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A former candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, whose campaign was perceived to be negatively affected by the fact he served in the Obama administration, said he had no regrets about crossing party lines.

Chen Guangcheng’s decision to seek refuge at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing suggests it is "the safest place in China," former U.S. Ambassador to China said in a talk organized by the National Committee on United States-China Relations in New York on Wednesday.

After two weeks of intense competition, It's a Free Country readers have settled on the most memorable GOP debate moment of the 2012 campaign.

It's all come down to this. After two weeks of voting, it's between Rick Perry's "Oops" and the booing of a gay soldier for most memorable moment of the 2012 GOP debates.

Only four debate moments remain, and today they battle it out for a spot in tomorrow's championship match-up.

Will Newt Gingrich's bludgeoning of John King trump a good old fashioned back-and-forth between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney? And can Herman Cain make it further in our bracket than he did on the campaign trail?

Round 2 begins with match-ups in the Audience Participation and Gaffe divisions, and the winners will go on to represent their categories in the Final Four.

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?

New year-end reports filed with the Federal Election Commission trickle out today, and the early word is that Stephen Colbert's Super PAC raised just under $1 million, while former candidates Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann floundered.

And then there were five. Jon Huntsman is expected to announce today that he is ending his bid for the White House and will endorse Mitt Romney. Huntsman pinned his hopes on a strong showing in the New Hampshire primary where he finished a soft third last week. What does this mean for the rest of the campaign? Joining the show is Jim Rutenberg, reporter for our partner The New York Times and Ron Christie, Republican political strategist, CEO of Christie Strategies, and former special assistant to President George W. Bush.

Newt Gingrich reminds voters of that time Mitt Romney sang "Who Let the Dogs Out?" and other campaign strategies from the Palmetto State.

Mitt Romney had a lot of advantages going into New Hampshire – from residency to voter demographics – and in the end it all showed up on Tuesday night.

New Hampshire still has the power to surprise tonight.  If Jon Huntsman pulls an upset, and I don't mean surprising people with a second place finish, I mean an honest to goodness ran-away-with-it upset, that might be a game-changer.

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, Josh Rogers, political reporter for New Hampshire Public Radio, and Anna Sale, It's A Free Country political reporter, talked about Tuesday's New Hampshire primary and the last-minute challenges for Mitt Romney.

The President saw he had spent too much of 2011 trying to find a sensible seat at John Boehner's Mad Tea Party. Instead, he walked away from their table. It's been the best decision he's made for his re-election prospects.

Two hope to keep their surprising momentum going, while a third looks for his big break.

A tracking poll shows Romney sliding. Is this the Iowa roller coaster all over again?