The Jeremy Lin story only gets more amazing this week, as the most unlikely sports hero of the past decade. Also this week, the tragedy of Whitney Houston. Michigan becomes the next battleground in the GOP primary. We look back at this week's stories with our panel. Ron Christie is a Takeaway contributor and Republican political strategist. Jeff Yang writes the Tao Jones column for The Wall Street Journal and blogs for our co-producer WNYC's It's a Free Country. Farai Chideya is a journalist and blogger at Farai.com.

It's Friday, the time we spend time with our most valuable minds here on The Takeaway to look at the week's stories. Is the Conservative Political Action Conference a right-wing Star Trek convention? How will the gay marriage issue play out? And why has contraception become a political issue? Our panel tackles these stories and more.

After Florida, most analysts were saying the GOP race was down to Newt and Mitt, but Rick Santorum pulled off a trifecta last night, a political hat trick winning the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses and a non-binding primary in Missouri. The unexpected wins casts further doubt on Mitt Romney's nomination, one that was once seen as a sure thing.

This week the Susan G. Komen Foundation cut funding for Planned Parenthood, Mitt Romney made headlines when he said he wasn't "concerned about the very poor," and Florida's GOP Primary went to Mitt Romney, with Newt Gingrich clenching a distant second.

Despite his vitriolic attacks against fellow frontrunner Mitt Romney, Tuesday night's primary was a disappointment for Newt Gingrich. In addition to losing Florida's 50 delegates, his second-place status is the widest margin of victory the GOP contest thus far. But Gingrich has vowed to stay the course. With the majority of the race ahead of them, it's still possible for him to grab the nomination — but without the support of the front-loaded states, it's not likely.

Mitt Romney came prepared during last night's CNN debate in Florida. The former Massachusetts governor fending off attacks about his record and personal finances as Newt Gingrich failed to build of his late momentum. The primary in the Sunshine State is just days away. A new CNN poll shows the two frontrunners are in a dead heat, with Romney leading Gingrich 36 percent to 34 percent. The primary is less than a week away, and the stakes are high. The winner-takes-all state has 50 delegates, more than Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina combined.

With spirited rhetoric about protecting the middle class and enforcing fairness in taxation, president Obama abandoned his normally conciliatory tone about non-partisan politics during last night's State of the Union address and instead highlighted the differences between right and left. Although both parties have had the chance for rebuttal, The Takeaway has assembled their own partisan players to comment on the president's remarks.

Rick Perry is out, Rick Santorum actually won Iowa, and Newt Gingrich's second wife says he asked for an open marriage before he filed for divorce. The four remaining candidates debated in Charleston one last time before this weekend's South Carolina primary. We take a look back at what was arguably the wildest day of the 2012 Presidential campaign thus far.

CNN is reporting this morning that Texas governor and GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry will drop his bid for the nomination just days ahead of the South Carolina primary. Perry drops his bid amid tepid poll numbers as candidates will scramble to pick up what little support he had. Mitt Romney faces his biggest test as the Iowa GOP also announced today that he may not have won their caucus. Republican political consultant Ron Christie joins the program to let us know how this will impact the race.

Only four days left until the South Carolina Republican presidential primary. That means only four days for the candidates to derail front-runner Mitt Romney off the path to the GOP nomination. At last night's debate in Myrtle Beach Romney fended off attacks on his business record, his personal wealth, and his moral character.

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.

Mitt Romney's win in the New Hampshire primary, Newt Gingrich's ad campaign attacking Romney's past in private equity, a new book about Michelle Obama's role as first lady were — for better or worse — the stories that dominated the headlines for the last week. The Takeaway has assembled a panel of analysts to rundown, dissect, and wrap-up all the major stories of the week.

A decisive, but not surprising, victory last night for Mitt Romney. He won the New Hampshire primary last night with almost 40 percent of the vote. But he doesn't emerge for the state as the presumptive nominee yet, and the devil is in the details. Ron Christie, Republican political strategist, political contributor for the Takeaway and It’s a Free Country, and John Zogby, president of the polling firm Zogby International, discuss Tuesday night's outcome.

Every Friday, The Takeaway convenes a panel to look back at the week's big stories. Among the headlines, after Mitt Romney squeezed out Rick Santorum by just eight votes in the Iowa caucuses, his hometown newspaper, The Boston Globe, endorsed rival Jon Huntsman. Meanwhile, Michele Bachmann dropped out of the race after placing last in Tuesday's caucuses. President Obama and Congressional Republicans are doing battle again, this time over his recess appointment of Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney edged out former Senator Rick Santorum by just eight votes in Tuesday night's Iowa caucuses. After spending most of the night locked in a dead heat with Santorum and Rep. Ron Paul, Romney was declared the winner early Wednesday morning with 24.6 percent of the vote. Paul finished in third place, followed by Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, and Michele Bachmann. Perry announced he would suspend his campaign to return to Texas.

Every Friday, The Takeaway convenes a panel to look back at the week's big stories. This week North Korea held a funeral for deceased dictator Kim Jong-il, Arab League monitors arrived in Syria, Sears announced they were closing more than 100 stores after poor holiday sales figures, Republican presidential candidates campaigned heavily in Iowa, and Americans around the country crafted new year's resolutions.

This week North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il died, a Pentagon investigation into airstrikes that killed 26 Pakistani soldiers heightened tensions between the U.S. and Pakistan, Countrywide was ordered to pay $355 million for discriminating against black and Latino borrowers, and a terrorism scandal in Iraq's second-highest office broke. 

Republican presidential candidates held their final debate last night in Sioux City just weeks before the Iowa caucus takes place on January 3. In the Fox News debate candidates attempted to draw distinctions from one another and defend their record to conservative voters. The latest New York Times/CBS News poll shows Newt Gingrich gaining ground on consistent front runner Mitt Romney. But some voters are still undecided.

In Iowa the final sprint for the 2012 Republican presidential candidates has begun, with the state's all-important January 3 caucuses drawing near. On Saturday, all of the major Republican contenders, minus former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, took center stage at Drake University for a Des Moines debate. Surging frontrunner Newt Gingrich found himself fending off attacks from all sides throughout the night, while Mitt Romney may have left the lasting impression by offering Rick Perry a $10,000 bet, mid-debate.

This week, the euro zone nations agreed to a pact to deal with the ongoing debt crisis, but the U.K. will not be taking part. Newt Gingrich's comments about child labor continued to dominate the headlines. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of instigating protests over alleged voter fraud there. And Donald Trump once again became the focus of the Republican primary field as candidates slowly dropped out of a Newmax-sponsored debate he was to moderate.