Rick Tyler

Mitt Romney rolled to an easy victory Tuesday in the New Hampshire primary, taking a broad stride toward capturing the GOP presidential nomination as the contest heads south for a pair of potentially make-or-break contests. The win, forecast by the television networks from exit polls almost immediately after voting ended, gives Romney a one-two sweep in the early balloting of the 2012 campaign, a first for any Republican apart from a sitting president. The conservative candidates who stand the best chance to stop him as the race heads to South Carolina - former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry -- were trailing far back and appeared unlikely to get a significant lift from their performance here.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the Muslim clergyman who wants to build a cultural center and prayer room two blocks north of ground zero, has repeatedly denounced Islamist terrorism. He admonishes members of his congregation to be, in his words, "both good Americans and good Muslims. " He's not an ally of Osama bin Laden; he's an adversary. Still, it was predictable that some New Yorkers who lost loved ones on 9/11 would object to building a Muslim institution so near the site of their tragedy.

More than two-thirds of Americans say the country is "seriously off on the wrong track" under President Bush. Still, a remarkable thing is happening among Republican candidates for the White House: They are enthusiastically embracing Bush's major policies and principles -- even some of the most controversial and unsuccessful ones. Mitt Romney wants to keep the Guantanamo Bay prison open -- even expand it -- and endorses Bush's failed plan to overhaul Social Security. Rudolph W.

In the courtship of Rebecca Johnson -- who's No. 4 on Amazon.com's list of top customer book reviewers -- publishers and authors are told up front how to land a spot on her dance card: Don't send novels or unpublished manuscripts, and please no books that include violence, nudity or swearing. Not if you want to bedazzle Johnson, who gets 40 to 60 free books a month, along with checklists from publishers asking her to mark the upcoming titles she's interested in receiving at no charge.

LIKE ALL show business awards, like all exclusive lists -- the 10 best films of 1942, the 100 greatest songs about dogs -- whether created by individual fiat or by a voting body, the Emmy nominations are a machine for starting arguments. That there are generally only five nominees in each category out of a vast array of possibilities means that these arguments usually revolve around who has been left out.

Teams appear in order of finish predicted by Times staff writers. Montclair Prep COACH: Pat Blackburn, first year LAST SEASON: 10-4; first in league, 5-1 PLAYERS TO WATCH: Eighteen players return from last season's team, which was defeated in the Inland Conference championship game. Even without the services of Riche Swinton, a Times' All-Valley first-team tailback last season, the Mounties are the preseason conference favorites.