RICHMOND — Four Republican presidential candidates seeking a court order to be included on Virginia's primary ballot are likely to prevail on a key issue in the case, a federal judge said Tuesday.
A link to this page will be included in your message
MANCHESTER, N.H.
–
Republican front-runner Mitt Romney easily captured the nation's first primary election Tuesday, while his distant rivals were already aiming at scuttling the budding Romney express before South Carolina's Jan. 21 matchup.
"Thank you New Hampshire. Tonight we made history," Romney told well-wishers, flanked by wife Ann, their five sons and extended family. "Tonight we celebrate, tomorrow we go back to work."
With 95% of precincts reporting, the former Massachusetts governor had 39% of the vote, followed by Texas Rep. Ron Paul with 23% and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman with 17%.
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum lagged, each with about 9%. Texas Gov. Rick Perry trailed with less than 1%.
Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, here greeting voters outside the Webster School polling place in Manchester, N.H., took second in the primary.
Romney's relativly easy win here and last week's razor thin victory over Santorum the Iowa caucuses make him a favorite in South Carolina's primary. But a newly energized Paul and a confident Huntsman have not ceded anything yet.
Paul's quirky, populist small-government message resonated with enough voters to blow past a surging Huntsman, who had campaigned heavily here for months, making over 170 appearances.
By Alex Wong, Getty Images
Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman greets voters at Ward 1 polling place Jan. 10 in Manchester, N.H.
"I sort of have to chuckle when they describe you and me as being dangerous," a jubilant Paul told supporters here. "That's the one thing they are telling the truth. We are dangerous to the status quo of this country."
Like Paul, an energized Huntsman said he was setting his sights on winning in South Carolina. A third -place finish here gives him "a ticket to ride," he said.
By T.J. Kirkpatrick, Getty Images
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum makes the rounds on Radio Row during the nation's first primary on Jan. 10 in Manchester, N.H.
"As we look at the numbers now, we're in a strong, confident position — and all eyes are going (on South Carolina) from here," Huntsman told CNN.
Despite disappointing finishes, Santorum and Gingrich both told supporters that they would remain in the race. Both conservatives will appeal to the state's conversative base.
Knowing he may stumble in New Hampshire, Santorum told reporters early Tuesday that he's have chances outside New Hamphire. "There are lots of contests still to come,'' Santorum said. "There's going to be lots of opportunities to rise and fall."
Santorum, bolstered after pulling a virtual tie with Romney in Iowa, said there wasn't time enough to capitalize on that momentum before New Hampshire's primary and that he would be content to pull a double-digit percentage of the votes.
Despite a relatively low unemployment rate of 5.2% — vs. the national unemployment rate of 8.5% — the economy was the top concern of New Hampshire voters, according to results of an exit poll conducted by Edison Research for the Associated Press and TV networks. Among them, 45% favored Romney.
About one third of those polled said their main criterion for picking a candidate was finding someone to defeat President Obama in the 2012 Presidential election. The survey was conducted at 40 randomly selected sites here, and the preliminary results are based on interviews with 1,774 voters. The poll has a margin of error of +/-4 percentage points
Romney's victory speech focused on Obama for lax economic policies. "The last three years have lot of change, but they haven't offered much hope," Romney said. "We know it must be better and it will be better. That conviction guides our campaign. Americans know that our future is brighter and better than these troubled times. The president has run out of ideas. Now he's running out of excuses."
Romney had spent the past two days explaining and defending an offhand comment that he liked "being able to fire people." That comment attracted fire from Huntsman and Perry, among others, who used that quote to reinforce a withering assault on Romney as a venture capitalist in the private equity firm Bain Capital, which took over companies and sometimes laid off workers.
A former ambassador to China in the Obama administration, Huntsman spent the final 48 hours trying to capitalize on a notable debate exchange with Romney, who had criticized Huntsman for serving in Obama's administration. Huntsman countered that he had put his country ahead of partisan politics.
Perry had also criticized Romney over his role at Bain Capital, calling him a "vulture capitalist." But the anti-Romney sentiment didn't sway enough Granite State voters.
Shannon Taber, 37, a bartender, voted for Romney because she said she's looking for "basically someone who can beat Obama."
She said she likes Romney's experience and the fact that polls show he's got support. As a Republican, she feels "it's time to band together and pick someone."
Kevin Langelier, 42, an unemployed accountant, said he liked Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts."He's got a successful career as a businessman and I think he can do a lot for the economy," Langelier said. "I think he can beat Obama. I don't think anyone else is electable."
"
Contributing: David Jackson in Concord, N.H.; Catalina Camia in McLean, Va.; the Associated Press
Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Four years ago, Ron Paul arrived at the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, with just 15 delegates and was shunned by party elites who gave him no speaking role. He held a "Rally for the Republic" in Minneapolis for thousands of supporters during the convention.
The libertarian Texas Representative probably will be a more forceful presence at this summer's Tampa, Florida, convention, to the consternation of some Republican leaders.
"I sort of have to chuckle when they describe you and me as being dangerous," Paul said to cheers from supporters after his second place finish in last night's New Hampshire primary. "We are dangerous to the status quo in this country."
Paul received about 23 percent of the vote in New Hampshire last night, tripling the almost 8 percent he got in 2008. In the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, he got more than twice the vote of four years ago, and finished close behind front-runner Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum.
There are many arcane elements to the Republican delegate allocation rules and there still will be winner-take-all primaries in such states as Florida and New Jersey where Paul probably will be shut out. Nevertheless, if he continues this improved showing, he could garner 200 delegates or more and arrive at the Aug. 27 convention with a stronger negotiating hand.
Intellectual Revolution
"There is no doubt that this whole effort that we're involved in will not go unnoticed," Paul said last night. "I think the intellectual revolution is going on now to restore liberty. There is no way they are going to stop the momentum that we have started."
"Given everything we know about him, he'll be seeking some sort of major policy statement from the party," said Anthony Corrado, a political scientist at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. "I suspect that's more important to him than any particularly personal role at the convention or any rules change."
The Texas doctor's vote share stands to increase as other rivals withdraw from the race -- something Paul probably won't do given his ardent support base that has shown an ability to raise millions of dollars in a day. On Dec. 16, Paul's backers responded to his call for donations by generating $4 million by close of business.
With more Republican contests, including Nevada and North Carolina, this year awarding delegates in proportion to the statewide vote, Paul has more opportunities to capture some even if he is unable to crack 25 percent in a divided field.
Unique Virginia Opportunity
Virginia could present a unique opportunity since Paul and Romney are the only candidates who qualified to be on the ballot and the state allocates some of its 49 delegates based on the proportion of votes each candidate receives.
Polls in Iowa showed that Paul, 76, who won about 432,000 votes nationally as the 1988 Libertarian Party presidential nominee, attracted more support from voters unaffiliated with either party than any other Republican candidate. He hasn't ruled out a third-party candidacy, a scenario that could siphon votes from the Republican nominee and hurt the party's effort to unseat President Barack Obama.
Paul's best chances to accumulate delegates are in states where Republicans are using caucuses and conventions such as Nevada rather than primary elections. With Paul's resolute followers, he is well-suited to perform well at caucuses, which have lower voter turnouts than primary elections and place a greater emphasis on organization.
Caucus State Advantages
"Any caucus state is something that he's going to be targeting," Josh Putnam, a political scientist at Davidson College in North Carolina, said in an interview.
"It is an unknown just how many delegates the Paul campaign can get through to the convention in Tampa," Putnam wrote Jan. 4 on his Frontloading HQ blog that analyzes the presidential election. "If the over/under is 200, take the over," he said, adding that "the dynamics can and likely will change."
States holding caucuses in the first week of February include Colorado, Maine, Minnesota and Nevada, which together have 128 delegates. Paul's Nevada campaign last week announced 15 political events in a nine-day span, including voter registration and phone-banking efforts that are intended to turn out voters for that state's Feb. 4 caucus.
Paul's campaign recognizes the disadvantages he faces in winner-take-all states. For instance, he isn't waging an aggressive campaign in Florida, where all 50 delegates will be awarded to the winner of the Jan. 31 primary. Paul drew support from just 10 percent of Florida Republicans in a Quinnipiac University poll conducted Jan. 4-8, putting him in fourth place behind Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Santorum.
No Big Campaign
"We don't have a big campaign planned" in Florida, "but they'll know we're there and we have the caucus states that we'll be paying more attention to," Paul told CNN on Jan. 9.
In 2008, Paul didn't exit the race until mid-June, after every state voted and more than three months after John McCain clinched a majority of delegates.
Paul may become the latest presidential runner-up who parlayed his showing in the caucuses and primaries into flexing some muscle at the national convention.
In 1976, California Governor Jerry Brown did well enough against Jimmy Carter in the Democratic primaries to secure a prime-time speaking spot at the national convention.
A Jobs Plank
Four years later, allies of the late Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy were able to insert a jobs plank into the Democratic party platform, over the objections of Carter's supporters.
In 1988, Jesse Jackson finished second to Michael Dukakis, accumulating delegates by winning southern state primaries, caucuses and by staying in the race until the end. Dukakis then gave Jackson and his family a prime-time speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta.
"If Paul were to accumulate a sizable bloc of delegates, there would be significant efforts from the Romney campaign to try to work out some agreement so that his role in the race was recognized and perhaps some of his policy concerns were recognized," said Corrado.
--Editors: Jeanne Cummings, Jim Rubin.
To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Giroux in Washington at ggiroux@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jeanne Cummings at jcummings21@bloomberg.net
Mitt Romney may be the front-runner with the most well-oiled political machine and the biggest war chest, but Jon Huntsman is the candidate the man in the White House would worry most about facing in a general election, some observers say.
The former Utah governor's moderate stances will appeal more to independent voters in swing states than many of his rivals, who have branded themselves as ultra conservatives and attacked each other's right-wing credentials. This has left Huntsman largely untainted.
"I don't think there's any doubt that he would fear Huntsman the most," said Democratic consultant Neil Oxman of the Campaign Group. "This process has really been brutal and has defined these guys who are remaining, except for Huntsman, as really, really conservative and maybe out of the mainstream of rational people, because this fight is still for the middle."
"Huntsman hasn't been tainted by the process, hasn't gone crazy to the far right, hasn't made as many outrageous statements," Oxman added. "Romney's problem is that he used to be a moderate. He used to be one of those old-fashioned northeastern moderate Republicans."
Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said Huntsman's moderate social views — and his stint as the president's ambassador to China — could attract disaffected Democrats.
"They don't want to face Huntsman," he said, adding, however, that Romney's political apparatus makes him a more viable candidate. "Romney has a much better organization and fundraising machine, which any Republican needs desperately running against a president who is going to have a billion dollars."
Mitt Romney greets supporters in Manchester, N.H., after winning the New Hampshire primary.
Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images
Mitt Romney greets supporters in Manchester, N.H., after winning the New Hampshire primary.
Mitt Romney came away from the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary Tuesday night with a comfortable win, and an uncomfortable reality.
His chief detractor, GOP rival Newt Gingrich, who in recent days has launched a savage campaign to undermine Romney's successful-businessman-makes-best-president narrative, is just getting warmed up.
In South Carolina, where the next primary is scheduled for Jan. 21, a superPAC supporting Gingrich — flush with $5 million from casino magnate Sheldon Adelson — will begin airing a film that depicts Romney as "more ruthless than Wall Street" during his years as head of a lucrative private equity business that bought, sold and closed businesses.
The aggressive attacks, not unusual for the early weeks of primary season, have delighted Democrats, shaken the former Massachusetts governor's operation, and continue to alarm a swath of conservatives anxious for their party to coalesce around the man they see as their best shot against President Obama.
Whether the harsh criticism will make Romney — who last week eked out an eight-vote win in the Iowa caucuses — a better candidate in the long run, as some suggest, or permanently handicap him if he is the nominee, as Democrats hope, remains an open question.
