“Smash,” which NBC hyped as heavily as the Super Bowl, premiered Monday night. The show is many things: a musical within a show, a heavy-on-the-glitter-but-light-on-the-grit look behind the scenes of Broadway and an ode to every musical theater trope you know and possibly love, from the wide-eyed Iowa girl aching for her big break to the slimy director who wouldn’t mind breaking her in. Perhaps you expected this. Read full article > >

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Playwright Grote takes a turn at writing for ‘Smash’

The powerful political groups known as super PACs, whose heavy spending has become a significant factor in the presidential race, are also beginning to play a role in congressional races around the country. The groups have set off a scramble among candidates in both parties, who are now struggling to cope with a flood of negative ads run by organizations that are outside their direct control. Read full article > >

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Super PACs target congressional races

Perhaps Mitt Romney’s defeat had less to do with the place and more to do with the timing.

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FiveThirtyEight: Did Gingrich’s S.C. Win Break the Rules?

MANCHESTER, N.H. It’s going to be mean and dispiriting, this campaign. We’ll be assailed with talk of “ European socialism ” and “ vulture capitalism ” — not “hope” and “change” — and the months between now and November will seem an eternity. Read full article > >

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Mitt Romney’s clear road out of New Hampshire

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Tuesday will be a day of reckoning for at least one of the Republican presidential hopefuls: Jon Huntsman , whose quirky and quietly rogue candidacy hinges entirely on a strong showing in the nation’s first primary. Huntsman went for broke here, skipping Iowa and spending virtually the entire campaign in a state that seemed more receptive to his moderate views. For months, he has been trundling from town to town in New Hampshire wearing a silver belt buckle and cowboy boots, delivering mild-mannered critiques of the president and occasionally breaking into his fluent Chinese. Read full article > >

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For Jon Huntsman, New Hampshire primary could be now or never

GOFFSTOWN, N.H. — Republican front-runner Mitt Romney warned his supporters Saturday against complacency as his rivals prepared to gang up on him in a nationally televised nighttime debate with the goal of breaking his stride toward the GOP nomination. Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, looking to translate his near-victory in Iowa into a solid second-place finish here on Tuesday, kept up his punishing pace of appearances Saturday. As others rested before the debate, he campaigned into the late afternoon, sharply criticizing Romney and dismissing questions about whether he would have a more difficult time defeating President Obama than Romney would. Read full article > >

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

The first Republican presidential debate of 2012 is just hours away — 9 p.m. on ABC (or WMUR if you are in New Hampshire) to be exact — and we are, admittedly, a little too excited. Since the last time the GOP candidates shared a debate stage, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich peaked too soon, Iowa voters, well, voted and one-time top-tier candidate Michele Bachmann ended her campaign . (Texas Gov. Rick Perry hinted at doing the same but decided to stay in while on a run in Iowa . Not kidding — that really happened.) Read full article > >

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New Hampshire debate: What to watch for

Fresh from a victory in Iowa and enjoying a lead in the polls, Mitt Romney is nevertheless facing history that suggests New Hampshire is not a done deal.

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Political Memo: Front-Runner Role Could Thwart Romney in New Hampshire

Iowa front-runners Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have a little problem. Both are too nice to be mean to each other. Who can throw the first punch in a tight race growing tighter? This is why God made Newt Gingrich. The formerly self-anointed “nice guy,” the one who wasn’t going to go negative, has flip-flopped on protocol. Insisting that he lost Iowa to these lesser mortals because of Romney’s negative ads, he has declared that he’ll no longer make nice. Read full article > >

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The battle of the GOP nice guys

Iowa front-runners Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have a little problem. Both are too nice to be mean to each other. Who can throw the first punch in a tight race growing tighter? This is why God made Newt Gingrich. The formerly self-anointed “nice guy,” the one who wasn’t going to go negative, has flip-flopped on protocol. Insisting that he lost Iowa to these lesser mortals because of Romney’s negative ads, he has declared that he’ll no longer make nice. Read full article > >

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The battle of the GOP nice guys

The political world is once again buzzing about evangelical Christians. Former senator Rick Santorum ’s near-victory in the Iowa caucuses and his ascent in the ranks of Republican presidential contenders have fueled this new fervor, which is leading to the same tired debates and conversations that we’ve heard about evangelicals for a generation now. Read full article > >

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God’s quarterbacks: What Tebow and Roethlisberger reveal about evangelical politics

From making a recess appointment to inserting itself into the Iowa caucuses, the Obama campaign is trying to tie his rivals to the unpopular Congress.

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Political Memo: President Obama Unveils Aggressive Re-election Strategy Against G.O.P. Rivals

On Aug. 13, 2011, Michele Bachmann was on top of the world — the winner of the Ames Straw Poll and presumptive frontrunner in the Iowa caucuses. On Wednesday, Bachmann left the presidential race after placing sixth in those same caucuses. What happened in the 144 days between those two dates was a mix of bad luck, bad strategy and a candidate who opted for a national rather than Iowa-focused campaign, according to a series of conversations with former strategists and advisers to the Minnesota Republican. That series of factors created a potent concoction that left Bachmann out of money and options less than 24 hours after the first vote of the 2012 presidential primary. Read full article > >

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How Michele Bachmann went bust

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Independents are a finicky and fickle bunch. They are deeply dissatisfied with the direction of the country, with an overwhelming majority saying things are badly off track. Social issues do not concern them. Many of them voted for President Obama. And now, this critical voting bloc — which makes up as much as 45 percent of the New Hampshire electorate — is about to take center stage. If the Iowa contest exposed the conflicted mood and sharp divisions within the GOP, then New Hampshire will offer a broader snapshot of a hard-to-pin-down sliver of the electorate that has an outsize impact on elections, particularly in this swing state. Read full article > >

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Independents represent a major unknown in the N.H. primary

The Iowa caucuses came too close to call.

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Betting Site Refunds Santorum Wagerers