By Zac Byer, on Tue Jan 10, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET It’s my first time in New Hampshire, for the “First in the Nation” primary of 2012. I’m only days into a year-long hiatus from Penn Law to work for esteemed message guru and owner of Luntz Global, Dr. Frank Luntz. While snow and rain have been noticeably (and welcomingly) absent from New Hampshire, political and journalism might have not. Here are some highlights so far…
Smoothest Operator Award #1: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie – Gov. Christie, on stage in Exeter next to Mitt Romney, was rallying Mitt’s Militia when a few Occupiers started disrupting. Or so they tried. Christie bellows, “Oh really?” into the microphone and reminds the rabble-rousers he has created 60,000 new jobs in NJ. But he does so without upstaging the candidate, bringing the focus back to Romney by proclaiming him the only one capable of creating millions of jobs in America and kicking Obama out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
 Smoothest Operator Award #2: Rick Santorum – Now best known for his Iowa surprise, Santorum has always been a deft political operator. He always impressed me during the few times I met him. But his event on January 7 in Hollis, NH scored serious points. Santorum arrives at a barn to, well, too many people to fit in the barn. With hundreds already inside, and hundreds eagerly awaiting his arrival outside the barn, Santorum gives everybody what they wanted from him: Time. Santorum gets on a rock outside the barn, stumps for a few minutes with those of us who arrived on the later side, and even takes several questions. Totally unscripted, totally smooth.
Best “Wow” Moment: Sitting in the lobby of the Radisson Hotel in downtown Manchester late one night, watching Dan Rather, Bob Schieffer, Joe Scarborough, Brett Baier, and Chris Matthews pow-wow. Think about how many times we’ve let those giants of journalism into our living rooms to break down the most transformational world events of the last 50 years . . .
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Zac Byer — Reporting from the NH Primary
By Kristen Hamilton, RP Staff, on Tue Jan 10, 2012 at 10:00 AM ET
Did you miss Project Runway All Stars like I did? Check out this recap! [The Cut]
Has nothing to do with fashion BUT watching a contestant on The Price is Right sing to Heidi Klum is pretty funny! Check out the video: [The Cut]
The feud between Rachel Zoe and her former assistant, Brad Goreski, continues! [Fashionista]
Vogue Italia + imitation of QVC = comedy! [The Cut]
By Grant Smith, RP Staff, on Tue Jan 10, 2012 at 9:15 AM ET
William Daley resigns as President Obama’s Chief of Staff. [The Washington Post]
By Robert Kahne, RP Staff, on Mon Jan 9, 2012 at 11:30 AM ET I hope you saw Katheryn Bigelow’s fantastic 2008 film The Hurt Locker. If you didn’t, rent it this weekend–it’s that good. Her next project is about Osama Bin Laden, and it was started before he was killed. After a bunch of rewrites, they are now casting people for the roles. News recently has Joel Edgerton as a lead–who was fantastic in this year’s film Warrior (go see that one too). [The Guardian]
Netflix has had a rough time in the past several months. After all that business about raising their rates and splitting into two services, and then going back and forth, changing what they are doing, people are quite down on their business. Now comes news that HBO is now raising the rates they sell their shows DVDs to Netflix. I am a Netflix subscriber and enjoy the service immensely. I hope they turn things around soon. [/Film]
My absolute favorite thing that has been released in the past year has been the BBC series Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Mr. Cumberbatch is very hot in Hollywood right now–he has a role in the Spielberg film War Horse out now and will be in next year’s The Hobbit. Now news comes that he will be working with JJ Abrams on the new Star Trek film. Exciting new for me, I think he is great. [Film Junk]
There might be an Elton John biopic. If there is, Sir Elton wants Justin Timberlake for the lead role. I have nothing else to say about this. [The Movie Blog]
By Stephanie Doctrow, RP Staff, on Mon Jan 9, 2012 at 9:15 AM ET If a total stranger asks for your help, how likely are you to assist them? New behavioral research shows that a person’s humility is a major factor in determining if they will help others. [Time]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Fri Jan 6, 2012 at 9:15 AM ET Reports have come out that the Penn State football team has hired the Patriots offensive coordinator, Bill O’Brien, as their head coach to replace the legendary Joe Paterno. It is preliminary report so we don’t know any details of the deal as of yet. A formal announcement is expected to come on Sunday. [ESPN]
By Chris Schulz, RP Staff, on Fri Jan 6, 2012 at 1:30 AM ET
Recent US earthquakes could be linked to human behavior. [npr.org]
Experts agree that 2012 will see a significant increase in gas prices. Make your travel plans accordingly. [latimes.com]
Porous roads lead to less runoff and even more durable roads. [sightline.org]
These cities are looking forward with new projects that are increasing green space in urban areas. [salon.com]
Scientists find a fish that has evolved the markings to disguise itself as an octopus arm. You can’t make this stuff up. [bbc.co.uk]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Jan 5, 2012 at 3:00 PM ET
After the lengthy fundraising by Wikipedia, characterized by the personal appeal from Jimmy Wales, they ended up raising $20 million. [Venture Beat]
A Dehli, India court has ordered 22 social-networking sites to remove all “anit-religious” and “anti-social” material contained on them in 90 days. The most notable websites listed are Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Yahoo. [Hindustan Times]
Internet Explorer use continues to slide as it loses more and more of the market share it once dominated. It is predicted that by March Microsoft’s internet browser could fall below a 50% market share. [Computerworld]
In the wide world of censorship – it is now illegal for citizens of the Republic of Belarus to access foreign websites. [The Next Web]
For hackers, what is the best way to combat censorship in America? Could it be to launch their own satellites? [PC World]
By Grant Smith, RP Staff, on Thu Jan 5, 2012 at 1:30 PM ET
Michelle Bachmann drops out of the presidential race. [ABC News]
The Press questions the DNC Chair: Will Obama drop Biden for Clinton? [The Weekly Standard]
Senator John McCain endorses Mitt Romney for president. [New York Times]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Wed Jan 4, 2012 at 3:00 PM ET
A friendly reminder. [picture]
The Most Realistic Fake Soccer Injury Ever! Simply amazing. [YouTube]
Couldn’t hurt. [picture]
Hell [Cyanide & Happiness]
Everyone needs a hobby. (Looking at this terrified me a little – a warning if you don’t like heights and big things.) [picture]
I CAN’T MATH [picture]
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Smoothest Operator Award #2: Rick Santorum – Now best known for his Iowa surprise, Santorum has always been a deft political operator. He always impressed me during the few times I met him. But his event on January 7 in Hollis, NH scored serious points. Santorum arrives at a barn to, well, too many people to fit in the barn. With hundreds already inside, and hundreds eagerly awaiting his arrival outside the barn, Santorum gives everybody what they wanted from him: Time. Santorum gets on a rock outside the barn, stumps for a few minutes with those of us who arrived on the later side, and even takes several questions. Totally unscripted, totally smooth.
