CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Mitt Romney's wife gushes about his silly side and devotion to their five sons and 16 grandchildren. Rick Santorum's college-age daughter opines online about missing the campus coffee shop and chats with friends about their Friday night plans. Jon Huntsman's daughters generate much-needed buzz for him with a joint Twitter account and online videos, including at least one that went viral.

Days away from voting in the Republican presidential race, the path to the nomination is quickly becoming a crowded family affair with spouses and offspring pitching in and doing far more than just smiling from the sidelines.

Ann Romney, Anita Perry and Callista Gingrich are starring in new TV ads for the husbands they've loyally campaigned for. Romney extols her husband's character and says "to me that makes a huge difference" in a candidate.

Apparently, the only time the mainstream media are interested in scrutinizing a presidential hopeful's religious beliefs and behavior is when that candidate is a Republican.

For example, no matter how Rick Perry’s new campaign ad is perceived by conservative voters in Iowa, the reaction from liberals and the media has been predictable.

Perry's vow to end “Obama’s war on religion” and to fight against “liberal attacks on our religious heritage” brought him ridicule across the web, from the New York Times to Entertainment Weekly.

And, this type of contempt for a Republican's religious values is nothing new.

Perry’s conservative Christianity has been a target for the media since before he declared for the nomination.

Six months ago, political junkies were deriding this year's Republican presidential race as one of the slowest and least exciting nomination battles in recent memory. Mitt Romney looked hard to beat. Newt Gingrich's campaign appeared all but dead. And several key Republicans whom many party insiders had begged to run—including Chris Christie, Mitch Daniels, Mike Huckabee and Haley Barbour— opted out of the campaign.

Yet that boring Republican race has turned into one of the most unpredictable and chaotic presidential nominating contests in party history. With voting set to begin in a little over three weeks, the race now enters its most crucial phase. Republican voters in the early states will finally have to decide who they want to represent their party against President Obama.

The next 10 days will be the most critical of the campaign, as the candidates begin to make closing arguments to Iowans before most voters tune out the campaign during the Christmas holiday...

Donald Trump’s stature within Republican ranks appears to be waning, after most of the party’s presidential hopefuls have shot down the billionaire developer’s invitation to take part in a “debate” moderated by “The Donald.”

Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Rep. Michele Bachmann, of Minnesota, became the latest to announce they will take a pass on the Dec. 27 Newsmax-sponsored debate, following in the footsteps of Texas Rep. Ron Paul, of Texas, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, meanwhile, have said they plan to attend the event.

The announcements from the Perry and Bachmann camps coincide with a Rasmussen Reports poll released this week that found voters aren’t overly enthralled with the idea of having Mr.

ORLANDO, FL - Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a top Rick Perry backer, warned not to underestimate the Texas governor from making a comeback in the in the GOP presidential primary race despite new poll numbers that show him lagging behind.

"Rick is a fighter," Jindal said in an interview with FOX News Thursday. "There is plenty of time left in the primary campaign season."

Jindal pointed to this year's mercurial political cycle - that has seen several GOP front-runners come and go--as the reason why Perry's current trajectory could improve.

"This has probably been one of the most unpredictable primary seasons on the Republican side.

Members of the Republican money machine that powered presidential elections from their time as “Rangers” for George W. Bush are betting almost entirely on Mitt Romney, but a large majority has so far sat out of the 2012 race altogether.

The role of these donors has only been heightened as loosened campaign-finance laws mean some “bundlers” who affected previous races by gathering contributions from equally wealthy colleagues have instead given massive amounts directly.

This year, 620 bundlers for Mr. Bush and Sen. John McCain tracked by The Washington Times have given more than $12 million of their own funds in federal elections, with more than $1.5 million going to Romney vessels, vastly more than for any other presidential candidate.

The elites’ second-favorite candidate, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, has dropped out of the race, and the only other contender to receive significant backing was Texas Gov.

Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are now essentially tied for the lead in the 2012 Republican presidential race, according to a new national poll Gallup released today looking at the candidates seeking to replace pro-abortion President Barack Obama.

Among all Republicans nationwide, Romney is the choice of 20% and Gingrich 19%. Among Republican registered voters, Gingrich is at 22% and Romney at 21%, the new poll found.

Among the other candidates, all of whom are campaigning as pro-life advocates opposed to abortion and taxpayer financing of abortions, the poll of all Republicans finds Herman Cain at 16 percent, Ron Paul at 10 percent, Rick Perry at 8 percent, Michelle Bachmann at 5 percent, and Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum tied at 1 percent apiece. The survey of registered Republicans has Cain also in third at 16 percent, Paul with 9 percent, Perry with 8 percent, Bachmann at 4 percent and Santorum and Huntsman getting one percent...

In his first negative TV ad of his presidential campaign, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is using the "s" word against President Obama-socialism.

"Obama's socialist policies are bankrupting America. We must stop him now," says Perry in his fourth ad of his presidential campaign. The spot, airing in Iowa and on FOX News, is the first Perry commercial to do more that introduce Perry, or his flat tax economic plan.

Perry also goes after Obama for the president's remarks suggesting Americans have become "lazy" asking, "Can you believe that? That's what our president thinks is wrong with America? That Americans are lazy? That's pathetic. It's time to clean house in Washington."

Perry is referring to a comment Obama made at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hawaii this weekend when talking about America's slipping status in global economic competition. "We've been a bit lazy over the last couple of decades.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, one of the pro-life Republicans seeking the GOP nomination to take on pro-abortion President Barack Obama, stopped in Iowa for a campaign speech yesterday where he called for de-funding the Planned Parenthood abortion business.

Perry has an extensive pro-life record in Texas and has received top grades from pro-life groups there. He’s already signed one bill this summer to de-fund the Planned Parenthood abortion business in Texas, which has resulted in closing abortion centers there.

NEW YORK – Texas Gov. Rick Perry, after offering up late-night fodder with his forgetful moment at this week's Republican presidential debate, opted to get in on the joke with an appearance on David Letterman's show Thursday night.

Capping a day of interviews in which he tried to laugh off the embarrassing moment, Perry gave the TV audience his own list of "Top 10 Rick Perry Excuses" for being unable to remember which three federal agencies he would eliminate.

In a separate interview on Fox News Thursday night, Perry explained that the campaign decided to have a "little bit of fun with it." His campaign website invited people to comment on which agency they'd like to forget -- Perry said the site got over 2,000 hits Thursday.

On Letterman, Perry chalked his brain freeze up to everything from Mitt Romney's good looks to a deficiency of energy drinks...