New Hampshire Today, Dec. 13

In New Hampshire Today there are still no candidates in the state (for the fourth day in a row), but the Democrats wll face off at a debate in Iowa this afternoon.

Not that there hasn't been a lot of tongues wagging in New Hampshire in the last 24 hours. All the wagging started with Hillary Clinton's state co-chair Bill Shaheen's tongue. He suggested to the Washington Post that Barack Obama's previous drug use would be an issue in the general election. To be sure, it was a comment that probably wouldn't be as big of a deal he said it four months ago, but as the Clinton campaign is flirting with going negative to counter Obama's rise it hurts badly.

In the local papers, amazingly the Concord Monitor took the bait and covered a press conference in their hometown with Rudy Giuliani supporters from states like South Dakota who could comment on Giuliani's fiscal success in New York or anything negative that Mitt Romney did in Massachusetts.

The Union Leader analyzes the recent polls and declares that Clinton no longer as a firewall in New Hampshire.

The Globe reports out on the firewall.

The Foster's Daily Democrat goes local in a smart piece on how University of New Hampshire students might on on their winter breaks, but still plan to vote in the presidential primary via absentee ballot.

Portsmouth Herald columnist Michael McCord talks with both former President Clinton and Barack Obama last night and comes away thinking the Democratic race as one that "is about change, stupid".