
Jim Cole / AP
Peak colors art seen along the Kancamagus Highway on Oct. 5, 2012 in Albany, N.H.

Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA
New Hampshire residents vote in the Republican presidential primary just before dawn in the basement of the Immaculate Conception Church in Penacook, N.H., Jan.10, 2012.

Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA
A New Hampshire resident casts her vote in the Republican presidential primary at the 150-year-old Town Hall in Bristol, N.H., Jan. 10 2012.

Charles Krupa / AP
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum reacts as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney answers a question during a Republican presidential candidate debate at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord, N.H., Jan. 8.
NBC's Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro write:
Talk about night and day -- or, more accurately, night and morning. At last night’s GOP presidential debate, Mitt Romney’s rivals largely took a pass at hitting the front-runner for the Republican nomination. But at this morning’s NBC/Facebook debate here, they piled on Romney in the first 30 minutes; the arrows were out from the start. As he has on the campaign trail, Newt Gingrich called Romney a “timid Massachusetts moderate.” Rick Santorum added, “If his record was so great as governor of Massachusetts why didn't he run for reelection?... We want someone who's gonna stand up and fight for the conservative principles, not bail out and not run and not run to the left of Ted Kennedy.” And Jon Huntsman took issue with Romney’s criticism of Huntsman serving as President Obama’s ambassador to China: “This nation is divided … because of attitudes like that.”
Full story: First Thoughts: Rivals pile on Romney

Shannon Stapleton / Reuters
Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, left, looks on as Texas Governor Rick Perry makes a thumbs up gesture as they participate in a Republican presidential candidates debate in Concord, N.H., Jan. 8.

Win McNamee / Getty Images
Republican presidential candidates U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), left, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum participate in the ABC News, Yahoo! News, and WMUR Republican Presidential Debate at Saint Anselm College Jan. 7, in Manchester, N.H. The GOP contenders are in the final stretch of campaigning for the New Hampshire primary, the first in the nation, to be held on Jan. 10.
msnbc.com National Affairs Writer Tom Curry reports:
Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, who looked for a bounce out of his virtual tie in Iowa, did mention in passing Romney's support for an individual mandate to buy health insurance and Romney's support for the bailout of financial firms in the fall of 2008, but didn't press Romney on these points.
Santorum also tried to attack Romney early in the debate by alluding to his business career at the investment firm Bain Capital. Santorum said, “Business experience doesn’t necessarily match up” with the skills needed to be president. Romney replied that career politicians such as Santorum “don’t understand what happens out in the real economy.”
Read the full story: Romney emerges mostly unruffled by rivals' charges in New Hampshire debate
Watch the NBC News / facebook debate on 'Meet the Press' Sunday morning.
Rayf Ruot and his wife Deanna, from Barnstead, N.H. are undecided voters. "Something in my heart has been telling me to look into this guy a little," Rayf said, adding " I want to see where he stands with Israel. The prosperity of this country depends on the relationship with Israel. The Bible is very clear about that." The couple stay warm next to a working pot-bellied stove while waiting for Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum at a "Faith, Family and Freedom" Town Hall event held at the Merrimack Valley Railroad in Northfield, N.H. Thursday.

John Makely / msnbc.com
Msnbc.com's John Makely and Mike O'Brien are in New Hampshire this week talking to voters about what they're looking for in a candidate. Read the full story.

Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum presents his ideas at a "Faith, Family and Freedom" Town Hall event held at the Merrimack Valley Railroad in Northfield, New Hampshire.
Meet Iowa voters, and learn what issues matters most to them as they consider a candidate
Iowa voters describe the characteristics they're looking for in a candidate

Photos by Brian Snyder / Reuters
Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is joined by U.S. Senator John McCain at a campaign stop in Manchester, N.H. on Jan. 4, 2012, one day after Romney won the Iowa caucus.

Jonathan Ernst / Getty Images
From governor's son to presidential contender, a look at the life of Republican Mitt Romney.
The Associated Press reports that Mitt Romney accepted an endorsement from Arizona Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, as he pushed for an overwhelming victory in next week's New Hampshire primary.
McCain, who is still hugely popular in the state, said his endorsement was intended to help Romney "get an overwhelming vote that will catapult this candidate to the White House."
McCain and Romney haven't always been political allies. McCain beat Romney in the 2008 New Hampshire primary, and there is a history of acrimony between the two. But Romney eventually endorsed McCain in 2008.

