...goes to the Concord Monitor. After applauding Mitt Romney for his "athletic build, ramrod posture, Reaganesque hair, a charismatic speaking style and a crisp dark suit," the paper's editorial board comes to this damning conclusion:
When New Hampshire partisans are asked to defend the state's first-in-the-nation primary, we talk about our ability to see the candidates up close, ask tough questions and see through the baloney. If a candidate is a phony, we assure ourselves and the rest of the world, we'll know it.
Mitt Romney is such a candidate. New Hampshire Republicans and independents must vote no.
The paper's attempt to explain New Hampshire's role as being that of saving the Republic from dangerous candidates is a bit overwrought (if this hype were true, the Granite State would not have given Pat Buchanan the 1996 primary victory). But surely the reputation of New Hampshire Republicans and Independents rests very much on their ability to "see through the baloney" that is Willard Mitt Romney.
--James Kirchick