—Ana Finel Honigman

Photo: Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin

This isn’t the first rumbling of Duvall devotion. Marc Jacobs favorite Jamie Bochert is basically a dead ringer, and the heavy-bangs, center-parted shag that Duvall wore back in the day is making waves again. Those waiflike limbs that seem to go on forever—a little gawky,wholesale Levis jeans, sure, but what could be better suited for all the high-waisted wide-leg trousers that walked the runway this week?

Peter Jensen dedicated his entire Spring collection to the actress (in her seventies iteration, that is). “Was ever a muse more perfect for Peter Jensen than Shelley Duvall?” he wonders in his collection notes. “Beautiful and awkward, chic and gangly, Duvall inspires a collection that takes seventies sophistication and marries it to a wide-eyed innocence.”

Not that innocent. Back in the seventies, Duvall was a thinking man’s sex symbol—the skittish stripper of Robert Altman’s Nashville, one of Alvy Singer’s neurotic conquests in Annie Hall. And here on the runways were clothes to match. Peasant tops at Rebecca Taylor looked like they’d been plucked straight from the firing-range scene in Altman’s 3 Women. The first few exits at Derek Lam were summer-ized, sexed-up versions of her hysterical housewife in The Shining. Marc Jacobs mined the Me Decade for both his main line and Marc by Marc collections, and his long, flouncy dresses would’ve suited her to a T.

Shelley, if you’re listening, your wardrobe’s ready—it hits stores this spring. Here’s hoping it’ll bring you back down to earth a bit. According to reports, you’re spending days in small-town Texas, on the hunt for aliens.

—Laurie Trott

Nashville, left; Peter Jensen, right.

Annie Hall, left; Marc by Marc Jacobs, right.

Photos: Everett Collection (The Shining, top; Nashville); United Artists/Everett Collection (Annie Hall); Marcio Maderia/FirstView.com (Marc by Marc Jacobs, Peter Jensen)

Overall, spending declined by some $6 billion, or nearly 8 percent, over the past year, according to the annual Grapevine study by the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University. The reduction was slightly lower, at 4 percent, when money lost from the end of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act was not taken into account.

The funding reductions, seen across nearly every state, have resulted in larger class sizes and fewer course offerings at many universities and come as enrollment continues to rise.

A report released by the National Science Board last week found similar reductions in state higher education spending, with nearly three-quarters of the nation’s 101 top public research universities experiencing cuts in state funding between 2002 and 2010.

“It’s quite severe,” said Jose-Marie Griffiths, chairwoman of the National Science Board committee that produced the report and vice president for academic affairs at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island. “The question is, are they ever going to recover to the level they were before? I think all of us are somewhat concerned because the future is a little bit uncertain.”

Only nine states reported increases in total state higher education spending, including the federal stimulus money. In the 41 states where there were funding reductions, declines varied drastically, from about 1 percent in North Carolina to 41 percent in New Hampshire. The hardest-hit states include Arizona,wholesale Gucci, Wisconsin and Louisiana, where spending reductions were nearly 20 percent or higher as federal stimulus money dried up.

James Palmer, editor of the Grapevine survey, said state capacity to finance higher education had also been reduced by diminished tax revenues.

In a statement, the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association said states with the largest declines will likely see higher tuition rates and more pressure to recruit out-of-state students. That raises concerns about access to higher education, particularly for those students who need financial aid, another area where state support has declined.

Educating more students from out of state and less access will have “implications for the availability of an adequately trained workforce in those states,” the organization said.

The group specifically highlighted California, where a $1.5 billion spending reduction, including stimulus funds, over the past two years represents 26 percent of the national decline.

Florida is another state that has seen sustained spending cuts. Over the past five years, state support for higher education has declined 17.5 percent, according to the study. As the state proportion of funding has declined, universities have relied more on tuition, now nearly 50 percent of their operating budget.

Overall state funding appropriations in Florida are about the same as they were 10 years ago, after having risen leading up to 2007-2008. Meanwhile, enrollment has increased by more than 24 percent.

To compensate for the loss, Florida universities have merged departments, instituted hiring freezes and used more adjunct professors, among other actions.

