Manchester, N.H.

The first televised presidential debate in over three weeks will take place tonight at St. Anselm College in nearby Goffstown, with another debate tomorrow morning on NBC’s Meet the Press. A lot has changed since that December 15 debate in Sioux City, Iowa. Michele Bachmann will be absent tonight, having dropped out after her disappointing performance in Iowa, and Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich have dropped in the polls since then.

Rick Santorum surged to a near-win in the Iowa caucuses last week, coming in just behind Mitt Romney. Santorum’s poll numbers in New Hampshire have risen (as they have across the country), making him a target of his opponents tonight and tomorrow. Santorum will likely say that conservatives don’t have to settle for electability. As he told a packed barn in Hollis this afternoon: