Stephen Reader

On the last day of Round 1, Newt Gingrich goes toe-to-toe with himself in the Dust-Ups Division, then faces off with Rick Perry in a sound bite battle.

Halfway through the first round of our Memorable Debate Moments bracket, Mitt Romney's $10,000 bet squares off against Jon Huntsman's Chinese showboating, and it's a battle of the boos in the Audience Participation Division. 

The madness marches on with Day 2 of first round match-ups in our GOP debate moments bracket.

Which of these 16 moments from the Republican debates is the most memorable?

Every four years, the nation rallies around the presidential candidates, tuning into debates, taking in interviews, going to the polls, and, of course, spending money. But we’re not just talking about campaign donations.

From the old Goldwater Girl scarves to the current Santorum sweater, from freelance TV crews to the security staff that guard political rallies, campaign time means money and jobs for working Americans and cottage industries.

Local television stations, button-makers, and a wool mill in Minnesota—these are just a few of the unlikely beneficiaries of a record year for campaign spending, which has helped certain businesses rebound post-recession.

Recap from It's a Free Country.

Welcome to Politics Bites, where every afternoon at It's A Free Country, we bring you the unmissable quotes from the morning's political conversations on WNYC. Today on the Brian Lehrer Show, David Boaz, executive vice president of the Cato Institute, talked about the organization's relationship with the Koch brothers, Charles and David Koch, who have filed a lawsuit for control of the libertarian establishment.

Christie enjoys increasing tax revenue and gets to call someone an "idiot," while Cuomo flirts with the "Governor 1%" moniker.

Recap from It's a Free Country.

Welcome to Politics Bites, where every afternoon at It's A Free Country, we bring you the unmissable quotes from the morning's political conversations on WNYC. Today on the Brian Lehrer Show, David Sanger, chief Washington correspondent at the New York Times and contributor to WNYC, talked about President Obama's press conference and how the U.S. plans to confront Iran.

Recap from It's a Free Country.

Welcome to Politics Bites, where every afternoon at It's A Free Country, we bring you the unmissable quotes from the morning's political conversations on WNYC. Today on the Brian Lehrer Show, David Eisenhower, director of the Institute for Public Service at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, discussed his afterword to The United States Constitution: What It Says, What It Means: A Hip Pocket Guide and his grandfather's famous "military-industrial complex" speech.

Governor Christie lampoons the NYPD for "arrogance" while Governor Cuomo compares himself to Gumby.

Ten states have over 400 delegates up for grabs on Super Tuesday, one of the biggest milestones in the 2012 election and a pivotal moment for every candidate.

Term limits might be good public policy—emphasis on "might"—and could give the political advantage to Republicans.

With high unemployment numbers, a slowly recovering economy, protest movements like Occupy and the Tea Party, the economy has been a hot topic for this election cycle. And for some politicians, the most important economic indicator is the price at the gas pump: last week Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich released a 30-minute ad that faults the Obama administration for rising gas prices.

Both rock stars in their own right, both trying to right their states' ships, and both building serious momentum for a potential presidential run. Every Friday, we'll look at who's we...

Former Rutgers student Dharun Ravi is on trial for using a webcam to spy on his roommate, Tyler Clementi, who committed suicide in 2010. Use our timeline to catch up on the events leading up to the trial, and get updates as the case proceeds.

How do term limits change politics in the states that have them? In the case of California, they resulted in a legislature that gets less done.

Christie struggles with gay marriage and an increasingly-popular Obama, while Cuomo brokers another compromise. Whose week looks better on a 2016 presidential résumé?

A majority of Americans support putting term limits on Congress, and they may get their wish if Mitt Romney becomes president. But is it a good idea?

Proposing a budget that would shrink the deficit by $4 trillion over the next ten years, President Obama hopes to stay in office for four of them.