“Each university has been diligent in developing cost-saving strategies to help offset but not fully replace the budget shortfalls,” according to a brief from the Board of Governors, which oversees Florida’s State University System.

The National Science Board noted the funding decline could have implications for how well the United States is able to educate its workforce and be competitive in a globalized, knowledge-based economy.

Already, the United States has been trailing Asia in science and engineering degrees. Fifty-six percent of all engineering degrees were awarded in Asia in 2008, compared with 4 percent in the U.S. The United States produced 248,000 graduates in the fields of natural science and engineering, while China produced 1 million, a dramatic increase from 2000, when they awarded 280,000. South Korea, Taiwan and Japan produced 330,000 natural science and engineering graduates in 2008 again, a larger number than the U.S., even though their population is smaller.

“Right now our aspirations for higher education I think far exceed the vitality of our economy,” Palmer said, referring to the push to increase access to college and degree completion. “In other words, we can’t depend on that state funding as the way we’re going to meet those goals.”

“The U.S. is getting ready to be a lot tougher on China on trade. They are doing a top-to-bottom review in Washington,” said James McGregor, senior consultant for APCO Worldwide in Beijing.

China’s move comes as the United States — increasingly frustrated with a mammoth trade deficit and what it calls unfair treatment of U.S. companies in China — changes its own tactics.

A WTO appeals panel overturned the first American attempt to apply anti-subsidy measures against Chinese steel, sacks and tires, but left the door open for a more nuanced case that China subsidizes its state-owned sector.

BEIJING (Reuters) China has fired a warning shot with its decision to impose tariffs on imports of sport-utility vehicles (SUV) and other large cars from the United States as both countries gear up for increased trade friction next year.

But by hitting a powerful industry that has benefited from a U.S. government bailout, China can signal a tough stance in the face of rising pressure over its trade practices while at the same time pressuring American companies into lobbying on its behalf.

The tariffs, announced on Wednesday and ranging from 2 percent to 22 percent, are unlikely to inflict much pain on American carmakers, who generally only import a small fraction of what they sell in China.

In recent years, the U.S. poultry industry lobbied actively against a Congressional ban on negotiating with China to import Chinese cooked chicken — imposed after Chinese food safety scandals — because they feared losing the lucrative Chinese market for chicken feet.

China’s choice of targets is limited by its reluctance to alienate Chinese consumers with higher prices for imported foodstuffs or raw materials.

The value of soy and oilseeds imports from America so far this year is triple that of cars, at about $12 billion. Making imported cotton, chemicals or grains more expensive would also only contribute to inflation in China.

Imported cars, however, appeal mainly to China’s wealthiest consumers, who aren’t very price sensitive to begin with.

Liu Hongyan, shopping at a Beijing Cadillac dealership on a clear and windy Thursday, shrugged off the possibility that customers like him might have to pay more for cars.

“I think it doesn’t really affect people of our class and status who buy these types of cars, because the tariff rate only takes up a small percentage of the cost,” he told Reuters.

“If you like the car it doesn’t matter.”

The automakers themselves are more vulnerable, although their problem isn’t the direct impact on imports, which only make up 9 percent of auto sales in China.

“Chrysler is a bit vulnerable as it’s been counting mostly on imported models to drive its China sales, but the impact on GM and others is very limited as imports accounts a small portion of the tally,” said Sheng Ye, associate research director for the Greater China region at industry consultancy Ipsos.

Instead, their Achilles heel is their business in China — the world’s biggest market for cars, and one of the only growth areas of scale.

With regulators already delaying permission to expand production unless automakers agree to transfer branding rights and technology, none of the big automakers will relish being left out in the cold.

(Additional reporting by Fang Yan and Steve Wang; Editing by Don Durfee and Robert Birsel)

Wednesday’s announcement came amid Chinese anger over a U.S. investigation into whether China unfairly subsidizes its solar panel makers. But China’s previous experience with trade disputes have taught its officials the lesson that American firms can be allies in opening American markets.

Instead of focusing on dumping of cheap Chinese-made goods, it is building a case that China’s support for state-owned firms — from discounted land and electricity prices to loans that can be perpetually rolled — violates World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.

It launched its investigation shortly before U.S. President Barack Obama visited in November 2009, in apparent retaliation for U.S. duties on Chinese-made steel pipes used in the oil and gas industry.

