to defeat in the GOP race.
Discussion:
The Politico and Hot Air

Conservative activists scramble to stop Mitt Romney
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Daily Kos and The Politico

Romney and McCain: The GOP Frenemies' Club
Discussion:
Don Surber, Washington Post, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Huffington Post and Master Feed

Rally will feature Gingrich, Clyburn
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, Betsy's Page, The PJ Tatler, Don Surber and National Review

Blaming U.S. and Israel, Iran Reports Killing of Nuclear Scientist — LONDON — At a time of growing tension over its nuclear program and mounting belligerence toward the West, Iran reported on Wednesday that an Iranian nuclear scientist died in what was termed a “terrorist bomb blast” …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, The Moderate Voice, Global Public Square, News Desk, The Lede and The Impolitic
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Iran car explosion ‘kills nuclear scientist’ in Tehran — BBC's Mohsen Asgari: “It seems a motor cyclist pasted a bomb to his car which he was in with two other passengers — A university lecturer and nuclear scientist has been killed in a car explosion in north Tehran, reports say.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, nation.foxnews.com and The Gateway Pundit


Obama Scores Easy Win; Rivals Pick Up 18% of N.H. Vote — While few noticed, President Barack Obama cruised to an easy victory in the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary, though a baker's dozen of others on the ballot and write-in candidates garnered about 18% of the vote.
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Biden Jabs Romney, Compares Republican Candidates to ‘Brush’
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and CNN


Mitt Romney still must answer 5 questions after New Hampshire
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and ABCNEWS

Mitt Romney's victory speech
Discussion:
The New Republic, Betsy's Page and The Boston Globe

Mitt Romney's New Hampshire primary speech (TEXT)
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The Huffington Post, The Enterprise Blog, FiveThirtyEight and Feministing


In Greece, fears that austerity is killing the economy — ATHENS — Deeply indebted and nearly bankrupt, this Mediterranean nation was forced to adopt tough austerity measures to slash its deficit and secure an international bailout. But as the Greek economy slides into free fall …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Paul Krugman and ECHIDNE of the snakes


About New York: Belgian Tourist Arrested, but Crime Never Happened — Just before he was loaded into the police car, Aaron Vansintjan said, one of the officers looked at him. — “He said, 'I'm embarrassed,' ” Mr. Vansintjan said. — That was no obstacle to a bad situation's getting more perplexing by the minute.


John Castle, 76-Year-Old Palm Beach Plutocrat, Breaks Insolent Waiter's Finger — It's an age-old and vexing question: How much is it fair to shave off the tip at a high-end restaurant to signal dissatisfaction with the waitstaff? Two percent? Five percent? Should you stiff them?
Discussion:
DealBook

Are Quotas for Women in Politics a Good Idea? — Pros and cons of requiring national parliaments to include a minimum number of women — Afghan parliamentary delegates wait for the start of a conference in Bonn, Germany / Reuters — MORE FROM THE COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
Discussion:
Hot Air