LOOKING BACK AT TODAY.

So how do we square the contentious town halls that Arlen Specter (D) and Claire McCaskill (D) held today, versus the much more polite one hosted by President Obama in New Hampshire?

Did Obama stack the deck with supporters? (The White House insists it didn't, and Obama did go out of his way to solicit tough questions.) Or are people just nicer in New Hampshire? Or does the office of the presidency command respect -- even from political opponents? Whatever the reason, the nine questions that Obama received at his town hall didn't resemble anything that we've seen over the past few days.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/08/11/2027108.aspx

Before the town hall even began, the White House was trying to push back against any perception that today's town hall would consist of only Democrats and Obama supporters.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/08/11/2026686.aspx

Outside the event where President Obama conducted his town hall, there was an anti-Obama protestor with a gun -- a pistol strapped to his lower leg, NBC's Ron Allen reports. The local police chief said it's legal for the man to have a registered handgun -- as long as it is not concealed. What's more, he is on private property, a church yard, which has given him permission to be there.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/08/11/2026745.aspx

For some context on the Arlen Specter's lively Pennsylvania town hall that we saw live on MSNBC, it took place in Lebanon County, a solidly Republican County in a Democratic state. Even though Barack Obama won the state overall, Lebanon hasn't voted for a Democrat going all the way back to at least 1960.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/08/11/2026463.aspx

If you just can't wait for the 2012 Iowa Republican primary, here's a look at the field as it stands. http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/08/11/2026947.aspx

First Read with NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd, every weekday on MSNBC-TV at 9 a.m. ET.

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