“It’s going to get at the whole state-owned sector and at subsidies that are hard to quantify.”

“It’s an extremely effective way of working.”

At a news conference on Thursday, a Ministry of Commerce spokesman declined to explain why China had chosen to target car imports.

HIGHER GEAR

China’s complaints about American car imports aren’t new.

“It’s a threat to companies, to say that you’d better lobby your government not to impose more tariffs because that could lead to a trade war and that’s going to hurt you here,” said Usha Haley, professor of international business at Massey University in New Zealand, who studies the Chinese auto sector.

Arguing that China isn’t playing fair will appeal to U.S. politicians in an election year when jobs are a sore point.

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“New Year’s Eve” This is the second in a remarkably shallow series of holiday-themed, celebrity-stuffed confections, following “Valentine’s Day.” Garry Marshall again directs a script by Katherine Fugate that weaves together a dozen or so plotlines that crisscross a holiday prone to sentimentalizing. If there is some kind of world record for schmaltz, this may have set it. Included here are first kisses, midnight rendezvous, dying fathers, newborn babies, husbands at war and trapped strangers. It’s narcotic mawkishness, with notes played on heartstrings like a 12-string guitar. Though it’s pure, rosy fantasy on screen, this is cynical, paint-by-the-numbers entertainment, sold with a gaggle of stars spread across its movie poster like a telethon lineup. Among them: Hilary Swank as a producer of the Times Square ball drop, Jon Bon Jovi as a rock star, Katherine Heigl as a catering chef, Abigail Breslin as Sarah Jessica Parker’s rebelling teenage daughter, Zac Efron as an ultra-confident courier, Jessica Biel as Seth Meyers’ pregnant wife and Halle Berry as the nurse of a dying Robert De Niro. Maybe the really good stuff will come once they get to “Columbus Day,” or maybe, just maybe, “Ash Wednesday.” PG-13 for language, including some sexual references. 117 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.

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• Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic

“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Gary Oldman is in a tough spot here. As the ironically named George Smiley, he’s an inherently reticent, veteran operative, given to revealing nothing personally or professionally. And yet, as the central figure in this adaptation of John le Carre’s best-selling 1974 Cold War novel, he must serve as our conduit, our guide through a shadowy and increasingly dangerous world where no one is to be trusted and nothing is as it initially seems. Because he’s Gary Oldman and he’s such a chameleon, he finds a slyness beneath the stoic veneer, a frightening intelligence that makes him a surprisingly formidable force. Oldman leads an excellent cast, a veritable who’s-who of top British actors working today, all of whom keep us guessing as to who the traitor might be among them. Tomas Alfredson, perhaps best known for directing the superb Swedish vampire thriller “Let the Right One In,” has crafted a precisely detailed, well-acted mystery. But he’s created a chilly mood that may be a bit too cold, a tension that may almost be too restrained. Smiley, who’s been forced into retirement by Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, is rehired to uncover a mole among its ranks. Toby Jones, Colin Firth, Ciaran Hinds and David Dencik are the suspects. R for violence, some sexuality/nudity and language. 127 minutes. Three stars out of four.

“Young Adult” Gorgeous but damaged, conceited yet self-loathing, Charlize Theron dares you to like her, and the movie itself dares you to stick with an anti-heroine who makes no apologies for her deplorable behavior. It’s an exciting thing to see, this willful rejection of tidy character arcs and happy endings, and it actually makes you wish “Young Adult” had been even further fleshed out and gone on a little longer. This is not something we say about a movie very often. In re-teaming with “Juno” director Jason Reitman, screenwriter Diablo Cody dials down the snark that marked the Oscar-winning script that made her a superstar in her own right. She’s actually created the anti-Juno in a lot of ways while managing to retain much of the directness, the sharply drawn characters and the casual poignancy that are her signatures. Theron’s teen-lit writer Mavis Gary is as verbal as Juno MacGuff was, but rather than finding the perfect, clever quip at all times, she usually manages to say the rudest, most inappropriate thing. This trait is on vivid, horrific display when she returns to her Minnesota small town to pry her high-school sweetheart (Patrick Wilson) away from his wife (Elizabeth Reaser) and newborn daughter. Patton Oswalt is excellent as Mavis’ nerdy former classmate and the film’s voice of reason. R for language and some sexual content. 94 minutes. Three stars out of four.

• Jake Coyle, AP Entertainment Writer

Jan. 23: Actress Chita Rivera is 79. Actor Gil Gerard is 69. Actor Rutger Hauer is 68. Singer Anita Pointer of the Pointer Sisters is 64. Bassist-keyboardist Bill Cunningham of The Box Tops is 62. Actor Richard Dean Anderson (”MacGyver”) is 62. Singer-guitarist Robin Zander of Cheap Trick is 59. Singer Anita Baker is 54. Bassist Earl Falconer of UB40 is 53. Actress Gail O’Grady (”American Dreams,” “NYPD Blue”) is 49. Actress Mariska Hargitay is 48. Singer Marc Nelson (Az Yet) is 41. Actress Tiffani Thiessen is 38. Bassist Nick Harmer of Death Cab for Cutie is 37.

Jan. 24: Actor Ernest Borgnine is 95. Cajun fiddler Doug Kershaw is 76. Singer Ray Stevens is 73. Singer Aaron Neville is 71. Singer Neil Diamond is 71. Actor Michael Ontkean (”Twin Peaks”) is 66. Country singer-songwriter Becky Hobbs is 62. Comedian Yakov Smirnoff is 61. Keyboardist Jools Holland (Squeeze) is 54. Actress Nastassja Kinski is 53. Drummer Keech Rainwater of Lonestar is 49. Singer Sleepy Brown of Society of Soul is 42. Actress Matthew Lillard (”Scooby Doo,” “She’s All That”) is 42. Actress Merrilee McCommas (”Family Law”) is 41. Actor Ed Helms (”The Office”) is 37. Actress Tatyana Ali (”The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”) is 33. Guitarist Mitchell Marlow of Filter is 33. Actress Mischa Barton (”The O.C.”) is 26.

Jan. 25: Actor Dean Jones is 81. Country singer Claude Gray is 80. Blues singer Etta James is 74. Actress Leigh Taylor-Young (”Peyton Place,” “Soylent Green”) is 67. Actress Jenifer Lewis (”The Preacher’s Wife,” “The PJ’s”) is 55. Actress Dinah Manoff (”Empty Nest”) is 54. Country drummer Mike Burch of River Road is 46. Singer Kina (Brownstone) is 43. Actress Ana Ortiz (”Ugly Betty”) is 41. Guitarist Matt Odmark of Jars of Clay is 38. Singer Alicia Keys is 31. Actor Michael Trevino (”The Vampire Diaries”) is 27.

Jan. 26: Actress Anne Jeffreys (”Topper,” “General Hospital”) is 89. Sports announcer-actor Bob Uecker is 77. Actor Scott Glenn is 73. Singer Jean Knight is 69. Drummer Corky Laing of Mountain is 64. Actor David Strathairn is 63. Singer Lucinda Williams is 59. Guitarist Eddie Van Halen is 57. Percussionist Norman Hassan of UB40 is 54. Comedian Ellen DeGeneres is 54. Guitarist Andrew Ridgeley (Wham!) is 49. Singer Jazzie B. of Soul II Soul is 49. Actor Paul Johansson (”One Tree Hill”) is 48. Gospel singer Kirk Franklin is 42. Drummer Chris Hesse of Hoobastank is 38. Actress Sara Rue (”Less Than Perfect”) is 34. Guitarist Michael Martin of Marshall Dyllon is 29.

Jan. 27: Singer Bobby “Blue” Bland is 82. Actor James Cromwell (”Babe”) is 72. Drummer Nick Mason of Pink Floyd is 67. Singer Nedra Talley of The Ronettes is 66. Dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov is 64. Country singer Cheryl White of The Whites is 57. Guitarist Richard Young of The Kentucky Headhunters is 57. Actress Mimi Rogers is 56. Guitarist Janick Gers of Iron Maiden is 55. TV commentator Keith Olbermann is 53. Singer Margo Timmins of Cowboy Junkies is 51. Keyboardist Gillian Gilbert (New Order) is 51. Actress Bridget Fonda is 48. Actor Alan Cumming (”Spy Kids”) is 47. Singer Mike Patton (Faith No More) is 44. Country singer Tracy Lawrence is 44. Rapper Tricky is 44. Guitarist Michael Kulas of James is 43. Comedian Patton Oswalt (”King of Queens”) is 43. Actor Josh Randall (”Ed”) is 40.