As does how long Gingrich, the former House speaker who finished fourth in Iowa and was in position to finish no better than fourth in New Hampshire, can sustain his onslaught.
Attacks Rattle Party
The attacks on Bain Capital's activities under Romney's leadership have been so pointed, and taken on such a life beyond Gingrich, that the private equity industry's lobbying group put out a press release defending its business practices.
Influential conservative groups and publications have scolded Gingrich and other candidates for the sin of acting like Democrats when they criticize Romney's stewardship of a firm that made money even when it closed businesses. (A Wall Street Journal analysis of 77 businesses Bain Capital invested in with Romney at the helm from 1984 to 1999 found that 22 percent eventually filed for bankruptcy, or closed within eight years after Bain first invested in them, "sometimes with substantial job losses.")
"We'd hope that supporters of the free market would recognize what Gingrich's attacks are: craven political assaults on capitalism and economic freedom," Barney Kellar of the conservative, free-market Club for Growth, told NPR on Tuesday. "Ultimately Republicans and then the American people will render their judgment through the ballot box."
But with Gingrich continuing to amp up his criticism about Romney's tenure as head of the private-equity firm, other conservative heavyweights weighed in.
The editors at the National Review accused Gingrich — and fellow Republican candidates Jon Huntsman and Rick Perry — of engaging in a "perverse contest to be the Republican presidential candidate to say the most asinine thing about Mitt Romney's tenure at Bain Capital."
And the Karl Rove-affiliated superPAC American Crossroads issued a statement strongly supportive of Romney, noting that Gingrich's attacks have resulted in a "major downward impact" on his own support. (A quick follow-up email from spokesman Jonathan Collegio, however, asserted Crossroads "is, and remains neutral" in the GOP primary.)
Investment Class
Interested to hear what those in the investment field have been making of Gingrich's fusillade, NPR turned to David Kotok, co-founder and chief investment officer of Cumberland Advisors, a Florida-based investment advisory firm.
"Romney's business prowess has been turned on him in a very nasty way, but that's the nature of our political system," Kotok says. "The attack on Romney is by a desperate candidate."
It's not that Kotok doesn't believe there's a debate to be had going forward about the special tax circumstances under which Romney and Bain Capital made its millions.
"Romney was involved in an activity that gets a 15 percent carried interest tax break," Kotok says, explaining that the special tax treatment allowed a 15 percent tax rate on certain transactions that Bain was involved in.
"While you were out there working and paying higher taxes, Mr. Workingman, Mr. Schoolteacher," Kotok says, "his enterprise was getting a tax break. Do you think that's right?"
That's a topic worthy of debate, he says, because it involves tax policy, and not how many jobs somebody may or may not have created years ago. Romney's claim that he helped create 100,000 jobs during his tenure at Bain has been the subject of much debate and scrutiny.
"Can Romney describe himself as a job creator?" Kotok said. "I don't know. But he has business capital investment experience. He's been governor. And his personal life seems to be very clear, in order and above reproach. No question about any of that."
But Whom To Trust?
Democrats like Chris Lehane, a veteran of the Clinton White House, however, say that questions about Romney's job creation claims while he was a corporate buyout specialist are indeed legitimate.
It's all about trust, Lehane says, repeating a theme that Democrats are increasingly attaching to Romney.
"In presidential campaigns, candidates get positive and negative storylines," says Lehane, now a California-based strategist. "If the race is competitive, the storylines play themselves out as it relates to who wins the public trust argument."
"Specifically," he says, "who do you trust to make the right economic decisions that will impact you, your family and the country?"
He sees a cautionary tale in what happened to Meg Whitman, the former eBay CEO who was the Republicans' unsuccessful candidate for governor in California in 2010. Whitman, now head of Hewlett-Packard, ran on her economic and job-creating credentials but was sunk when her critics (including Lehane) hit her for firing workers while she took bonuses, for sending jobs offshore, and for mistreating a longtime maid.
"She lost the public trust issue, and her candidacy collapsed," he said.
Democratic commentator Karen Finney notes that Obama became a stronger candidate in 2008 because of his intense battle with then-Sen. Hillary Clinton for the nomination.
Romney has that chance, she says, but so far has continued to stumble.
He was dinged after he told a campaign audience that he, too, had worried in the past about getting a pink slip. (Perry later joked that Romney's worry was whether he'd have enough pink slips to pass out.) And he gave Democrats fits of delight when, in explaining his opposition to the health care overhaul, said, "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me."
Romney heads to South Carolina Wednesday where the ground is much less friendly, and where Gingrich and the rest of the field are waiting. It's expected to be Perry's last stand, and maybe the end for another candidate or two.
That's dangerous. Especially for a front-runner who now has to figure out, and quickly, how to resell what had been his strongest selling point.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Four Republican presidential candidates seeking a court order to be included on Virginia's primary ballot are likely to prevail on a key issue in the case, a federal judge said Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney said in court papers that a provision that allows only Virginia residents to circulate petitions to get candidates on the ballot probably is unconstitutional, as the plaintiffs claim.
Gibney made the remarks in a five-page supplemental filing to explain his order Monday barring distribution of absentee ballots until after a Friday hearing on the bid by Texas Gov. Rick Perry and three fellow Republicans to join former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Congressman Ron Paul in Virginia's March 6 primary. The state attorney general has appealed that order to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Virginia law requires candidates to obtain the signatures of at least 10,000 registered voters, including at least 400 from each of the state's congressional district, to get on the ballot. Only Virginia residents can collect signatures — a restriction that the plaintiffs claim violates their rights to free speech and freedom of association.
"The Court finds that there is a strong likelihood that the Court will find the residency requirement for petition circulators to be unconstitutional," Gibney wrote.
He added that previous court rulings "make clear that circulating petitions for candidates is a form of protected speech, and that the Commonwealth has a heavy burden to justify the restriction on speech by showing not only that the limitation achieves a valid state interest but also that the limitation is no broader in scope than necessary to achieve that purpose."
However, the judge cautioned that his remarks should not be viewed as an indication of how he will rule after Friday's hearing on the candidates' request to be added to the ballot. He noted that he will have to consider not only the validity of Virginia's election laws and practices, but the "appropriate remedy" for any constitutional violations.
Virginia election officials and the office of state Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli told Gibney on Monday that absentee ballots needed to be printed by the next day so they could be mailed by Jan. 21, the cutoff for meeting a legal requirement that ballots be mailed to military and overseas voters 45 days before a federal election.
Nevertheless, Gibney halted the printing and distribution of ballots until after Friday's hearing. He said in Tuesday's supplemental order that the delay will make it more difficult, but not impossible, for elections officials to get the ballots out by the deadline. He said the burden on them is outweighed by the public interest in citizens' voting rights.
Perry sued last month after failing to collect the required number of voter signatures. Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum also failed to qualify and later joined Perry's lawsuit.
Mitt Romney rolled to a convincing victory in the New Hampshire primary, taking a broad stride toward capturing the GOP presidential nomination as the contest heads south for a pair of potentially make-or-break contests.
The win Tuesday gave Romney a one-two sweep in the leadoff voting of the 2012 campaign, a first for any Republican apart from a sitting president, as the race moved to South Carolina and Florida.
The conservative candidates who stand the best chance to stop him there — former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry — were trailing far back and appeared unlikely to get a significant lift from their performances here.
Rep. Ron Paul of Texas was a solid second, but will have difficulty expanding on that showing in states that are less conducive to his libertarian views on social issues and foreign policy.
Jon Huntsman Jr. was a weak third, with barely half of Romney's share of the vote. The former Utah governor, who concentrated almost his entire campaign in this state, insisted that he would move on.
Romney, who lost the state four years ago, sought to impart an air of inevitability to his candidacy with a celebratory speech Tuesday night that focused more on the fall election.
Speaking before a boisterous crowd of supporters in Manchester less than half an hour after the polls closed, the former Massachusetts governor charged that President Obama "wants to put free enterprise on trial." But he also took a hard slap at what he termed "desperate" Republican rivals who have stepped up their attacks on his record in private business — a group that includes Perry, Gingrich and Huntsman.
"This is such a mistake for our party and for our nation," Romney continued. "The country already has a leader who divides us with the bitter politics of envy."
Romney, who flies Wednesday to South Carolina, spoke directly to voters in that state, urging them to make 2012 the year that Obama's presidency "runs out of time."
Interviews of voters leaving their polling places showed a broad, sweeping triumph for the GOP front-runner. He carried most age, income and demographic groups as well as voters across almost the entire political and ideological spectra, including conservative tea party supporters. Among self-identified independents, however, Paul won a plurality.
Romney starts out leading there too, but that challenge promises to be much more formidable than New Hampshire, which was the former Massachusetts governor's to lose from the start. Unlike Iowa, where leaders came and went atop the polls, no survey ever showed Romney with less than a sizable double-digit New Hampshire lead.
In South Carolina, however, Romney won't have what amounted to a home-field advantage — he is the sixth Massachusetts presidential hopeful to win the neighboring Granite State — and he will face a much different electorate in the first Southern primary next week.
South Carolina has a large and politically important bloc of evangelical voters. Romney will face resistance among some of those Christian conservatives who are suspicious if not downright hostile toward his Mormon faith. In New Hampshire, just 14% of those who voted Tuesday said being a "true conservative" was the most important thing to them, trailing far behind the economic concerns cited by 6 in 10 voters, according to election-day interviews by the TV networks.
Romney is also facing a more assertive pack of runners-up.
After largely fighting among themselves for the last several months, they took after Romney in New Hampshire with sudden ferocity, ganging up on him in a Sunday debate and pounding him since then over his work at Bain Capital, the private investment firm he co-founded and the source of his great personal wealth.
While he cites his business background as a virtue, especially in contrast to the extensive Washington resumes of most of his rivals, Romney's opponents have depicted him as a heartless, job-slashing corporate raider.
He handed them a cudgel while campaigning Monday with a remark wrenched from its original context: "I like to be able to fire people." Although Romney made the comment in regard to healthcare and holding insurance companies accountable, his rivals seized on it as evidence of his callousness.
Still, Romney moves ahead with many advantages, not least a big edge in money and campaign organization, which becomes increasingly important as the election shifts from statewide races in Iowa and New Hampshire to a series of big-state contests across the country.
Victories in South Carolina on Jan. 21 and Florida 10 days later could all but ensure that Romney will capture the nomination, and sooner rather than later.
Part of his strength is derived from the weakness of the opposition.
Each of his rivals holds particular appeal to segments of the Republican base — Paul with independents, Santorum and Perry with social conservatives, and Gingrich with voters seeking intellectual heft and a long-range vision. None, however, offer a complete package, and that has boosted Romney, who enjoys the steady support of at least a quarter of the electorate almost everywhere.
He could also benefit, as he did in last week's squeaker win in Iowa, if evangelicals and tea party acolytes split their votes among several contenders on the right, allowing Romney to prevail over a crowded field.
Immediately after Sunday's debate Perry retreated to South Carolina, where he has been pounding Romney on his performance at Bain. Paul, a Houston-area congressman, will compete there as well, but has already said he won't make a major effort in Florida, which will hold the first big-state primary at the end of the month.
Huntsman has also set his sights on South Carolina, but he has considerable ground to make up. Although he invested early, he has spent little time there lately and his relatively centrist positions are likely to play less well than they did in more moderate New Hampshire, where he carried the vote of Democrats who crossed over Tuesday. Florida would demand a heavy investment in advertising dollars just for Huntsman to become better known.
"I'd say third place is a ticket to ride," Huntsman told supporters. "Hello, South Carolina!"
Four years ago, another moderate Republican, former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani tried a similar strategy, skipping Iowa and making a last stand in Florida. He finished a weak third and quit the campaign the next day.
