The New Hampshire House of Representatives kicked off 2012 with a marathon 8-hour session Wednesday.

And in those 8 hours, lawmakers tackled controversial topic after controversial topic, like fetus rights, the death penalty, the 2ndAmendment and health insurance.

Amidst all the action, House leaders flashed something they haven’t shown much of before...restraint.

By now - halfway into their term – House Republicans have earned a reputation for fiscal austerity and Libertarian tendencies.

The Iowa caucuses have come and gone, and that leaves New Hampshire the better part of a week to consider the candidates before the primary on January 10th.

Here to help us sort out New Hampshire’s changing role in the political landscape is NPR’s Political Editor Ken Rudin. He talked about the primary with All Things Considered host Brady Carlson. 

Republican Mitt Romney looks to solidify support here after his narrow win in Iowa.

New Hampshire is supposed to be where Mitt Romney wins big. But his first event only half filled a school gymnasium. With John McCain at his side, Romney cast himself as a candidate capable of uniting all Americans.

“I want America to remain one nation under god. I want to bring us together. I want to restore the principles that made us the hope of the earth, I don’t want to transform America into something that we don’t recognize. I want to restore America.”  

Three weekly newspapers from the North Country have endorsed Ron Paul for president.

The newspapers are the Littleton Courier, the Coos County Democrat and the Berlin Reporter

The endorsement was made in the January 4th edition.

“We believe the two strongest candidates are Mitt Romney and Ron Paul,” the editorial said.

But then it noted “We feel there is something about Romney that is missing.”

Its praise for Paul included:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is drawing sharp distinctions between himself and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in the final days of the New Hampshire primary.   Gingrich presents himself as a consistent conservative.

Speaking to reporters in Concord, Newt Gingrich said Mitt Romney’s record puts him at odds with the bulk of the Republican party.  Gingrich underscored two features of the Massachusetts health insurance plan enacted under Romney.

“Included state funded abortions.  Included specifically designating Planned Parenthood as a part of Romneycare.”

Saying he's there "to make sure we make Mitt Romney the next president of the United States of America," 2008 Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain just returned to New Hampshire to endorse the White House bid of his one-time rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

McCain and Romney fought a hard battle for the GOP nomination n 2008, after which Romney endorsed the Arizona senator.

After months of political debates, ad buying, and hand-shaking, the New Hampshire Republican primary is finally upon us. And not surprisingly, the latest WMUR Granite State Poll from the University of New Hampshire Survey Center shows that the economy/jobs is the top issue for about 60 percent of the state's voters.

Rep. Larry Rappaport (R - Colebrook) led a news conference Tuesday by a handful of legislators in Concord to explain their argument before the Ballot Law Commission that President Obama is not a U.S. Citizen and should not be on the ballot next November. 

Here’s part of it as detailed in a legislative wrap-up story by NHPR’s Dan Gorenstein: