Political junkies have divided the last few months between obsessing over Iowa and New Hampshire and complaining about how much energy is wasted obsessing over Iowa and New Hampshire. Those states, the argument goes, are too white and too small and too rural to represent the country at large. But, while true, it always seems dismissive and elitist (possibly because we're writing this on a iPhone while stopped at a light in a Prius Zipcar.)......

Both Massachusetts senators, John Kerry and Ted Kennedy, have close experience with presidential campaigns, so who can blame them for waiting a little bit to make an endorsement? Kerry's dominance in the last go-round came as a surprise after the Dean campaign collapsed in Iowa. The field of Democrats is deep this year, and, like Deval Patrick, our Senators have to be cautious about making endorsements since the Clintons are such a powerful force. But......

It seems that Bostonist's call for submissions inspired you. Say hello to Gerard Sloan, who is already working the political beat! And we hope you'll meet more writers in the next week. Interested in joining the team? Read our call for columnists and e-mail jobs@bostonist.com. Despite polls showing large leads for Barack Obama in the Democratic primary, the Granite State used its moment in the national spotlight yesterday to give Hillary Clinton a narrow victory......

Update: No winner for the Democrats yet, which makes CNN look bad because they were calling it for Obama all day. But, even more embarrassing, Rudy Giuliani is thisclose to getting beaten by Ron Paul, 9% to 8% as of 10:00 pm. Update to the Update: CNN has projected Hillary Clinton as the winner of the New Hampshire primary, a huge comeback after Iowa. (The "Iron My Shirt" dudes can stuff it.) Obama wasn't far......

Former Massachusetts governor and political aspirant Mitt Romney faces one of his greatest challenges with the New Hampshire primary. After coming in second in Iowa to the Mike Huckabee/Chuck Norris ticket, he is an underdog in a race that should have been a breeze for him since he governed in Massachusetts. Even though Massachusetts wasn't exactly thrilled with him when he left, he was still a familiar name and could have scored votes on that......

Today Republican presidential candidate/Iowa caucus winner/Romney rival Mike Huckabee faced a heckler who clearly forgot that where there's Huckabee, there's Chuck Norris. The man had a right to speak, but, as Charlie Savage writes, he wouldn't shut up and kept yelling, "Why is Richard Haass, the president of the Council of Foreign Relations, your political adviser?" Then Huckabee unveiled his not-so-secret weapon and said, "Don't make me send Chuck back there!" Chuck Norris still......

--Useful, detailed advice on how to get your car started in the bitter cold. [b0st0n LiveJournal] --Dan Kennedy evaluates all the speeches the winners (and runners-up) gave after the Iowa caucuses. [Media Nation] --A rave review of La Voile in the Back Bay. [Cave Cibum] --And a not-so-rave review of The Publick House for their treatment of people who were just trying to enjoy trivia night and who arrived more than willing to spend money......

The political epicenter has shifted from Iowa to New Hampshire, right next door. The state is erupting in general chaos as the politicians who are still in the race are fighting for attention. Every reporter, pundit, talking head, and his or her brother is in town. Eventually, New Hampshire might regret rolling out the red carpet for some of them. Bill O'Reilly just had a massive hissy fit at Nashua North High and attempted to......

Maybe some voters in Iowa had a tough decision to make; not so the AP NFL Coach of the Year voters, who swept Bill Belichick into the award with 29 out of 50 possible first-place votes. The other 21, we're sure, were dismayed by Spygate (why else vote against a guy whose team didn't lose?), figuring that any coach who had footage of 20 minutes of Jetball had an unfair advantage. Bill, we're sure, took......

Update: Deval Patrick can rest easy. Obama took 38% of the Iowa caucus vote. For some reason, Bostonist couldn't get Huey Lewis' "If This Is It … Please Let Me Know …" out of their head while watching the Iowa caucus returns on CNN. So many middle-tier candidates will get their rejections over with tonight. CNN and Fox News projected early that Mike Huckabee won the Iowa caucuses with a come-from-behind victory that had little......

Movies Indie Short Film Night, featuring movies by local filmmakers, including the premiere of "Absent Meaning," which vows that "Nothing is as hopeful as a suicidal Belarusian waitress turned punk rocker!" Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St., Brookline, 9:30 pm, $5. Politics The Iowa caucuses are today. Why should Bostonist worry about what's up in Iowa? Many reasons. First, this is former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney's first big test. Second, the New Hampshire primaries are......

If things don't work out for former Massachusetts governor and current Republican presidential aspirant Mitt Romney, he can always follow in ex-candidate Bob Dole's footsteps--as a spokesman for Viagra. CBS News' From the Road blog reports that Mitt Romney had this to say about his wife, Ann: “She’s a cute girl, I’ll tell ya,” Romney told the Iowa crowd that was packed into a small coffee house here. “She’s hot, too. Wow!” Romney then appeared......

Recently, the world learned that Ann Romney, former First Lady of Massachusetts, is an equestrienne and that one of the Five Brothers gave presidential candidate Mitt Romney a horse mask so Momma Romney would give Daddy Romney a little more attention. Riding the ponies has also helped Ann better manage Mitt, as shown in a public exchange in Rochester, New Hampshire: The evening opened, though, with Romney introducing his wife, who said she could tell......

There's so much to say about former Massachusetts governor and Republican presidential aspirant Mitt Romney's looks. His political views may be ever-changing, but one things for certain--some people find him attractive. And some people like to get a little closer. First, an Iowa tweenager probably just becoming acquainted with her hormones got close enough to Romney to ask to touch his hair. Romney took her hand and placed it, probably to make sure that she......