A near-panic has taken hold among some core conservative activists, who are now scrambling to devise a strategy to deny Mitt Romney the Republican presidential nomination.
Many of these activists see South Carolina's primary on Jan. 21 as their last best hope of stopping Romney by consolidating in a united front against him. But many acknowledge that they have yet to figure out which of the remaining conservative rivals to rally behind and which should get out.
Graphic
N.H. PRIMARY TRACKER: An interactive look at the New Hampshire Republican primary, with full county-by-county results.
Video
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire primary Tuesday night, adding to a first-place finish in last week's Iowa caucuses and establishing himself as the man to beat for the Republican presidential nomination. (Jan. 10)
The tension is exacerbated by the deep divisions between two key GOP wings: tea party groups yearning for a pure small-government conservative, and evangelical Christians who want a loyal social conservative.
In one sign of their desperation, some activists are holding out for what they acknowledge is a spectacular long shot: a late-entering savior who could still qualify for enough state ballots and win enough delegates to force a brokered GOP convention this summer.
The Romney conundrum will be on the agenda Friday when about 150 evangelical leaders huddle at a Texas ranch to debate their next move. Likewise, the subject of consolidating conservative opposition to the former Massachusetts governor is expected to be a major point of discussion among about 500 attendees at a tea party convention set for this weekend in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where the list of speakers includes two Romney rivals seeking the conservative mantle, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.
"We're aware that the vote is being split and how dangerous that is," said Joe Dugan, a Gingrich supporter who is chairman of the Myrtle Beach Tea Party and coordinator of the convention.
"We're trying to encourage coalescing around one candidate," Dugan added. "But tea party people are very independent-minded."
One participant in Friday's evangelical meeting, the Rev. Jim Garlow — pastor of a San Diego megachurch and a leading champion of California's anti-gay-marriage initiative — said Romney is "untrustworthy" and not " visceral on the issues that are cardinal to me."
"I'm not in panic mode, at least not yet," said Garlow, one of Gingrich's most prominent evangelical backers. "There's still time, although the fuse is short."
The fretting from conservatives reflects a persistent question about Romney's candidacy: whether a wealthy private-equity executive with a history of centrist views in a liberal state can gain the trust of the most energized and active elements of the GOP's conservative base. And now, a series of attacks on his record at Bain Capital threatens to undercut Romney's main argument to conservatives: that his private-sector experience best positions him to defeat President Obama in the fall.
Many social conservatives worry about his past support for abortion rights (he has since declared himself antiabortion), and some are wary of his Mormon faith. Meanwhile, many tea party activists say Romney's background in finance and his support for the Wall Street bailout are reasons for skepticism.
Until now, Romney and his campaign have seemed content to pursue the nomination by showcasing his establishment credentials.
A 28-minute Michael Moore-style attack ad ripping Mitt Romney's business record will be released Wednesday in South Carolina by a pro-Newt Gingrich super PAC.
The video, obtained by The Daily Caller and other outlets, opens with a montage praising the glories of capitalism, but the music then darkens as the narrator warns how "in the wrong hands" the dreams of Americans can "turn into nightmares."
"Capitalism made America great. Free markets, innovation, hard work — the building blocks of the American dream," the narrator bellows. "But in the wrong hands some of those dreams can turn into nightmares."
Romney, who headed the private equity firm Bain Capital, is depicted as a "privileged son" who ruthlessly sought profits at the expense of workers. The video focuses on four companies acquired by Bain, which it calls some of "Romney's many targets" — America Pad & Paper, KB Toys, UniMac Corp. and DDI Corp.
Through heart-wrenching interviews with alleged workers and families who suffered as a result of the job losses that came about after Bain's acquisition of the companies, the video portrays Romney as "more ruthless than Wall Street."
"There's times you skip a meal so your kids can have something to eat," one alleged Romney victim says in the film before breaking down and crying.
Shortly thereafter, the narrator comments on Romney's estates.
"Romney had made himself rich beyond imagination," the narrator says. "He went on to purchase a $3 million home in New Hampshire with a private beach and a $12 million dollar beachfront property in California — even that wasn't enough."
The ad then cuts to a clip of liberal MSNBC host Ed Schultz.
"Romney is planning to bulldoze his $12 million, 3,000 square foot home near San Diego, California and replace it with an 11,000 square foot home instead," Schultz exclaims.
"And that hurts so bad to leave my home because of one man who has 15 homes," another alleged victim of Romney's corporate dealing laments.
The ad is also xenophobic in parts. It mentions twice, for no clear or relevant reason, that Bain had Latin American investors.
"Romney took foreign seed money from Latin America," the narrator says in one instance.
It also twice shows a video of Romney speaking in French — again for no compelling or relevant purpose.
The film, called "When Mitt Romney Came to Town," was purchased by pro-Gingrich super PAC Winning Our Future, which is run by former aides of Gingrich, according to Bloomberg News.
Billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson gave $5 million to the super PAC to air the ad, reports Bloomberg.
Jason Killian Meath, who previously worked for the Republican National Committee, according to Bloomberg, produced the film.
While few noticed, President Barack Obama cruised to an easy victory in the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary, though a baker's dozen of others on the ballot and write-in candidates garnered about 18% of the vote.
With about 80% of the votes counted, the president had picked up just over 82%, according to the Associated Press.
Ed Cowan of Waterbury, Vt., came in first among the also-rans. His campaign website pushes an environmental theme, and suggests asking "prominent politicians and other prominent people clever Socratic questions designed to expose the ubiquitous clouds of hypocrisy that now obscure public debate." The one he's most itching to ask concerns "the nuclear-tipped arms race… the only problem that can destroy us (with ozone coming up quickly on the outside rail) and because by solving it, we can save trillions of dollars."
Next up: Vermin Supreme, who has run in New Hampshire three times before. The bearded Mr. Supreme calls himself a "friendly fascist." Forget the chicken in every pot, he promises to subsidize a pony for everyone.
A series of write-in candidates and even lesser lights got the rest.
The White House used the campaign to try to get its general-election message across, deploying Vice President Joe Biden to thank New Hampshire Democrats for voting. Speaking on a video teleconference Tuesday night, Mr. Biden addressed more than 25 house parties in 24 Granite State cites, a campaign official said, according to a White House pool report.
Aside from pitching the administration's efforts to stabilize the economy, Mr. Biden took aim at New Hampshire victor Mitt Romney and the GOP field. "These guys are not immoral bad guys," Mr. Biden said of the Republican candidates. "They have a fundamentally different view of this country and what will make it great."
He said Mr. Romney's Monday quip that he "likes being able to fire people" was probably take out of context—Mr. Romney actually was talking about firing insurance companies that don't perform for consumers–but also asserted it was illustrative of Mr. Romney's character.
"He thinks it's more important for the stockholders and the shareholders and the investors and the venture capital guys to do well" than for employees, Mr. Biden said.
Republican presidential hopeful and former Massachsetts Gov. Mitt Romney greets supporters outside of the Webster School polling station on January 10, 2012 in Manchester, New Hampshire.
By Tom Curry, msnbc.com National Affairs Writer
Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire primary Tuesday night with a broad-based coalition of both conservative and moderate voters overwhelmingly motivated by their worries about America's economic future and wanting above all to beat President Barack Obama in November.
Emmanuel Dunand / AFP - Getty Images
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney addresses supporters in Manchester on January 10, 2012 after seizing a second victory in his fight to be the party's presidential nominee, winning New Hampshire's key primary.
According to exit poll data, more than a third of voters on Tuesday said the quality that mattered most in deciding their vote was the candidate's ability to defeat Obama. Romney won an overwhelming 62 percent of those voters.
Regardless of how they voted, 56 percent of Tuesday's voters thought Romney would be most likely to beat Obama in November; the runner-up in that category was Rep. Ron Paul of Texas with only 15 percent and only 11 percent saw former ambassador to China Jon Huntsman as most likely to defeat Obama.
Even though Tuesday was a Republican primary, independents could request Republican ballots and vote in the primary.
Remarkably, self-described independents accounted for nearly half of all voters Tuesday – a piece of data which has implications for November. Paul won 32 percent of independents, with Romney getting 29 percent, and Huntsman picking up 23 percent of them.
In his 2000 battle with Al Gore, George W. Bush won New Hampshire by 7,211 votes out of a total of nearly 570,000 votes. If Romney is the GOP nominee that would make New Hampshire competitive this fall. Having an appeal to independents would be crucial to his hopes of carrying the state and its four electoral votes.
Among self-described Republicans Romney won a solid 49 percent of them, according to exit poll interviews. The closet contenders with appeal to Republicans were Paul with 16 percent and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum with 13 percent.
Huntsman invested heavily in New Hampshire and will likely finish a distant third once all the votes are counted.
Given this, is he the alternative for moderate Republicans? Maybe not: Romney bested Huntsman among self-described moderates, 39 percent to 26 percent.
And based on the New Hampshire exit poll, to whom might anti-Romney conservatives turn? Romney won 42 percent of conservatives Tuesday with Paul finishing second among that segment of voters with 19 percent. Santorum got 15 percent of conservatives.
Romney performed best among the highly educated (winning 42 percent of college graduates), among upper income voters, and among older voters.
He did less well among lower income people– winning 31 percent of those earning less than $30,000 a year. Paul did best among that group winning 36 percent of them.
While nearly seven out of ten exit poll interviewees said they were "very worried" about the direction of the nation's economy in the next few years, only 16 percent said their own family was falling behind financially. Of that "falling behind" group, Romney ran first, winning 32 percent of them to Paul's 29 percent.
Paul dominated among voters aged 18 to 29, winning 47 percent of them but they accounted for only 12 percent of the electorate, according to exit poll interviews.
Gingrich's lackluster performance did not seem to bode well for the South Carolina contest – he could not break above 20 percent for any of the age, income, ideological or demographic groups that were identified in the exit poll sample.
Likewise Santorum -- who did very well only among the roughly one-fifth of the electorate who called themselves "very conservative." Santorum won 26 percent of such voters – but Romney won 33 percent of them.
One surprising finding: Santorum, a Catholic, won only about 8 percent of self-identified Catholic voters, a serious underperformance on his part since Catholics accounted for more a third of the electorate Tuesday. Gingrich, also a Catholic, won 10 percent of Catholic voters, according to exit poll interviews.
Romney, a Mormon, dominated among Catholics winning 45 percent of them.
Buddy Roemer has taken to his Twitter account to offer commentary on the New Hampshire results so far.
To wit:
Taking bets: Which candidate will be first to sign on for Season 8 of "Dancing With the Stars?" #onlyinamerica"
Earlier, after Mitt Romney was declared the New Hampshire winner, the former Louisiana governor tweeted:
Don't miss it. At midnight, Mitt will turn into a corporation.#corporationsarepumpkins
Going into tonight's primary, it was an open question who would finish last in New Hampshire: Roemer or Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who wasn't really competing in the Granite State.
With more than half the votes counted, it looks like Roemer is headed for a last-place finish.
He's been waging an uphill battle for the GOP presidential nomination, away from the media scrums trailing Romney and a surging Jon Huntsman. Without any standing in national polls, Roemer has been shut out of the televised presidential debates.
Roemer moved to the Granite State months ago to talk to voters one-on-one about the dangers of big money on politics.
He finished with 31 votes in the Iowa caucuses last week -- only 27 behind businessman Herman Cain, who once was the GOP front-runner in Iowa and national polls until allegations of sexual misconduct derailed his campaign. Tonight, Roemer was pleased he outpolled Cain.
"We were written off months ago. We're not being written off now," Roemer told The Hill in an interview. "We've come from zero to having a request for an interview every 10 minutes — and that's a start for our issue."
MANCHESTER, N.H.
–
Mitt Romney captured the nation's first primary election Tuesday, withstanding both stepped-up attacks by his Republican opponents and late slippage among voters.
