The latest polls out of New Hampshire, the site of the first GOP presidential primary on January 10 (Iowa votes a week earlier, but that's a caucus) show Mitt Romney still in very good shape six weeks out.
But the political world got excited Sunday when the state's leading newspaper, the Manchester Union-Leader, endorsed Newt Gingrich for president in that primary. Politico's Maggie Haberman writes that "it's the most significant and impactful endorsement in the GOP race so far, and solidifies Gingrich's standing as the alternative to Romney as the race heads into the final pre-Iowa caucuses stretch."
It's also another blow to Jon Hunstman's uphill battle to run competitively in the Granite State, which he hopes will catapult his until now moribund candidacy into South Carolina and yes, Florida.
This article appears in Nov 24-30, 2011.