Jan. 28: Actor Nicholas Pryor (”Risky Business”) is 77. Actor Alan Alda is 76. Actress Susan Howard (”Dallas”) is 70. Marthe Keller (”Marathon Man”) is 67. Actress Barbi Benton is 62. Guitarist Dave Sharp of The Alarm is 53. Singer Sam Phillips is 50. Guitarist Dan Spitz (Anthrax) is 49. Bassist Greg Cook of Ricochet is 47. Singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan is 44. Rap artist DJ Muggs with Cypress Hill is 44. Rapper Rakim is 44. Actress Kathryn Morris (”Cold Case”) is 43. Singer Anthony Hamilton is 41. Keyboardist Brandon Bush (Train) is 39. Singer Joey Fatone of `N Sync is 35. Singer Nick Carter of Backstreet Boys is 32. Actor Elijah Wood (”The Lord of the Rings”) is 31. Rapper J. Cole is 27. Actress Ariel Winter (”Modern Family”) is 14.

Huong Hoang of Texas,Cheap Ed hardy t-shirts, may be better known by her stage name, Junie Hoang. She has appeared in such films as “Gingerdead Man 3: Saturday Night Cleaver” and “Hoodrats 2: Hoodrat Warriors.”

The actress filed a million-dollar claim against Amazon last fall, saying the company mined her IMDb account to learn her age, 40, and then posted it on her profile causing her offers for roles to dry up.

The lawsuit caused a frenzy of online speculation over who the actress might be as well as a bit of soul-searching about ageism in youth-obsessed Hollywood.

Women over 40 make up 24.3 percent of the U.S. population, but a casting analysis by the Screen Actors Guild showed actresses over 40 get just 12.5 percent of roles for television and film. Men of that age are also about a quarter of the population, but nearly equal their ranks in casting.

Last month a federal judge in Seattle ordered the lawsuit dismissed, saying the actress had no grounds to proceed with an anonymous complaint. Hoang refiled it under her real name.

She did not immediately return an email seeking comment, nor did her lawyer immediately return a voice message left after business hours.

A lawyer and a spokeswoman for Amazon also did not immediately return calls.

Hoang’s IMDb profile says she got her start in dance at 16, was the salutatorian of her high school class and earned a degree in biomedical science from Texas A&M University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. It lists her at 5-foot-2, 100 pounds, and suggests she can play characters ages 26-33.

She played Sandy in “Gingerdead Man 3,” a sequel to a 2005 Gary Busey movie in which “an evil yet adorable gingerbread man comes to life with the soul of a convicted killer,” according to a description on IMDb.

Other credits include a part as a triage nurse in the television series “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant,” and as the part of Janet in “My Big Phat Hip Hop Family.”

___

Johnson can be reached at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle

___

Online:

http://imdb.to/xyBLtv

http://www.juniehoang.com/122011

New York State Supreme Court Justice Eileen Bransten ruled on Tuesday that to show fraud, MBIA need only show Countrywide misled it about the $20 billion of securities it insured, not that the misrepresentations caused its losses.

MBIA shares closed 8.1 percent higher.

MBIA accused Countrywide of misrepresenting the quality of underwriting for about 368,000 loans backing 15 financings it insured between 2005 and 2007, while the housing market was booming. It said it would not have provided insurance on the agreed terms had it known how the loans were made.

While not ruling on the merits, Bransten lowered the burden of proof on MBIA to show Countrywide committed fraud and breached its insurance policies.

“No basis in law exists to mandate that MBIA establish a direct causal link between the misrepresentations allegedly made by Countrywide and claims made under the policy,” she wrote, citing New York common law and insurance law.

The judge also said Armonk, New York-based MBIA may try to prove financial damages, while agreeing with Countrywide that it “will not be an easy task.”

She rejected Countrywide’s argument that MBIA’s only remedy was to void its insurance policies. MBIA had said that would be unfair to investors.