"Thank you New Hampshire. Tonight we made history," Romney told well-wishers, flanked by wife Ann and the couple's sons. "Tonight we celebrate, tomorrow we go back to work."
Romney is the first Republican to sweep the first two contests in a competitive race since Iowa gained the lead-off spot in presidential campaigns in 1976. His win here the stage for a potentially bloody battle in the next GOP battleground state, South Carolina, which holds its primary Jan. 21.
With 51% of precincts reporting, the former Massachusetts governor had 37% of the vote, followed by Texas Rep. Ron Paul with 23% and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman with 17%. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum trailed with 10% each. Texas Gov. Rick Perry lagged with less than 1%.
Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, here greeting voters outside the Webster School polling place in Manchester, N.H., took second in the primary.
The battle for second was won with surprising ease by the quirky populist Paul, who easily beat a surging Huntsman and Santorum, the runner-up to Romney at last week's Iowa caucuses.
"I sort of have to chuckle when they describe you and me as being dangerous,'' a jubilant Paul told supporters here. "That's the one thing they are telling the truth. We are dangerous to the status quo of this country."
By Alex Wong, Getty Images
Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman greets voters at Ward 1 polling place Jan. 10 in Manchester, N.H.
Like Paul, Huntsman said he was setting their sites on winning the upcoming GOP primary in South Carolina. "As we look at the numbers now, we're in a strong, confident position - and all eyes are going to be south on South Carolina from here," he told CNN.
In New Hampshire, the economy was the top concern of voters, according to results of an exit poll conducted by Edison Research for the Associated Press and TV networks. In addition, about a third of them said their main criterion in picking a candidate was finding one who can defeat President Obama in this fall's elections. The survey was conducted at 40 random sites here, and the preliminary results are based on interviews with 1,774 voters. The poll has a margin of error of +/-4 percentage points.
By T.J. Kirkpatrick, Getty Images
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum makes the rounds on Radio Row during the nation's first primary on Jan. 10 in Manchester, N.H.
In his victory speech, Romney attacked Obama for his economic policies. "The last three years have brought a lot of change, but they haven't offered much hope. We know it must be better and it will be better. That conviction guides our campaign. Americans know that our future is brighter and better than these troubled times. The president has run out of ideas. Now he's running out of excuses."
Romney has spent the last two days explaining and defending an offhand comment that he likes "being able to fire people." Critics pulled Romney's firing quote out of context to reinforce a withering assault on him for his role in the private equity firm Bain Capital, that took over companies and sometimes laid off workers.
Romney won easily among people considering themselves Republicans and conservatives, and did nearly as well among moderates. He shared the lead among independent voters with Paul.
Shannon Taber, 37, a bartender, voted for Romney because she said she's looking for "basically someone who can beat (President) Obama."
She said she likes Romney's experience and the fact that polls show he's got support. As a Republican, she feels "it's time to band together and pick someone."
Kevin Langelier, 42, an unemployed accountant, said he liked Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts.
"He's got a successful career as a businessman and I think he can do a lot for the economy," Langelier said. "I think he can beat Obama. I don't think anyone else is electable."
In the tiny town of Dixville Notch, which voted shortly after midnight, Romney and Huntsman tied for first place with two votes each. Gingrich and Paul got one vote each.
Santorum, who rocketed to prominence with a virtual tie with Romney in Iowa, said there wasn't time enough to capitalize on that momentum before New Hampshire's primary and that he would be content to pull a double-digit percentage of the votes.
There are lots of contests still to come, Santorum said, speaking to reporters between shaking voters' hands at a Manchester polling place. "There's going to be lots of opportunities to rise and fall," he said.
A former ambassador to China in the Obama administration, Huntsman spent the final 48 hours trying to capitalize on a notable debate exchange with Romney. A relentless critic of Obama, Romney had criticized Huntsman for serving in Obama's administration. Huntsman countered that he had put his country ahead of partisan politics.
Huntsman aired a new TV ad highlighting his call for national unity and adopted a new campaign slogan, borrowing "Country First" from 2008 GOP nominee McCain.
Perry joined the Romney bashing that intensified over the past few days from South Carolina, where he's been campaigning before the next primary there. He compared his GOP rival and the private equity firm he once headed to "vultures" who go after ailing companies as their prey.
"They're basically just vultures," Perry said, according to MSNBC's First Read blog. They wait "for companies to get sick; they swoop in; they eat the carcass."
Perry has staked his candidacy on portraying himself as the Washington and Wall Street outsider in the GOP field. He's banking on support from social conservatives, who play a key role in South Carolina primaries.
Perry already had South Carolina campaign events Tuesday in Rock Hill and Fort Mill, and will host another one Tuesday night at a barbecue restaurant in Leesville.
Meanwhile, the "super PAC" supporting Romney is going big in Florida, bringing its total spending so far in the presidential campaign to "$7 million and counting."
MSNBC reported ad spending figures in the First Read blog on Tuesday. The cable network is partnering with Smart Media Group Delta, an ad-tracking firm, to determine spending by these independent political action committees.
Restore Our Future, the "super PAC" supporting Romney, has put down $1.7 million in Florida, which holds its primary on Jan. 31. The group invested heavily in Iowa and ran ads attacking Gingrich, causing him to finish fourth in last week's caucuses.
The spending by Restore Our Future, which is run by former aides to Romney, is double the amount spent so far on ads by Make Us Great Again, a super PAC supporting Perry.
By comparison, MSNBC reports, Romney's campaign has spent $5.5 million in advertising.
The figures don't include a $3.4 million buy in South Carolina by Winning Our Future, the super PAC backing Gingrich.
Super PACs can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money from wealthy individuals, corporations and unions. Under the law, they cannot coordinate their activities with the candidates they support.
Contributing: David Jackson in Concord, N.H.; Catalina Camia in McLean, Va.; the Associated Press
Supporters of Republican presidential hopefuls hold placards outside a polling station at Webster School in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Jan. 10, 2012.
Supporters of Republican presidential hopefuls hold placards outside a polling station at Webster School in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Jan. 10, 2012. Photographer: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images
Since 1976, the best predictor for winning the Republican presidential nomination has been losing first.
Mitt Romney, defeated by John McCain in 2008, is positioned to be next with his victory in New Hampshire as he heads to South Carolina, where the last eight Republican primary winners have wound up as the party's nominee.
In five of the last six presidential elections, Republicans have chosen candidates they had rejected before -- Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole and McCain. The exception was George W. Bush in 2000, the son of the former president well- known to party insiders.
"We like our Doles and our Bushes and our McCains," said Pat Griffin, a Republican consultant in Manchester, New Hampshire, not aligned with a candidate. "Mitt is the Republican brand this time, and it's his turn."
This time is different because the party base has become more conservative on both fiscal and social issues and Romney has yet to win their backing.
And he has been barely able to increase his percentage of the vote in either Iowa or New Hampshire from his run in 2008, a pattern he will need to break in South Carolina where he received 15 percent of the vote in 2008 and finished fourth.
'Angry' Republicans
"This is really a different Republican electorate than we have seen in the past, said Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center in Washington. "Our typology study shows that this is one doctrinaire political landscape and they represent the nucleus of the party. They are angry and they want change."
"If a candidate had been in this field who could have tapped into this new element in the Republican Party, this pattern wouldn't have persisted," Kohut said.
Those candidates who have attracted the support of the more conservative elements of the party, Texas Representative Ron Paul, who more than doubled his vote from 2008, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, together won about 4 in 10 votes cast.
All have vowed to continue campaigning in South Carolina, as has Texas Governor Rick Perry, a scenario that aids Romney as the more conservative vote is splintered.
Paul, 76, the oldest candidate in the race, did the best among younger voters in New Hampshire as he finished second, winning 46 percent of the vote among those age 18 to 29, according to CNN exit polls.
Huntsman to Continue
The third-place showing by former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr., who didn't compete in Iowa, gave him a rationale to continue along with an urgent need for more campaign funds, though his showing wasn't good enough to claim the mantle of "Comeback Kid" of Bill Clinton's surprising second-place showing in 1992.
A Huntsman campaign official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the candidate will run aggressively in South Carolina not so much with the hopes of winning as slowing Romney's momentum.
That won't be easy. Romney has prevailed in two states with different political profiles, and even those Republicans who haven't embraced him are likely to if he goes on to win the nomination.
Intrade, the online prediction market where one can wager on the outcome, has the odds of Romney winning the nomination at 86 percent.
Marriage, Not Dating
"Maybe Republicans just don't have that deep reservoir of passion," said John Pitney, a professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California. "Republicans are looking for somebody to marry and not somebody to date."
Romney's percentage of the vote almost equaled McCain's in 2008 and George H.W. Bush's in 1988 even though Romney was the governor of neighboring Massachusetts, owns a home in New Hampshire and has visited the state frequently. He matched the showing of Henry Cabot Lodge in 1964, when he had 36 percent of the vote, defeating Barry Goldwater, the eventual nominee, by 14 percentage points.
He also has made history as the first non-incumbent to win both Iowa and New Hampshire, signaling that he can run well elsewhere.
"The polling that I have seen is that if he gets through the primaries and he is the nominee, they are going to come to his side," Kohut said. "No question about that. The issue is whether it will reduce the enthusiasm gap. Republicans have been much more politically charged. And will a candidate not quite what was hoped for reduce some of that intensity?"
'Better Candidate'
Running and losing has some advantages. "Romney is a better candidate than he was four years ago," Pitney said. "Two, you get a better sense of what the party is about. John McCain was a more conservative candidate than John McCain in 2000. Mitt Romney already moved to the right in 2008 and tried to solidify his conservative credentials."
And while Romney may still have to make the case to his party's base, there is one powerful force he can rely on.
"Conservatives still have their intense dislike of Barack Obama," Kohut said.
There is a "strong likelihood" that part of Virginia's ballot access requirements will be ruled unconstitutional, a federal judge said Tuesday, handing a preliminary victory to Republican presidential candidates trying to get onto the state's March 6 primary ballot.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry and several other candidates are contesting state law saying petition circulators must be residents of Virginia. Mr. Perry, along with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. are also challenging requirements that candidates must gather 10,000 signatures, and 400 from each of the state's 11 congressional Districts, to appear on the ballot.
"The authorities make clear that circulating petitions is a form of protected speech, and that the Commonwealth has a heavy burden to justify the restriction on speech by showing not only that the limitation achieves a valid state interest but also that the limitation is no broader in scope than necessary to achieve that purpose," wrote Judge John A. Gibney Jr. in a temporary order.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney were the only two candidates to qualify for the ballot.
The state Board of Elections had marked Jan. 21 as the deadline to issue ballots. Because it takes local election officials time to prepare and print them, however, the attorney general's office had placed the deadline at Jan. 9.
The judge recognized the tight time frame but wrote that it would be possible to get the ballots mailed in time.
"The incremental inconvenience to the electoral officials is heavily outweighed by the public interest in the voting rights of citizens," he wrote.
Lest the campaigns start celebrating, Judge Gibney made clear that the order should not be interpreted as an indication of how the he will rule at a hearing Friday. Both sides still have to file briefs, and he must weigh what the exact remedy would be if the law is found to be unconstitutional.
In a flurry of paperwork, Judge Gibney on Monday ordered the state board to instruct local electoral boards not to mail or order any absentee ballots until after the hearing — an order that was appealed to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II on Tuesday.
Judge Gibney then responded with the temporary order outlining his more detailed constitutional explanation. The state then appealed that order to the 4th Circuit as well.
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell voiced concern Tuesday about the ballots getting out in time.
"There's a federal law that says you've got to have those out 45 days in advance," he said. "We've got incredible warriors from Virgina that are in Afghanistan, places all over the world — they deserve the right to participate in this primary election."
The ballot-access saga has garnered headlines in recent weeks. Mr. Cuccinelli had indicated support to change the state's law in time to get more candidates on the ballot but backed off a day later, saying it would be unfair this late in the process and that he supported a change for future elections only.
