Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney grabbed first place in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday night, his second victory after narrowly securing Iowa by eight votes exactly a week earlier. (Full results)
“Tonight we celebrate,” Romney said in a victory speech you can watch above. “Tomorrow, we go to work.”
Romney is scheduled to hit the campaign trail in South Carolina Wednesday, where he’s expected to face a considerably more difficult contest ahead of that state’s primary on Saturday, January 21.
Texas Governor Rick Perry scarcely registered one-percent of the vote in New Hampshire. He skipped the Granite State to focus on South Carolina, hoping his socially conservative religious beliefs, his pro-military rhetoric, and the story of Texas economic success will trump Republican skepticism over his ability to win a general election.
“Tonight's results in New Hampshire show the race for 'conservative alternative' to Mitt Romney remains wide open,” Perry said in a campaign email Tuesday night. “I skipped New Hampshire and aimed my campaign right at conservative South Carolina, where we've been campaigning hard and receiving an enthusiastic welcome.”
The other Texan in the race, Congressman Ron Paul, met expectations with a solid second place finish in New Hampshire. The Texas Tribune’s Thanh Tan reports that Paul’s runner-up status will provide solid momentum as he pushes forward to South Carolina.
You can watch Paul’s victory speech here, and check all the other victory speeches at PBS Newshour’s YouTube page.
Texas Congressman Ron Paul survived the New Hampshire primary Tuesday with his runner-up status intact. The candidate had been polling in second place for days, and voters proved the surveys right.
Though the candidate could not overtake former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's commanding lead, the second-place finish will give his campaign another kick-start in fundraising and momentum as it moves to the first-in-the-South primary Jan. 21 in South Carolina.
"We've had a victory for the cause of liberty ... and there's no way they're going to stop the momentum," Paul said Tuesday night in a speech laced with underdog rhetoric and aimed at his fans across the country. "We are dangerous to the status quo!"
It's just the first Republican primary. But a convincing win in New Hampshire should give former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney considerable momentum in his quest toward the GOP nomination.
With 95 percent of precincts reporting, Romney had more than 39 percent of the vote. Texas Rep. Ron Paul was solidly in second, with about 23 percent, while former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman had secured third place, with nearly 17 percent of the vote.
If the polls are any indication, it's unlikely that U.S. Rep. Ron Paul will emerge as the victor in today's primary in New Hampshire. But he's strongly positioned to take second.
Finishing anywhere in the top tier would help to propel his campaign forward, said the University of New Hampshire's Dante Scala, an expert on the first-in-the nation primary.
Paul's following in the Granite State has been well documented in recent days. His fiscally conservative and anti-federal government stances, plus his non-interventionist foreign policies, attract a motley crew of supporters, from the young to the elderly, the most liberal to the ultra conservative.
If the New Hampshire primary goes as widely expected, Mitt Romney should emerge the winner among the candidates for the Republican presidential nomination. For weeks, polls in the state have shown him with a commanding lead.
But the 2012 campaign season has already delivered some surprises. Maybe New Hampshire will provide the latest in the series of unexpected twists?
Originally published on Fri January 6, 2012 8:46 am
By Katha Pollitt
Credit Mark Kegans / Getty Images
Katha Pollitt is a columnist for The Nation.
What is it with progressive mancrushes on right-wing Republicans? For years, until he actually got nominated, John McCain was the recipient of lefty smooches equaled only by those bestowed upon Barack Obama before he had to start governing. You might disagree with what McCain stood for, went the argument, but he had integrity, and charisma, and some shiny mavericky positions — on campaign finance reform and gun control and... well, those two anyway.
With a meager ten percent showing in the Iowa caucuses, Governor Rick Perry says he is returning to Texas to reassess his political campaign. Read our story here and watch his speech here.
Iowa Republicans choose their candidates for president tonight, and KUT has reporters following both Texans in the race: Governor Rick Perry and Congressman Ron Paul.
We’ve been talking with voters, and KUT’s Matt Largey in suburban Des Moines had this conversation with Ron Paul supporter and lifetime Des Moines resident Chuck Wheeler.
KUT News: You’re going to be caucusing for Dr. Paul tonight?
Chuck Wheeler: Yup. I’m precinct captain of Precinct 54. We’ve been going at it since 7 a.m. this morning. The energy level is like nothing I’ve ever experienced.
I’ve been apathetic since 1984, and working with all these young people, it’s fun because I get their point of view and they get my point of view.
