Battleground state to cast first votes for GOP candidate in 2012 race.

A guide to the Republican candidates hoping to become the GOP's presidential nominee

I've always been a political junkie. Since my earliest days as an observer and later as a participant in all things electoral, the golden rule has not changed: Love thy neighbor's wallet as though it were your own. Americans "vote their pocketbooks." I have always accepted it as a truism--doesn't everybody? Can't you just hear James Carville whispering those four magic words into Bill Clinton's ear over and over and over again in 1992... "It's the economy, stupid!"

The Republican contenders and where they stand

Food stamps, federal pensions face GOP cuts in drive to protect Pentagon budget