The Republican presidential candidates won an unlikely ally in their battle Tuesday: The American Civil Liberties Union filed a brief supporting their lawsuit.
"Non-residents who wish to circulate petitions for a candidate are deprived of the ability to do so," said ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Kent Willis. "Voters are deprived of the information and ideas that these circulators would provide. And the Republican Party is unfairly limited in its choices for a nominee when valid candidates are unable to obtain the required signatures."
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Mitt Romney has now defied a generation of political gravity, doing what no non-incumbent Republican has done since 1976, winning the one-two states of Iowa and New Hampshire in his quest for the party's presidential nomination.
But on Wednesday morning, Romney's plane will deliver him to the tougher proving ground of South Carolina for what could be a crucial test.
It will be there — a place famous for surfacing the dark undercurrents of American politics — that he has the opportunity to show he can overcome doubts among evangelicals and Tea Party adherents about his ideological commitment and assume leadership of a party that has spent the last two years under the sway of a conservative insurgency.
If he succeeds, it will be a triumph of political rebranding, a long effort by Romney to leave behind a past that includes former support for abortion rights and authorship of a health care plan that helped inspire President Barack Obama's.
Mitt Romney speaks to supporters in Manchester, N.H., after winning that state's primary Tuesday. (Emmanuel Dunand / Getty Images)
By James Oliphant
January 10, 2012, 6:10 p.m.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, just released a statement in which she argues that despite Mitt Romney's sizable margin of victory in New Hampshire, the candidate failed to meet expectations.
Here's the statement:
"Mitt Romney may have won in New Hampshire tonight, but he can't run from the fact that his support was rapidly eroding before any vote was even cast. Over the course of the last few months Romney had the support of as much as 45 percent of the primary electorate -- at one point boasting a nearly 30 percent lead over the rest of the GOP field. But tonight he fell far short of meeting expectations -- especially in a state where he's a part-time resident, which is next door to his home state of Massachusetts, in the same media market. He fell short next to a state where he raised a family and served as governor, and where he's been running on and off for political office over nearly two decades and for president for seven years.
"But what's more troubling for Mitt Romney is the fact that the premise of his candidacy is unraveling. He leaves here wounded by a series of episodes that made it clear to voters -- both in New Hampshire and for those watching across the country -- that he is completely out of touch with the concerns of America's working and middle-class families. Romney disingenuously claimed just a few days ago that he once feared getting a pink slip when in fact his campaign can't offer any examples of when that might have been the case. Yesterday, he went as far as saying that he enjoys being able to fire people. He continues to call himself a job creator, but his accounts of creating 100,000 jobs at Bain Capital have been knocked down across the board. Even worse, as one of his colleagues said, he never considered what they did at Bain Capital as job creation. What they did was make a profit while companies were sometimes driven to bankruptcy, workers were laid off, and jobs were sent overseas. These revelations have led to a precipitous drop in Mitt Romney's support -- and his failure to perform better in the Granite State is a significant setback for both his campaign and his candidacy for president."
Mitt Romney celebrated his victory in the New Hampshire GOP presidential primary with a warning to rivals to stop attacking his venture capitalist past.
"President Obama wants to put free enterprise on trial," Romney said in his prepared speech, which he delivered on a stage filled with family and supporters. "In the last few days, we have seen some desperate Republicans join forces with him. This is such a mistake for our party and for our nation. This country already has a leader who divides us with the bitter politics of envy. We must offer an alternative vision."
The statement was an obvious swipe at rivals like Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Jon Huntsman, who in recent days have gone on the attack, branding Romney as a heartless capitalist who put profits before people's livelihoods when he ran the venture capital firm Bain Capital.
Just this week, a so-called super PAC backing Gingrich announced plans to air television ads highlighting job losses at companies that were controlled by Bain. Huntsman said Romney was "unelectable" after a gaffe yesterday in which Romney said he enjoys being able to "fire people." And Perry, campaigning in South Carolina on Tuesday morning, cast Romney as a greedy Wall Street "vulture" as he blasted Bain as being "all about how much money can we make, how quick can we make it, and then get out of town and find the next carcass to feed upon."
It's a message that was unlikely to resonate in New Hampshire, where Romney was operating on home turf and had a massive volunteer organization on the ground. But it may take hold in South Carolina.
Romney also had harsh words for Obama, whom he cast as a socialist who doesn't understand how the economy works.
Read the full text of Romney's remarks below.
kim.geiger@latimes.com
Mitt Romney in Manchester, New Hampshire:
Thank you, New Hampshire! Tonight, we made history!
This state has always been a special place for our family. Ann and I made a home here and we've filled it with great memories of our children and grandchildren. And this Granite State moment is one we will always remember.
Tonight, we celebrate. Tomorrow, we go back to work.
We remember when Barack Obama came to New Hampshire four years ago.
He promised to bring people together.
He promised to change the broken system in Washington.
He promised to improve our nation.
Those were the days of lofty promises made by a hopeful candidate. Today, we are faced with the disappointing record of a failed President. The last three years have held a lot of change, but they haven't offered much hope.
The middle class has been crushed. Nearly 24 million of our fellow Americans are still out of work, struggling to find work, or have just stopped looking. The median income has dropped 10% in four years. Soldiers returning from the front lines are waiting in unemployment lines. Our debt is too high and our opportunities too few.
And this President wakes up every morning, looks out across America and is proud to announce, "It could be worse."
It could be worse? Is that what it means to be an American? It could be worse?
Of course not.
What defines us as Americans is our unwavering conviction that we know it must be better.
That conviction guides our campaign. It has rallied millions of Americans in every corner of this country to our cause.
Over the last six months, I've listened to anxious voices in town meetings and visited with students and soldiers. In break rooms and living rooms, I've heard stories of families getting by on less, of carefully planned retirements now replaced by jobs at minimum wage. But even now, amidst the worst economy since the Great Depression, I've rarely heard a refrain of hopelessness.
Americans know that our future is brighter and better than these troubled times. We still believe in the hope, the promise, and the dream of America. We still believe in that shining city on a hill.
We know that the future of this country is better than 8 or 9% unemployment.
It is better than $15 trillion in debt.
It is better than the misguided policies and broken promises of the last three years – and the failed leadership of one man.
The President has run out of ideas. Now, he's running out of excuses. And tonight, we are asking the good people of South Carolina to join the citizens of New Hampshire and make 2012 the year he runs out of time.
President Obama wants to put free enterprise on trial. In the last few days, we have seen some desperate Republicans join forces with him. This is such a mistake for our Party and for our nation. This country already has a leader who divides us with the bitter politics of envy. We must offer an alternative vision. I stand ready to lead us down a different path, where we are lifted up by our desire to succeed, not dragged down by a resentment of success. In these difficult times, we cannot abandon the core values that define us as unique -- We are One Nation, Under God.
Make no mistake, in this campaign, I will offer the American ideals of economic freedom a clear and unapologetic defense.
Our campaign is about more than replacing a President; it is about saving the soul of America. This election is a choice between two very different destinies.
President Obama wants to "fundamentally transform" America. We want to restore America to the founding principles that made this country great.
He wants to turn America into a European-style entitlement society. We want to ensure that we remain a free and prosperous land of opportunity.
This President takes his inspiration from the capitals of Europe; we look to the cities and small towns of America.
This President puts his faith in government. We put our faith in the American people.
He is making the federal government bigger, burdensome, and bloated. I will make it simpler, smaller, and smarter.
He raised the national debt. I will cut, cap, and balance the budget.
He enacted job-killing regulations; I'll eliminate them.
He lost our AAA credit rating; I'll restore it.
He passed Obamacare; I'll repeal it.
When it comes to the economy, my highest priority as President will be worrying about your job, not saving my own.
Internationally, President Obama has adopted an appeasement strategy. He believes America's role as leader in the world is a thing of the past. I believe a strong America must – and will – lead the future.
He doesn't see the need for overwhelming American military superiority. I will insist on a military so powerful no one would think of challenging it.
He chastises friends like Israel; I'll stand with our friends.
He apologizes for America; I will never apologize for the greatest nation in the history of the Earth.
Our plans protect freedom and opportunity, and our blueprint is the Constitution of the United States.
The path I lay out is not one paved with ever increasing government checks and cradle-to-grave assurances that government will always be the solution. If this election is a bidding war for who can promise more benefits, then I'm not your President. You have that President today.
But if you want to make this election about restoring American greatness, then I hope you will join us.
If you believe the disappointments of the last few years are a detour, not our destiny, then I am asking for your vote.
I'm asking each of you to remember how special it is to be an American.
I want you to remember what it was like to be hopeful and excited about the future, not to dread each new headline.
I want you to remember when you spent more time dreaming about where to send your kids to college than wondering how to make it to the next paycheck.
I want you to remember when you weren't afraid to look at your retirement savings or the price at the pump.
I want you to remember when our White House reflected the best of who we are, not the worst of what Europe has become.
That America is still out there. We still believe in that America.
We still believe in the America that is a land of opportunity and a beacon of freedom. We believe in the America that challenges each of us to be better and bigger than ourselves.
This election, let's fight for the America we love. We believe in America.
Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.
Four years later, Barack Obama has his New Hampshire primary victory. And with Mitt Romney one step closer to the Republican nomination, Obama's campaign is stepping up the fight by seizing on its would-be rival's remarks about how he enjoyed "being able to fire people."
Last week, President Obama addressed Iowa Democrats gathered at caucus locations via video streaming. Tonight, Vice President Joe Biden rallied New Hampshire Democrats gathered at house parties across the state, and set the stage for the November battle.
After touting the administration's successes in its three-plus years in office, Biden turned to the comments Romney made a day earlier in Nashua, N.H. When he talked about firing people, the former Massachusetts governor was talking about health insurance. But rivals have nonetheless used the soundbite without full explanation.
"In fairness, that was probably taken a little out of context," Biden acknowledged. "But what isn't out of context is the basic point he was making. He thinks it's more important for the stockholders, shareholders and the investors, the venture capital guys do well than for the employees to be part of the bargain."
"It's one thing to make a profit," he continued. "It's another thing to maximize your profit to the extent you disregard what happens to the people who work for you."
Republicans believe, Biden said, that if the very wealthy do well, all will do well.
"We had eight years of that. It was a disaster. I think the American people have figured it out. And that's the case Barack and I are going to make to the American people -- without a growing middle class, America's capacity to do everything shrinks," he said.
Turnout in today's Democratic primary in New Hampshire was expected to be far lower than in the Republican race. But Democrats are nonetheless attempting to use the contest to mobilize.
On the website of the New Hampshire Union Leader, Obama campaign ads are omnipresent. "Only Barack Obama is fighting for the middle class," one reads. "New Hampshire primary results: the tea party agenda wins," screams another.
Biden said that New Hampshire is one of the five states he will be focusing on behalf of the ticket during the 2012 campaign. Perhaps that is an acknowledgement of Obama's low approval ratings here -- numbers that are worse than in other key swing states.
New Hampshire, of course, was a source of frustration in 2008 for the Obama team. Four years ago, polls showed the then-Illinois senator on track for a shocking two-step, having already won Iowa and with a sizable lead in New Hampshire over Hillary Rodham Clinton.
But Granite Staters, as they are known to do, had a sudden change of heart. It might have been her emotional display in Portsmouth, Obama's comment in a final debate that his colleague was only "likable enough," or simply the notion that the primary battle ought to play out a bit longer. Whatever the reason, Clinton survived to fight on, and fight she did right on through the last primary in June.
Obama, though, won the nomination, and then the presidency. Now, while Republicans duke it out, he faces no serious opposition -- he shared the Democratic primary ballot here with 13 unknowns.
Buddy Roemer has taken to his Twitter account to offer commentary on the New Hampshire results so far.