Cindy McCain, wife U.S. Senator John McCain, left, and Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, arrive for a joint appearance of their husbands in Manchester.

John Makely / msnbc.com
Sen John McCain autographs a magazine cover for a fan following his endorsement of Mitt Romney at Central High School in Manchester, Wednesday, Jan. 4.

John Makely / msnbc.com
Brian Murphy with daughter Brianna, 3, brave the cold temperatures in downtown Manchester to get the word out about a Romney rally at Central High School on Wednesday.

Evan Vucci / AP
Tea party supporter William Temple, of Brunswick, Ga., sits in the Des Moines Airport heading home after the Iowa caucus, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012.

Matthew Cavanaugh / Getty Images
Globe Manufacturing Company employees Shirley Smith, left, and Pat Dexter listen as Republican presidential candidate and former Utah Governor, Jon Huntsman Jr., speaks on Jan. 04, 2012 in Pittsfield, New Hampshire. Huntsman continues to campaign hard in the nation's first primary state. Globe makes equipment for firefighters and other emergency workers.
With the Iowa caucus over, the candidates and their supporters head to New Hampshire for the next contest which will take place Jan. 10. Jon Huntsman skipped Iowa and concentrated on New Hampshire and Michele Bachmann dropped out of the race after a poor showing in Iowa. More news from NBC politics.

Matt Rourke / AP
Republican presidential candidate, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman looks on as students explore new iPads leased from iSchool during an event at Strong Foundations Charter School, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012, in Pembroke, N.H.

Matt Rourke / AP
Student Bryanna Valley holds on to an iPad autographed by Republican presidential candidate, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman during an event at Strong Foundations Charter School, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012, in Pembroke, N.H.
While the other Republican presidential candidates have chosen to focus their energies on the Iowa caucuses, Jon Huntsman chose to skip them to instead focus on New Hampshire.
AP reports:
After drawing about 150 people to his first stop [in New Hampshire], Huntsman told reporters Iowa plays an important role in narrowing the field, and said Rick Santorum's recent rise there shows that traditional grassroots campaigning is still important.
But it will be New Hampshire that "will set the standard going forward," he said.
"Electability isn't going to come out of Iowa, electability is going to come out of New Hampshire," Huntsman said later in Franklin.
Huntsman says the results of the Iowa caucuses will be forgotten within days, but that could be wishful thinking on his part — especially if former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney wins in Iowa and then heads to New Hampshire, where he has long been the front-runner. Read the full story.
For the latest information from the campaign trail visit our FirstRead blog.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
Two children look on as former Massachusetts governor and Republican candidate for president Mitt Romney speaks to supporters during a Labor Day pancake breakfast on Sept. 5 in Manchester, New Hampshire. Romney hosted a pancake breakfast for hundreds of supporters. New Hampshire will hold the nation's first presidential primary in early 2012.

Darren McCollester / Getty Images
Republican presidential candidates Jon Huntsman, right, and Mitt Romney greet each other prior to marching in a Fourth of July parade in Amherst, New Hampshire.
"No-one works in America on July 4th", one of my colleagues in the NBC News London bureau said a few minutes ago. Well, that is not 100% true. In Amherst today, two of the GOP's presidential candidates showed up at the same parade, dressed in their finest 'casual' attire in anticipation of a hard shift at the electoral coalface. The first of many awkward encounters on the campaign trail, no doubt.
If you're working on independence day too, let us know what you are up to in the comments below.
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Jim Cole / AP
A derailed train locomotive rests on its side down an embankment on Feb. 9, in Concord, N.H. One of the two people who were in the locomotive when it derailed on icy tracks suffered a hand injury.

Jim Cole / AP
City Engineer Dave Desfosses surveys a huge snow pile Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011, on Pierce Island in Portsmouth, N.H., where the city has been dumping snow from downtown.
When I first spotted this image it looked like the surveyor was standing on top of a real mountain.
See more images from the storm that buried a huge swath of the U.S.