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As the Republican Party’s primary season continues, with an election today in New Hampshire, the remaining six candidates debated one another twice over the weekend. After emerging as the top winner in the Iowa caucuses, but only by 7 votes, Mitt Romney appears to be holding his lead. However, none of the candidates differ much on most issues. Still, most mainstream media coverage has focused on intense straw polling, and the style of the debates rather than the substance. CNN waxed on about Romney’s “polished debating skills,” and Newt Gingrich’s abandonment of basic debating skills during one particularly low attack on Romney. Many of the insults flying during the debates, focused on which candidate did the most to increase the size of government during their variously held elected positions. Meanwhile, outside the debates and campaign events, GOP candidates have been dogged by activists from the Occupy movement and other groups. Outside the debate hall on Saturday, elders, small business owners, and others rallied in support of government programs like Social Security and Medicare which GOP candidates have made clear are in danger under a Republican presidency. Rick Santorum, who had come in a close second to Romney in Iowa, faced a crowd at a town hall meeting over the weekend that included a significant number of detractors upset about his views on religion, abortion, and gay marriage. Santorum had come under fire earlier in his campaign for comparing gay marriage to polygamy. Occupy New Hampshire and other groups rallied outside of Newt Gingrich’s campaign headquarters in Manchester in such large numbers that Gingrich, citing “security reasons” canceled a planned appearance last night. But it’s not just Republicans facing popular ire: Occupy New Hampshire also staged a die-in at President Obama’s reelection headquarters yesterday.

GUESTS: Michael Grosse, with the Media Committee of Occupy New Hampshire, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare

Visit www.occupynh.org and www.ncpssm.org for more information.