To wit:
Taking bets: Which candidate will be first to sign on for Season 8 of "Dancing With the Stars?" #onlyinamerica"
Earlier, after Mitt Romney was declared the New Hampshire winner, the former Louisiana governor tweeted:
Don't miss it. At midnight, Mitt will turn into a corporation.#corporationsarepumpkins
Going into tonight's primary, it was an open question who would finish last in New Hampshire: Roemer or Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who wasn't really competing in the Granite State.
With more than half the votes counted, it looks like Roemer is headed for a last-place finish.
He's been waging an uphill battle for the GOP presidential nomination, away from the media scrums trailing Romney and a surging Jon Huntsman. Without any standing in national polls, Roemer has been shut out of the televised presidential debates.
Roemer moved to the Granite State months ago to talk to voters one-on-one about the dangers of big money on politics.
He finished with 31 votes in the Iowa caucuses last week -- only 27 behind businessman Herman Cain, who once was the GOP front-runner in Iowa and national polls until allegations of sexual misconduct derailed his campaign. Tonight, Roemer was pleased he outpolled Cain.
"We were written off months ago. We're not being written off now," Roemer told The Hill in an interview. "We've come from zero to having a request for an interview every 10 minutes — and that's a start for our issue."
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - On the state's seacoast, voters on Tuesday celebrated their special role in presidential politics at the voting booth.
At the Robert J. Lister Academy polling place, Linda DiBernardo, 67, was out with her husband Ralph DiBernardo, 68, a retired deputy fire chief, to support President Barack Obama. The couple recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They came out, they said, to be sure the Democrats had a voice and the primary would not be just about the Republicans.
"We're concerned for the future of our country," Ralph DiBernardo said.
At New Franklin School polling place, Norm Olsen, 59, cast his vote for Republican Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts. Olsen is in the software business. After voting, he stood out in the bitter cold to encourage others to do the same.
"What we need in the White House is someone who understands the economy and how business works," he said. "And that's why I'm holding a Romney sign."
His biggest concern is the economy. He is very discouraged with Obama.
"I think that the things that he said he was going to do he hasn't done," he said. "And the economy, most importantly, hasn't improved."
To be a voter in New Hampshire is a unique experience, Olsen said, and he really enjoys the engaging electoral process.
"The chance for candidates to make their mark with some personal retail campaigning," he said, "in my opinion, is really important."
Also at New Franklin School polling place, John Evans, a retired lawyer and Episcopal priest, was looking forward to voting for Jon Huntsman.
"What brings me here is my enthusiasm to see change in Washington," he said.
Evans, 72, was born in Chicago but fell in love with Portsmouth and has been a resident since 2006.
"I never lived in a small state like New Hampshire and the intense personal involvement is perfectly incredible," he said. "It's a small state but it has a big impact because of that."
Ronan Donohoe, a retired high school teacher , described himself as a "stalwart" for Obama.
"The Republican cast of characters are just so deplorable," he said, "so it's necessary to get the Obama campaign rolling now." He added, "If good people don't do it, the bad ones will, he said. "So you've got to get in and take those places."
Another Obama supporter out on Tuesday was Joshua Denton, 30. He's a veteran of the Iraq war and is using the GI bill to attend the University of New Hampshire School of Law.
"I'm here in support of President Barack Obama," he said, "because I believe in getting him elected and I believe in him to stand up in support of our country."
Deb Richards, a retired floral designer, was thrilled at the prospect of casting her vote. Richards, 79, excitedly pranced down the steps of the New Franklin School moments after casting her vote for Romney. Richards calls voting a responsibility. "How can we complain about things if we don't express ourselves in voting?" she said.
"I do love to vote, I really really do," Richards said. "I love it even though I'm probably not making a bit of difference. I would never miss voting."
(Sistina Giordano, a graduate student in the magazine, newspaper and online journalism program at Syracuse University, is covering the New Hampshire primary for The Citizen of Auburn, N.Y.)
Ron Paul took the stage in New Hampshire tonight to chants of "President Paul," as he celebrated his second-place showing in the nation's first primary.
"We're nibbling at his heels," Paul said about primary winner Mitt Romney.
The Texas congressman declared victory "for the cause of liberty" and vowed to press his causes in the South Carolina primary. He said he chuckles when his GOP rivals call him dangerous. "We are dangerous to the status quo in this country," Paul said.
"My message has gotten out," he told CNN in an interview tonight. "People are coming around to being concerned about spending. ... It's a very, very popular message."
In the CNN interview, Paul declared "we're next in line" behind Romney, who scored first-place finishes in New Hampshire and Iowa. "We're the only ones really in the race with him," he said.
Paul's supporters broke out in chants several times during Paul's remarks, at various times shouting "Revolution!" and "President Paul!" His speech was laced with the themes of liberty and free enterprise that have been the hallmark of his campaign.
"I didn't know you were out there," he said. "No longer are you an irate minority ... it's growing by leaps and bounds."
The Texas congressman has a passionate following, especially among young people, because of his libertarian views. He has argued his GOP rivals are "counterfeits" when it comes to cutting spending and upholding the Constitution.
Regardless of Romney's back-to-back victories, Paul has the resources and campaign organization to stay in the race for a while. When campaign-finance reports are sent to the Federal Election Commission later this month, the Texas congressman will say he raised $13 million from October through December. Romney is the only candidate so far in the race who has brought in more money.
Paul is already running TV ads and sending direct mail appeals in South Carolina, whose primary is Jan. 21. In one of his TV spots, Paul hits Rick Santorum for what he calls a "record of betrayal" based on his votes on federal spending and to increase the debt limit.
South Carolina polls show Paul in fourth place, according to recent surveys compiled by RealClearPolitics.
RICHMOND, Va. — A judge says Texas Gov. Rick Perry and three other presidential candidates are likely to prevail on a key issue in their lawsuit seeking inclusion on Virginia's Republican primary ballot.
U.S. District Judge John Gibney said in court papers Tuesday that a provision that allows only Virginia residents to circulate petitions to get candidates on the ballot is probably unconstitutional. Gibney was explaining his order barring distribution of absentee ballots until after a Friday hearing.
Perry sued after failing to collect the 10,000 voter signatures required to qualify for the state's March 6 primary. Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum also failed to qualify and later joined Perry's lawsuit.
Only former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas congressman Ron Paul qualified for the Virginia GOP primary.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Jan 10 (TheWrap.com) - Did Stephen Colbert snag the Huntsman Bump?
A new poll in which the satirical talk-show host is theoretically pitted against the actual Republican presidential candidates finds Colbert ahead of Jon Huntsman in South Carolina.
That could be a foreboding sign for the former Utah governor, who joked that he would benefit from "The Colbert Bump" after guesting on "The Colbert Report" in October.
Five percent of GOP primary voters in South Carolina would pick Colbert, while only 4 percent would choose Huntsman, the new Public Policy Polling figures show.
Leading the pack in the poll, released Tuesday, is Mitt Romney with 27 percent, followed by Newt Gingrich (23 percent), Rick Santorum (18 percent), Ron Paul (8 percent) and Rick Perry (7 percent). Last is former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer, who also trails Colbert, with 1 percent.
In December, Colbert, a native of South Carolina, said in a guest editorial in The State that he wanted to sponsor the South Carolina Republican primary and would pony up a half-million dollars to cover the counties' "shortfall."
Colbert -- who, in 2007, attempted to run for president, but only in South Carolina -- also called for a referendum about whether corporations are people. The new Public Policing Polling survey also found that 67 percent of the GOP debate's likely voters think that "only people are people."
"He was rebuffed in his efforts, but our team at PPP decided if he couldn't get all that stuff on the actual ballot, we could at least poll it for him," reads a statement on PublicPolicyPolling.com.
The poll was conducted Thursday through Saturday among 1,112 likely Republican voters.
New Hampshire results should be trickling in and only one candidate -- Jon Huntsman -- really got any support from a super PAC. Huntsman's super PAC, funded by his billionaire daddy, is one of numerous examples of the ludicrously defined "independence" that super PACs operate under. HuffPost's Jason Linkins gives the media a lesson in how to deal with super PACs before the January 24 primary in South Carolina, which will undoubtedly be the full scale super PAC World War to Iowa's Poland and New Hampshire's Norway: "In an ironic twist, the rule that ostensibly disallows coordination probably does more to prevent accountability than it does to promote it. No amount of Gingrich outrage could lead former Massachusetts Gov. Romney to request that his super PAC refrain from harsh attacks even if Romney wanted it to, which he doesn't. ... The rule, which ostensibly exists as a means of public assurance, is an essential part of the mechanism that enables the dirty pool in the first place. But the whole idea that there is no coordination strains credulity. ... And that's basically where the whole issue just becomes one of those classic examples of a thing that everyone in the world of political reporting knows but -- absent definitive proof -- won't actually say. ... The notion that there's no coordination going on between candidate and super PAC is transparent bullshit." [HuffPost]
The Republican Party is arguing in court that corporations should be able to give direct contributions to candidates for office. University of California-Irvine professor Rick Hasen says at his Election Law Blog that this could be another piece of poor optics fitting into a narrative of an out-of-touch party, "Especially if Romney is the nominee, expect this to be rolled into Romney's 'corporations are people, my friend' line, the Bain Capital stuff, and the recent 'I like to fire people gaffe,' with Occupy undertones, for Democrats (or their super PAC surrogates) to make an anti-corporate, Populist message for Obama's reelection."
While the RNC is not arguing for unlimited corporate contributions to candidates and parties, Democracy 21's Fred Wertheimer points out that corporations are not governed by aggregate contribution laws: "Under current contribution limits, a single corporation could contribute $61,600 to each of the three national Republican party committees in a two-year cycle, or a total of $184,800. The same corporation could contribute $20,000 to each of the 50 Republican state parties in a two-year cycle, or a total of $1 million dollars. All of this money could be raised by and transferred to the RNC since there are no limits on transfers among party committees. The overall total that could go to the RNC is $1,184,800 per corporation per election cycle."
Newt Gingrich has a full page ad in the Union Leader hitting Romney in New Hampshire. [HuffPost]
Newt is also out with a brand new ad knocking Romney for supporting abortion. There have been remarkably few ads attacking Romney in this election. [HuffPost]
Just in time for the campaign to head South, Gingrich has a new attack line against Mitt Romney: "Massachusetts Moderate."
On why Sheldon Adelson came in to rescue Newt Gingrich with a $5 million super PAC contribution: "Several people with knowledge of Mr. Adelson's decision to donate to Winning Our Future said that it was born out of a two-decade friendship with Mr. Gingrich, his advocacy on behalf of Israel and his turbulent months as a presidential candidate." [NYT]
Behind the bidding war for the anti-Bain documentary that will be a focus of ads from the pro-Gingrich super PAC funded by Adelson. Ad buys have already been made totaling $1.4 million in South Carolina.
Joshua Green reviews the film for Bloomberg News. Green writes that the documentary includes the following line from Romney: "Make a profit. That's what it's all about, right?"
Help us populate our list of campaign videos. Send any notable TV, radio or web ads that you see to Fundrace. Send your submissions to paulblumenthal@huffingtonpost.com.
Committee: Newt Gingrich for President Candidate opposed: Mitt Romney Spot: "Changed?" -- Gingrich goes after Romney for supporting pro-choice policies while acting as governor of Massachusetts. The female narrator of the ad says, "He governed pro-abortion. Romney appointed a pro-abortion judge, expanded access to abortion pills, put Planned Parenthood on a state medical board but failed to put a pro-life group on the same board." Link: [http://youtu.be/Hwh82GtVGh4] Market: Unknown. Buy: Undisclosed.