Our neighbor, New Hampshire, is indulging in primary one-upmanship by moving its presidential primary up to January 8 to beat Michigan's January 15 date. For Boston, this means an endless parade of presidential candidates on television, a lot sooner than we're used to now that the states are trying to get a slice of the money the primaries will bring. The early primaries force the candidates to put the pedal to the medal and automatically......

The United States has a lot to be afraid of: the war in Iraq, the mortgage crisis, wildfires, the gulf between the haves and have nots, and Dick Cheney. But former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney thinks that the nation should really be afraid of Hillary Clinton. In an attempt to celebrate Halloween and trash an opponent at the same time, Mitt Romney told an audience in Iowa, "What do you think about Hillary's House of......

The MLB is no fun! A kind tipster just gave Bostonist the heads-up that the Chris Dodd Red Sox Raffle is now OFF and that anyone who donated will get a refund. The e-mail from Dodd HQ states, We have some bad news. Major League Baseball has asked the campaign to end our contest you entered to get a chance to go to a Red Sox game with Chris Dodd. Apparently, Post-Season tickets are different......

We know that Massachusetts is the albatross around Mitt Romney's neck as he campaigns for the Republican nomination. We know he talks about us like an old fling he had, that doesn't really mean anything. And for the most part, it's mutual. But then we find out from the Herald today that the Romneys are stockholders in the YES Network, the TV network of the Yankees. So the whole time Mitt was in Boston -......

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney won the Republican straw poll in Iowa tonight with about 31% of the vote. Of course, it wasn't that hard since John McCain and Rudy Giuliani opted out, and the straw poll was Romney's to lose. Lisa Wangsness at the Globe pointed out that Romney outspent his opponents by an "almost comical degree." Adam Nagourney of the New York Times noted that everything wasn't all Romney all the time. Presidential......

All in all, it's been a pretty good week for former Massachusetts governor and presidential aspirant Mitt Romney. Aside from a minor seatbelt flap, Romney saw a considerable improvement in his chances at election. The Des Moines Register announced that Romney was backed by 30 percent of Iowa Republicans, which puts him ahead of McCain and Giuliani. What is making Romney so appealing to those who haven't had the dubious pleasure of being governed by......

This morning on NPR's Morning Edition the money race was quantified in numbers. Since it was NPR they needed something other than visual aids to make the point. What better way to make that point than to use music? The brothers Gibb classic “Staying Alive” was used, for every one second played the candidate indicated had raised $2 million dollars. For some of the candidates, like Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, and Bill Richardson the clips......

The 2008 presidential candidate field had its first casualty this week. Tom Vilsack bowed out of the race citing a lack of funds to keep competitive in a field of contenders with growing coffers. Initially political analysts thought Vilsack had a good chance to come out of Iowa with a win – but then Obama happened. The Iowa governor was the first to announce and the first to withdraw. Don't worry, there are still a......

Tonight the State of the Union speech will be delivered in our nation's capital. While we're hitting the booze and playing the State of the Union drinking game, the media will talk about possible ramifications of the President's statements. But the focus has already started to shift from the current commander-in-chief to who's going to take over his job. The Democratic field of contenders is growing fast. Below you'll find Bostonist's guide to the field......

Plenty of fascinating news this week for our oft-neglected New England neighbors: Vermont: The poor folks in Vermont will miss out on the wonders of the new iPhone because the iPhone will use Cingular, and Vermont doesn't have Cingular networks. They won't be the only ones: "The iPhone service won't be available in all or large portions of Alaska, Colorado, the Dakotas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, upstate New York,......

Today is Willard "Mitt" Romney's last day as Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts – well, for now, he could come back to haunt later. The Globe ran a story in this morning's edition to let us know that he actually left a little stink in the statehouse by making a slew of 11th hour appointments to state offices. Though he's attempted to exit the Governors office stage right (which is really to the left......

If you’ve ever hunted for your glasses, only to be informed that they’re already on your head, don’t feel too bad about it. It could have been worse. After reporting two Jorge Luis Borges manuscripts valued at $450,000 and $500,000 missing, striking fear in the heart of book fetishists everywhere, the owner of Harvard Square’s Lame Duck books found the manuscripts inside some photographic binder sleeves. Apparently John Wronoski and his team engaged in some......

In the run-up to Thanksgiving, Bostonist thought we'd share some of our favorite recipes. Hopefully, we will actually pull it together enough during the next 24 hours to deliver on this promise. If not, you'll have to settle for this cranberry salad recipe and our sincerest wishes that you have a happy holiday. During our parents' relatively short relationship, Bostonist's mother was a source of some confusion for our father's New York Jewish clan. Tall,......

The other day, Bostonist was walking with a friend, discussing Thanksgiving plans. Bostonist said we expected forty or fifty people at our mother’s house. Our friend’s jaw dropped to the ground. That was when Bostonist realized that Russian immigrant Thanksgiving celebrations are not quite like traditional American ones. Russians in America, particularly the Russian Jewish immigrants who abound in the Boston area, have a lot to be thankful for: three-bedroom apartments, SUVs, and TJ Maxx,......

When John Roberts was initially announced as the Bush administration's pick to succeed Sandra Day "Swing" O'Connor, Bostonist couldn't help but feel disappointed, as it signalled the end of our own governor's dark horse candidacy for the Supreme Court post. But now our hopes are alive again, as Roberts has been bumped up and nominated chief (sorry, Nino!). If his confirmation goes as quickly and happily as everyone seems to think, Mitt could get the......

A couple days ago, Bostonist's fearless editor sent us an e-mail, as he sometimes does, suggesting a possible post: "Is the morning-after pill something you want a stab at? I think it's worth coverage and if you don't want it I'll take a crack at it." True, we thought, it is frequently in the headlines, and our special job here is to write snide political and legal commentary. But what do we say about the......