WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

Yesterday, the state of New Hampshire, which has been marrying same sex couples for two years, voted down an extraordinary attempt to repeal that law in its state house by a vote of 211 to 116.

That, in and of itself, is somewhat astonishing: The votes against the repeal almost doubled the votes for it.

But here’s the most spectacular part of this story: New Hampshire has a Republican majority in both state chambers. In the house, there’s a 189 vote Republican advantage. Gov. John Lynch is a Democrat who’d threatened to veto the repeal if it ever made it to his desk but the GOP, had it been willing, could have easily overriden it.

Instead, 118 Republicans -- 118! -- voted against the repeal.

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The story of Robert Bales, the 38-year-old sergeant who stands accused of killing 16 Afghanis (9 of them children, knifed and shot at close range), is a catastrophe for myriad reasons. The families of the dead, no matter how acclimatized to constant and endless war, are surely devastated. And Bales’ own family -- his wife, children, parents and others -- innocents in all this, far away in Washington state as the killings were taking place, now find themselves the focus of a laser-like spotlight.

Yesterday, Karilyn Bales, the sergeant’s wife, released a statement. There is nothing particularly unusual in that gesture; in fact, it’s become part of the cycle in circumstances like these, when families try to explain their surprise and horror. But what I found extraordinary about Mrs. Bales’ statement was its generosity.

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Republicans in Arizona’s state house -- professing to be pro-life -- have passed legislation that will undoubtedly result in many more abortions (some, perhaps illegal, given Arizona’s dwindling number of abortion providers), more single mothers, more abandoned kids with fewer state services and more poverty.

The Arizona Republican majority whip, Debbie Lesko -- yes, a woman -- is the principal sponsor of this disaster in the making. And to hear her tell it, the bill is simply about religious freedom.

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Last Saturday, GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum went seriously off his party’s message: “You hear now the media starting to say, oh well, looks like the economy is getting better,” he told supporters. “You know, the economy may be getting better and Republicans may lose their edge on that issue. Well, if that was the only issue in this race, that may or may not be the case, we don’t know.”

The message wasn’t that it’s not the economy, but rather that if the economy improves, things don’t look so hot for Republicans, who’ve been trying to tank it in order to make the case against the president’s re-election. Santorum, obviously, was making a play for the importance of his social issues agenda.

But there was a greater truth in his words: An improving economy helps Barack Obama, but it also helps Santorum in his bid against Mitt Romney, whose singular credential seems to be his business experience.

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WARNING: This music video is incredibly catchy. It will haunt your days and nights. It will follow you into your dreams. It's a music video, by a band called First Love, all about how Rick Santorum is our man and God gave us the Bill of Rights. It's also the kind of thing no one will ever be inspired to do for poor Mitt Romney.

As of this writing, the video has over 339,000 views on YouTube:

Best part: "There is hope for our nation again/Maybe for the first time since we had Ronald Reagan" -- and the songwriters are 18 and under!

You can find out all about First Love, a pair of gauzy blonde preacher's daughters with angelic voices, at their website. And you can read all about their giggly, squeally encounter with Santorum here.

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Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri endorsed Mitt Romney in the Republican contest Wednesday, just weeks after his state’s primaries, where Rick Santorum scored a victory with 55 percent of the vote.

But what exactly is the point here, Sen.

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1. The margins

Mitt Romney did what he was supposed to do in Arizona, winning by almost 20 points and pocketing all 29 delegates in the winner-take-all primary. That gives him a commanding lead over his nearest rival, Rick Santorum, for the GOP nomination, 145 to 82.

But in Michigan, Romney topped Santorum just 41 to 38 percent, an embarrassment by all accounts except Romney’s, who’s calling a win a win after playing down expectations all week long. In reality, if Romney’s playing the delegates-are-what-counts game in Arizona, then it’s a tie in Michigan: He and Santorum look to get 11 delegates each from that state.

Ultimately, both these Romney victories may prove pyrrhic: To get them, he veered dramatically anti-immigrant, which won’t help him in the generals in Latino-heavy Arizona and elsewhere. And in Michigan, he ended up having to defend his position that the auto industry should have been allowed to go bankrupt.

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