Committee: Jon Huntsman for President Spot: "Live Free or Die" -- This video represents Huntsman's closing argument in New Hampshire, which is a segment from Sunday's televised debate. In the video Huntsman derides the lack of trust and unity in the country. Huntsman explains his vision by parrying the rhetoric of his opponents, "It's not about taking on different groups and vilifying them for whatever reason. It's about projecting a vision for a more hopeful tomorrow." Link: [http://youtu.be/vt_XlYEcTkY] Market: YouTube. Buy: None. Just a web video.
Committee: American Bridge 21st Century Spot: "Romney's Ugly Coronation" -- The Democratic super PAC links Romney to Karl Rove through a host of clips featuring Rove praising the candidate or deflecting criticism of him. Link: [http://youtu.be/G8Ct4NU3Qm8] Market: YouTube. Buy: None. Just a web video.
Committee: Newt Gingrich for President Candidate opposed: Mitt Romney Spot: "Pious Baloney" -- Few of the Republican candidates like pork -- earmarks -- but Newt Gingrich really hates Mitt Romney's "pious baloney." This video features a litany of Romney lines from Sunday's debate along with a Baloney Meter to judge how much cold cut meat the former Massachusetts governor is spewing. It also includes Gingrich's new attack against Romney, "Massachusetts Moderate." Link: [http://youtu.be/Douad0v1f-Y] Market: YouTube. Buy: None. Just a web video.
TRACKING INDEPENDENT SPENDING IN THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE:
These numbers represent spending by independent groups, like super PACs and non-profits, to support or oppose a particular candidate for the presidency in 2012. Fundrace will update this spending daily to help show which candidates are gaining from the proliferation of independent groups in this coming election.
Newt Gingrich (R), $982,082 to support, $4,470,935 to oppose. (+$10,424) Rick Perry (R), $3,798,524 to support, $0 to oppose. Jon Huntsman (R), $2,453,204 to support, $0 to oppose. Ron Paul (R), $889,039 to support, $106,982 to oppose. (+$39,609) Rick Santorum (R), $832,436 to support, $2,407 to oppose. Mitt Romney (R), $475,000 to support, $335,302 to oppose. Herman Cain (R), $462,217 to support, $0 to oppose. Barack Obama (D), $0 to support, $429,919 to oppose. Gary Johnson (R), $518 to support, $0 to oppose.
RECENT INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES
Restore Our Future, $4,983 to oppose Newt Gingrich for President in South Carolina. Restore Our Future, $5,441 to oppose Newt Gingrich for President in New Hampshire. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, $76,794 to support Suzanne Bonamici for Congress in Oregon First District. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, $76,794 to oppose Rob Cornilles for Congress in Oregon First District. Endorse Liberty, $39,609 to support Ron Paul for President.
RECENT POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE REGISTRATIONS
Mara and Day PAC, Washington, D.C., Treasurer: Timothy W. Day. Anonymous PAC, Arvada, Colo., Treasurer: Christopher Scott Wintemute.
Send tips, hints, submissions, rumors to HuffPost Fundrace at paulblumenthal@huffingtonpost.com.
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire | Tue Jan 10, 2012 6:42pm EST
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Mitt Romney was poised to win his second straight battle in the race for the Republican U.S. presidential nomination on Tuesday but it remained to be seen whether his anticipated victory in New Hampshire would be sizeable enough to put to rest doubts about his candidacy.
The former investment firm chief maintained a sizable lead in opinion polls in the New Hampshire primary contest despite rivals' fierce 11th-hour attacks painting him as a heartless corporate raider who enjoys cutting jobs.
Romney's stint as a relatively moderate governor of neighboring Massachusetts has also caused many conservative Republican voters to view him skeptically.
The New Hampshire primary is the second contest in the state-by-state battle for the Republican presidential nomination to face Democratic President Barack Obama on November 6. Romney narrowly won the first contest, the Iowa caucuses, on January 3.
Ron Paul, a U.S. congressman known for his libertarian views, and Jon Huntsman, a moderate former U.S. ambassador to China, appeared to be in a battle for second place in New Hampshire, the small New England state known for its independent streak and outsized role in presidential campaigns.
A multimillionaire who says his experience as head of private-equity firm Bain Capital would help him spur America's economy as president, Romney might face a bigger challenge in the next primary in South Carolina on January 21, where the economy is weaker and conservatives make up a larger slice of the electorate.
Romney last week beat Rick Santorum, a conservative former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, by a scant eight votes in Iowa. If he wins New Hampshire, he would be the first non-incumbent Republican to win both states since they took on their first-in-the-nation status in the 1970s.
But support is lukewarm among even some who said they voted for him in New Hampshire.
"Out of them all, he was the lesser evil," said Mary Jane Bevin, 53, a Windham nurse. "I'm very concerned about the economy and jobs."
A resounding victory by Romney could buttress the notion that he is the inevitable Republican nominee to face Obama. If Romney wins, but by a margin smaller than expected, the result could prompt fresh questions about whether he has won over the broader Republican electorate.
Romney would need to finish at least 10 percentage points ahead of the second-place contender and capture a third of the vote or more to be considered a strong victor in New Hampshire, where he has been long considered the favorite.
"Mitt Romney's biggest asset is the large number of candidates in this group that are dividing up the remainder of the vote," said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston.
Santorum has trailed in New Hampshire polls. Newt Gingrich, a former speaker of the House of Representatives, is also well behind.
'GREAT ENTHUSIASM'
Romney visited a polling station in Manchester and said he hoped the state would make a "big statement" for his candidacy. "You see great enthusiasm," he said.
A strong win in New Hampshire would provide momentum going into South Carolina and the next primary, in Florida on January 31. Romney leads in both states and victories there would all but sew up his nomination.
A nationwide Reuters/Ipsos poll on Tuesday showed Romney preferred by 30 percent of Republican voters, way ahead of his rivals. He also has narrowed the gap against Obama but still trails by 5 percentage points in a head-to-head matchup.
It was unclear how much damage had been done by attacks from opponents who accused Romney of being a job killer in the 1990s when he bought and restructured companies as head of Bain.
Romney didn't help himself on Monday when he said: "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me."
He was discussing the need for greater competition between health insurance companies. Rivals seized on the remark, in a sharp departure for a party that is traditionally friendly to business interests.
Gingrich, brooding over negative attacks from Romney and his backers in Iowa, has launched the toughest assault.
'PREDATORY CORPORATE RAIDER'
"Mitt Romney was not a capitalist during his reign at Bain. He was a predatory corporate raider," a 27-minute video produced by a pro-Gingrich group said.
Gingrich has also cited a Reuters report that takes an in-depth look at a Kansas City steel mill that was driven into bankruptcy under Bain's ownership.
The attacks have prompted some conservatives to cry foul. The National Review magazine posted an editorial on Tuesday calling it "foolish and destructive" to attack Romney for his investment successes.
The onslaught took on new life during weekend debates in New Hampshire. But Romney retains a strong core of support in the small state of 1.3 million people, where he owns a summer home.
"I saw him pull the Olympics out of the toilet. I saw him work as a businessman, he sees what needs to be done and gets it done," said Dennis Hamson, 58, a nurse from Londonderry.
New Hampshire voting stations will be closed by 8 p.m. EST (0100 GMT). About 250,000 people are expected to vote in the Republican primary while 75,000 are likely to vote to endorse Obama's re-election.
Romney's rivals were targeting undecided voters in a fierce battle for second place. Santorum, who nearly won Iowa by appealing to social conservatives, has not seen that message resonate in New Hampshire.
"I'm socially liberal. I could never vote for Santorum," said student Cody Love, 21, who voted for Huntsman in the state capital, Concord.
MANCHESTER, N.H. – It's reasonable to expect that 40 percent of all eligible voters might participate in today's New Hampshire primary. In a nation where primary elections routinely draw turnout rates in the teens, that's a pretty remarkable thing.
It's a testament to the seriousness with which New Hampshire residents take their jobs as participants in the first-in-the nation primary. It's something of a civic religion here.
The previous Republican primary attracted 239,793 registered Republicans and independents, not much of a jump from the last open contest in 2000 when 236,802 voted on the GOP side. But in 2008, the action was on the Democratic side. This year the Red Team is the only game in town.
As we saw with increased turnout in Iowa, even if Republicans and conservative-leaning independents are feeling a little crabby about their roster of candidates, they're still showing up to have their say.
While Mitt Romney, frontrunner for four years, seems to be secure in his status as certain winner -- lapping his closest competitor, Rep. Ron Paul in the final pre-primary poll -- second, and maybe even third, matters a lot in a topsy-turvy national contest.
While Paul would benefit from another strong showing, he's got his eye on the convention. His primary task is to take as many of the state's 12 delegates as possible and move on to the next task.
But the others are not playing a numbers game. For the others, this is an exercise in social psychology, buzz generation and expectations. While Romney would be crippled by a loss here, there's almost no margin of victory the he can achieve that won't be automatically discounted by the establishment press.
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman is looking to be the Rick Santorum of New Hampshire and be the adopted hometown favorite of the state after an intensive focus here.
For Santorum, the task is to stay in the conversation heading into South Carolina. To do that, he must avoid falling to fifth place behind Newt Gingrich. The reverse is true for Gingrich. He must not fall behind Santorum.
As the results start to roll in after most polls close at 7:00 pm, here's what to watch for across the state.
Hillsborough County
Population: 400,721
2008 Result:
Romney --35.1%
McCain -- 34.9 %
Huckabee -- 10.4%
Giuliani -- 8.7%
Paul -- 7.5%
Thompson -- 1.1%
Nearly a third of all votes are likely to be cast in Hillsborough County. It home to the state's two largest cities, Manchester and New Hampshire, as well as many of the tax refugees from Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
That's good news for Romney who is well known from his time as Massachusetts governor. He won Hillsborough in 2008 and it would be a very encouraging sign for him if he saw an increase in support here. This is where Romney will hope to deliver a knockout punch to Huntsman, but, also a place where more affluent, moderate voters might be open to some of the former ambassador to China's ideas.
But with a lot of blue-collar Catholic voters, Hillsborough County will also be key to Santorum's effort to avoid a fifth-place finish.
Rockingham County
Population: 295,223
2008 Result:
Romney -- 36.8%
McCain -- 35.8%
Huckabee -- 9%
Giuliani -- 8.8%
Paul -- 6.4%
Thompson -- 1.1%
Seaside beauty spots and a business boom have made Rockingham County a favorite destination from new New Hampshire residents. Rockingham, particularly the towns of Portsmouth and Salem, is part of a revitalization on the southern coast of the state.
It could also prove electorally unpredictable. While Romney will benefit from the same advantages he enjoys in neighboring Hillsborough, look for Paul and Huntsman to do well with the growing number of independents here.
Merrimack County
Population: 146,445
2008 Result:
McCain -- 38.7%
Romney -- 27.0%
Huckabee -- 12.6%
Giuliani -- 9.1%
Paul -- 8.3%
Thompson -- 1.0%
Anchored by New Hampshire's third-largest city and capital, Concord, Merrimack County is a political power player.
It tends to reflect the overall result of the state, and as New Hampshire's own Carl Cameron has pointed out, has two towns, Pembroke and Boscawen, that have picked the eventual winner of the state in every election since the Granite State achieved its preeminent primary status in 1952.
Being in the heart of the state, Merrimack is a microcosm of the rest of the state. John McCain won handily here in 2008 and Romney underperformed. But Ron Paul's showing here was also better than the rest of the state and could be a big boost to his chances.
Remember -- there are a lot of conservatives in Merrimack County. If Gingrich is going to break out of the pack of Not Romneys, he would need to score here.
Strafford County
Population: 123,423
2008 Result:
McCain -- 37.5%
Romney -- 25.5%
Huckabee -- 14.1%
Giuliani -- 8.9%
Paul -- 8.6%
Thompson -- 1.1%
Strafford County, home to the University of New Hampshire in Durham and more of the southern coast region, is heavily Democratic, which makes it extra interesting for this year's Republican primary.
