MTV Pretends Poetry Night Was Ron Paul Event

Young voters help Paul to strong NH finish

(NEWSER) - Ron Paul says his projected second-place finish in New Hampshire Tuesday night is a "victory for the cause of liberty." The strong showing has been "the victory that you have brought about." he told supporters at his primary night party. "I sort of have to chuckle when they describe you and me as being dangerous. That's one thing where they're telling the truth. We are dangerous to the status quo." More»

The big question: How much will Romney win by?

(NEWSER) - Mitt Romney is going to win the New Hampshire primary, and everyone ostensibly knows it. But that doesn't mean the results won't be interesting. Here are the contests the pundits are watching:

• Romney vs. expectations: With Romney's victory assured, pundits are speculating over his vote tally. One strategist tells Politico he has to hit at least 38%—John McCain's 2008 total. Romney himself managed 32% in that contest, but anything nearly that low would raise serious questions now.

And according to this tiny village, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman are tied

(NEWSER) - The village of Dixville Notch is notable not just for the fact that it only has nine registered voters, but for the fact that those voters also are the first in New Hampshire to state their choice in today's primary. Their nine ballots were cast one minute after midnight—unincorporated towns that claim less than 100 residents can open the polls at 12am—and, according to this wee hamlet, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman are the very, very early frontrunners, with two votes each. Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul both walked away with one; Barack Obama scooped up the remaining three, reports the AP . More»

And wins a straw poll on his birthday, to boot

(NEWSER) - Ron Paul had a very, very happy 76th birthday: He raised $1.8 million in 24 hours and he won Saturday's New Hampshire Young Republicans Straw Poll. The $1.8 million was the result of an online “money bomb” staged for his birthday on Saturday, the Hill notes, and it marks the fourth time the presidential candidate has raised more than a million bucks in one day during the 2012 campaign cycle. More»

Once subversive art form now embraced nationwide

(NEWSER) - Slam poetry has ballooned from a grassroots movement to a national phenomenon—and its founder isn’t happy about it. “People just want to write what the last guy wrote so they can get their face on TV,” Marc Kelly Smith, who started the genre in Chicago 25 years ago, tells the New York Times. “This show wasn’t started to crank out that kind of thing.” More»