KEY DEFENSE REJECTED

“The importance of today’s ruling cannot be overstated,” said Manal Mehta, a partner at Branch Hill Capital, a San Francisco-based hedge fund.

“Bank of America has lost one of its key defenses in the ongoing litigation over mortgage putbacks by the monoline insurers,” he said. “It could become significantly more devastating for the banks if it becomes a precedent for putback litigation over private label securitizations.”

Bransten issued a similar ruling on Tuesday against Countrywide in a case brought by another insurer,wholesale Ed hardy belts, Syncora Holdings Ltd’s (SYCRF.PK) Syncora Guarantee unit.

Lawrence Grayson, a Bank of America spokesman, said the bank is reviewing the rulings.

“The insurers’ losses are due to the mortgage market collapse, a risk they agreed to insure,” he said.

Jay Brown, MBIA’s chief executive, said in a statement the insurer is “very pleased” with its ruling, which provides “a straightforward path to recovery of our losses.”

MBIA shares closed up 94 cents at $12.53 after earlier rising as much as 11.4 percent to $12.91. Bank of America shares rose 24 cents to $5.80.

BIG COSTS

Bank of America has incurred tens of billions of dollars of legal bills and writedowns tied to mortgages since the second-largest U.S. bank bought Countrywide in 2008.

In a November regulatory filing, Bank of America said unresolved litigation could “significantly” boost costs and materially impact future results.

It also said that, through September 30, it had resolved about half of the $6 billion of representations and warranties claims tied to monoline-insured transactions, including $2 billion in an April settlement with Assured Guaranty Ltd (AGO.N).

MBIA meanwhile was restructured by New York’s insurance department in 2009 after the company, which traditionally insured municipal bonds, incurred big losses from insuring mortgage debt. Bank of America and some other banks are challenging that restructuring.

The cases are MBIA Insurance Corp v. Countrywide Home Loans Inc et al, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No. 602825/2008; and Syncora Guarantee Inc v. Countrywide Home Loans Inc et al in the same court, No. 650042/2009.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; additional reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York, Ben Berkowitz in Boston and Rick Rothacker in Charlotte, North Carolina; editing by Carol Bishopric, Gary Hill and Andre Grenon)

Bachmann, a U.S. congresswoman from Minnesota, stepped down after a dismal sixth place finish in the first Republican nominating contest in Iowa, which was decided by a margin of 8 votes out of the 122,000 cast.

Perry, the governor of Texas, stayed in the race despite earlier hinting he would drop out.

Frustrated at conservatives’ failure to unite behind a single candidate, Christian conservative leaders planned a Texas meeting this weekend to thrash out strategy.

Their candidate may turn out to be Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, who came a close second to Romney in Tuesday’s Republican Iowa vote, which kicked off the 2012 presidential election cycle.

Santorum swept into New Hampshire buoyed by the Iowa result. His campaign said he had raised $1 million in the last 24 hours.

Santorum told Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor” that “we’re going to do surprisingly well” in New Hampshire. “We’re going to be a much bigger player than everybody anticipates.”

A CNN poll showed Santorum doubling his support to 10 percent in New Hampshire, although he remained far behind Romney, a former governor of neighboring Massachusetts.

Distrusted by conservatives, Romney has struggled to break above the 25-percent level in national polls of Republicans in the race to choose a challenger to President Barack Obama for November’s presidential election.

He has a solid campaign infrastructure and is favored to easily win the January 10 New Hampshire primary. Romney picked up the endorsement of Senator John McCain, who was the party’s nominee in 2008.

“I’m really here for one reason and one reason only, and that is that we make Mitt Romney the next president of the United States of America,” McCain said at a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire. “And New Hampshire is the state that will catapult him on to victory in a very short period of time.”

SANTORUM’S PROBLEMS

An afterthought in the race until now, Santorum could have difficulty scaling up his campaign to compete in other states. On Wednesday, his website apparently crashed under a deluge of traffic.

Santorum has escaped close scrutiny so far, but rivals have plenty to work with if they want to attack him as a Washington insider at a time when anti-government anger is running high. As a congressional leader, Santorum led an effort to link Republicans closely with lobbying interests before voters threw him out of office by an 18-point margin in 2006.

His career out of public office could come under attack as well: his million-dollar-plus income in 2010 included substantial payments from a lobbying firm and a hospital group that was hit with two lawsuits for allegedly defrauding the federal government.

Conservative voters have boosted nearly every other candidate in the race to the top of opinion polls over the past six months.

Another hopeful who has seen his support crumble, Perry decided to stay in the race after earlier saying he would reassess his campaign after a fifth-place finish in Iowa.

“We are going to go into places where they have actual primaries and there are going to be real Republicans voting,” Perry told reporters, referring to New Hampshire and South Carolina.

The unsettled nomination race - which pollster Gallup said was the most topsy-turvy in 50 years - also leaves an opening for former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich or Perry if Romney can’t connect with more voters.

South Carolina’s January 21 primary is shaping up to be a crucial test.

“Iowa picks corn, New Hampshire picks campaigns’ pockets and South Carolina picks Republican presidents, and it is far from settled in South Carolina,” former state Republican Party chairman Katon Dawson, a Perry supporter, told Reuters.

Perry, a steady leader in the money stakes, has $3-4 million on hand to fund a multi-state campaign, according to a knowledgeable source.

Gingrich, who led opinion polls in December on the strength of his television debate performances, can look forward to two more debates on Saturday and Sunday in New Hampshire as he tries to return to the top tier.

At the end of September, Romney’s campaign had $14.7 million cash on hand while Santorum’s had $189,556, according to the candidates’ Federal Election Commission filings.

Romney can also point to the support of prominent leaders like South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and McCain.

Opinion polls show that Romney would fare best among the Republican candidates in a head-to-head matchup against Obama.

Still, he has yet to show that he can win the support of more than one in four Republican voters. His 25 percent showing in Iowa matched his 2008 vote total,Discount Burberry wholesale, and he has barely cracked that ceiling in national opinion polls.

“If Mitt wants to wrap this nomination up he has to get beyond establishment Republicans,” said Republican strategist Ford O’Connell.

Undecided New Hampshire voter Karen Eastman said she was not swayed by the Iowa results.

“I think every state is different, so you really can’t go by what happens (in Iowa),” said Eastman, a 53-year-old seamstress.

“Once they get in office a lot of them don’t do what they say they’re going to do. It’s really hard to vote for anybody nowadays, it really is, because they don’t mean what they say.”

The volatility of the race may be good news for Obama, who is building a huge fundraising and vote-getting organization for the November general election. His poll numbers are improving as the unemployment rate, now 8.6 percent, declines.

Obama has won some tactical victories in Washington in recent months by taking a harder stand against Republicans in Congress.

On Wednesday, he said he would bypass Congress and install his picks to head a new consumer financial watchdog agency and serve on the National Labor Relations Board. Liberal advocacy groups cheered the move. Republicans, who had blocked the appointments in the Senate, questioned its legality.

(Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle in Washington, Scott Malone in New Hampshire, Jane Sutton and Steve Holland in Iowa and Karen Brooks in Texas, Writing by Andy Sullivan, Editing by Alistair Bell and Christopher Wilson)

Poet and first-time biographer Matthew Hollis scooped the Costa biography award for “Now All Roads Leads to France: The Last Years of Edward Thomas” about the war poet who died in action during World War One.

Christie Watson,Discount D&G wholesale, a children’s nurse, was named 2011 debut novelist for “Tiny Sunbirds Far Away” about a Nigerian family forced to leave a comfortable urban life for poverty in the countryside.

And Moira Young won the children’s book category for her first novel “Blood Red Road” set in a lawless future land where Saba sets out to find her missing twin brother.

In the novel category, Andrew Miller won with his sixth novel “Pure,” beating Barnes whose “The Sense of an Ending” was the Booker Prize winner in October.

And poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy picked up the poetry prize with her latest collection “The Bees.”

The winner of each category receives a cheque for 5,000 pounds ($7,800). The overall winner, who earns a further 30,000 pounds, is announced on January 24.

Since the introduction of the Book of the Year award in 1985, it has been won nine times by a novel, four times by a debut novel, five times by a biography, seven times by a collection of poetry and once by a children’s book.

The 2010 Costa Book of the Year winner was “Of Mutability” by poet Jo Shapcott.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)