Aside from being the home base for a lot of Ron Paul's college supporters, it's also a place where disaffected Obama 2008 voters might show their support for Huntsman. You'll get a good sense of how liberal independents are trending when the vote comes in here.
Grafton County
Population: 89,118
2008 Result:
McCain -- 45%
Romney -- 20.2%
Huckabee -- 12.6%
Paul -- 10%
Giuliani -- 7.4%
Thompson -- 1.6%
Grafton County on the Vermont border is home to Dartmouth College and the most scenic spots in the White Mountains. There are lots of vacation homes and resorts in the area. This is Robert Frost country, all the way
The northern, more rural portion of the county tends to be more Republican while the area around Dartmouth tends to be more Democratic, but on the whole, liberals reign here.
John McCain had his strongest showing here of any county in the state in 2008 and one of Romney's worst. These are very independent minded folks. Watch to see how Paul and Huntsman are splitting the vote here and you may see the trend for the rest of the state.
Belknap County
Population
2008 Result:
McCain -- 36.8%
Romney -- 31.5%
Huckabee -- 11.1%
Giuliani -- 8.1%
Paul -- 7.1%
Thompson -- 1.6%
Located on scenic Lake Winnipesaukee, Belknap County is the Republican heartland of New Hampshire.
In 2008, it reflected, almost to the decimal, the outcome of the overall vote in the state. The city of Lanconia is generally on the money, and one of Campaign Carl's eternal bellwethers, Sanabornton, is here too.
Pay close attention to the vote here.
Cheshire County
Population: 77,117
2008 Result:
McCain -- 36.7%
Romney --26.5%
Huckabee -- 15.1%
Paul -- 8.7%
Giuliani -- 7.1%
Thompson -- 1.4%
There aren't many Republicans in Cheshire County and its largest city, Keene. But there are a bunch of libertarians.
Democrats tend to dominate politics, thanks in part to the faculties Keene State College and Antioch University, but the Free State Project, which urges libertarians to move to New Hampshire to take over state politics, has a footprint there.
Watch for Ron Paul to improve his showing here, but also look for Santorum's presence in Cheshire. Social conservatives rewarded Mike Huckabee with his best showing in the state here.
Carroll County
Population: 47,818
2008 Result:
McCain -- 39.1%
Romney -- 31.9%
Huckabee -- 10%
Paul -- 7.9%
Giuliani -- 7.2%
Thompson -- 1.6%
A rural, mountainous stretch along the Maine border, Carroll County is rugged country. Many New Hampshire residents trek here to ski at Cranmore Mountain and Attitash.
Though traditionally rock-ribbed in its Republicanism, Carroll went for the Democratic nominee for president in 2008 for the first time since 1912.
Sullivan County
Population: 43,472
2008 Result:
McCain -- 40%
Romney -- 24.7%
Huckabee -- 14.1%
Paul -- 7.6%
Giuliani -- 8.5%
Thompson -- 1.4%
Sullivan County tends to politically behave like its neighbors in the Connecticut River Valley, Grafton and Cheshire Counties - very Democratic in general elections.
There are very few votes to be had in the Republican primary, but it is another place where liberal-leaning independents may make their mark on the Republican race. If Huntsman is doing well, he should do well here.
Coos County
Population: 33,055
2008 Result:
McCain -- 39.9%
Romney --18.7%
Huckabee -- 17.5%
Paul -- 8.1%
Giuliani -- 9.5%
Thompson -- 1.4%
Way up north in the state's panhandle, Coos County is sparsely populated and economically stunted. The paper industry once provided a core of good paying jobs, but the region now can count only nature tourism as a breadwinner.
The biggest town, Berlin, boasts just over 10,000 residents.
Remember, they pronounce both "o"s in the county -- like Kew-uhs.
Much of the American public sees Ron Paul as an ideological oddball. Others seem him as an anti-Semitic, racist, homophobe who indulges in conspiracy theories. (Jamie Kirchick, The New Republic)
But young voter still see Ron Paul as, simply put, the man.
Of the Republican Iowa caucus goers under the age of 30, 48 percent supported Ron Paul. 23 percent went for Rick Santorum, and 14 percent favored Mitt Romney. (CIRCLE)
Huffington Post attributes this to Ron Paul's youth outreach effort and seeming concern for young voters. Paul has often repeatedly made statements along the lines of "Republicans are going to be neglectful if they say: 'Oh, you don't need Independents, you don't need the young people. That's where the excitement is, and that's where the changes are coming about." (Mariya Karimjee, Global Post).
But did youth enthusiasm for Paul come as a result of Paul's outreach efforts? Or did it come as the result of something else, and then just Paul tapped into it? Many young voters cite Paul's consistency and passion as their reasons for their support. Others say they like the libertarianism that Paul claims to represent.
Regardless how Paul got the young voters Iowa, he is going to need them again in New Hampshire. This time, however, he will have to contend with a Jon Huntsman whose background of motorcycles and rock bands, coupled with his cool demeanor and science-friendly beliefs, make him a very attractive candidate to young voters.
My prediction: look for Paul to win the youth vote again, but it will be significantly less than his 48 percent in Iowa.
I'll be sure to post the results once CIRCLE collects them.
Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Mitt Romney is depicted as a financier "more ruthless than Wall Street" and a son of privilege responsible for laying off thousands of workers in a 28-minute film set to be released tomorrow in South Carolina bankrolled by supporters of Newt Gingrich.
The film, obtained by Bloomberg News, attacks Romney's record as the chief executive officer of Bain Capital LLC, a private-equity firm. It highlights the stories of workers who lost their jobs after the companies they worked for were acquired by Bain.
"Make a profit," a laughing Romney is shown saying in the film. "That's what it's all about, right?"
Entitled "When Mitt Romney Came to Town," the film produced by Jason Killian Meath, a former Republican National Committee aide, is being funded by Winning Our Future, an organization run by a longtime aides to Gingrich. Sheldon Adelson, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp., and a Gingrich supporter, has given Winning Our Future $5 million to help air the film in South Carolina, which holds its presidential primary election on Jan. 21.
"It's absolutely brutal in its depiction of the activities of Bain Capital under Governor Romney," said Stephen K. Bannon, a conservative filmmaker who interviewed Barry Bennett, a supporter of Texas Governor Rick Perry who commissioned the film, on his show at KABC Radio in Los Angeles. ''But it wouldn't be an issue except for the fact that Governor Romney's made it the central part of this thesis for why he should be elected.''
Four Companies Highlighted
The film focuses on four companies acquired by Bain that later suffered difficulties or filed for bankruptcy -- UniMac Corp., KB Toys, America Pad & Paper or Ampad, and DDI Corp., an electronics company.
A procession of purported fired workers describe their struggles to cope with the ensuing job losses. "The hardest part for me is the day that we had to load up the U-Haul because we done lost our home," an unnamed woman reportedly fired by Ampad says in the film. The identities of the people portrayed could not be immediately independently verified.
In his presidential campaign appearances, Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, has cited jobs created by the private-equity firm where he worked for 25 years.
Romney Job Claims
Romney has stated that, while some business ventures failed, a net gain of 100,000 jobs were created by Bain's successes. Neither the Romney campaign nor Bain have provided the data to support that figure.
The interview with the purportedly fired worker is juxtaposed with a clip of Romney saying, "For an economy to thrive, there are a lot of people who will suffer as a result of that."
Others depicted in the film include a woman describing how she was fired when eight months pregnant, a mother who had difficulties feeding her family after her alleged job-loss and several women who lost homes to foreclosure. Throughout the film, Romney and Bain are presented as having caused, and profited from, their hardships.
"Under Romney, Bain was making billions," a narrator says. "At the same time, contributing to the greatest American job-loss since World War II."
"It is sad when any American loses their job," Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for Romney's presidential campaign, said in a statement responding to the film. "Under President Obama, 25 million Americans are out of work, under-employed or have stopped looking for work. It's puzzling to see Speaker Gingrich and his supporters continue their attacks on free enterprise.
Expected From Democrats
''This is the type of criticism we've come to expect from President Obama and his left-wing allies at Moveon.org," Saul said. ''Unlike President Obama and Speaker Gingrich, Mitt Romney spent his career in business and knows what it will take to turn around our nation's bad economy.''
The film also depicts Romney as "rich beyond imagination" and out of touch with most Americans as a result of his wealth. Two of Romney's homes are featured, described as "a $3 million home in New Hampshire with a private beach and a $12 million beach-front property in California."
A woman is shown claiming that Romney has "15 homes," although recent public reports indicate that Romney currently has three homes.
Twice in the film, Romney is also shown speaking in French. The two-time presidential aspirant was a Mormon missionary in France as a young man.
--Editors: Mark Silva, Jeanne Cummings
To contact the reporter on this story: Joshua Green in Manchester, New Hampshire at jgreen120@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net
Can Buddy Roemer beat Rick Perry in the New Hampshire primary?
Roemer, a former Louisiana governor, has been waging an uphill battle for the GOP presidential nomination that's been far away from the media scrums trailing Mitt Romney and a surging Jon Huntsman. Without any standing in national polls, Roemer has been shut out of the televised presidential debates.
But he's at 1% in the Suffolk University/7News tracking poll in New Hampshire, tied at the bottom of the GOP field with the better-funded and better-known Perry, who is skipping the Granite State contest and concentrating on the South Carolina primary.
Roemer is going for broke in New Hampshire. He moved to the Granite State months ago to talk to voters one-on-one about the dangers of big money on politics.
He finished with 31 votes in the Iowa caucuses last week -- only 27 behind businessman Herman Cain, who once was the GOP front-runner in Iowa and national polls until allegations of sexual misconduct derailed his campaign.
"We were written off months ago. We're not being written off now," Roemer told The Hill in an interview. "We've come from zero to having a request for an interview every 10 minutes — and that's a start for our issue."
Roemer might be pleased by his interview requests, but the reality is that Romney is poised for a victory in the first-in-the-nation primary. Still, it's worth watching to see if he could beat Perry, the Texas governor.
Joshua has been managing money for high net worth clients, charitable foundations, corporations and retirement plans for more than a decade.
Recent posts
His fellow candidate Jon Huntsman penned an op-ed for Fox News that's been getting a lot of attention as it makes its way around the web - because he is the ONLY candidate talking about the fact that we've made our Too Big To Fail banks even Too Biggier.
In 2008, with the nation's economy in crisis, Washington and Wall Street offered American taxpayers a Sophie's Choice: spend hundreds of billions of dollars to save big banks from failure, or witness the collapse of our financial system and irreparable economic harm.
This was not only a betrayal of the public's trust; it was also a betrayal of our free market system, which only works when every business plays by the same rules.
Taxpayers were promised those bailouts would be a one-time, emergency measure. Yet today, we can already see the outlines of the next financial crisis and bailouts.
The six largest financial institutions are significantly bigger than they were in 2008, having been encouraged to snap up Bear Stearns and other competitors at bargain prices.
These banks now have assets worth over 66% of gross domestic product – at least $9.4 trillion – up from 20% of GDP in the 1990s.
Huntsman's solution is to break them up.
Now obviously Jon can't win, at least not in this cycle. The hardcore in the party are convinced that he's been turned - either by the Chinese, with whom he lived as ambassador or by Obama himself, the man who sent him there.
But the irony is that Jon may well be the most qualified to actually run the country. He's level headed, has run a state as Governor, is worldly and forward-thinking and knows how to do business in a global economy. So of course, he's running neck-and-neck with a can of stewed tomatoes in the back of the GOP pack.
Oh well.
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here.To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on www.thereformedbroker.com.
Supporters of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney are circulating an inside-the-Beltway policy roundtable and fundraising reception notice just hours before the Massachusetts Republican is poised to win the New Hampshire primary.
The Feb. 9 event at the JW Marriott includes a policy meeting followed by a photo opportunity and general reception. Romney's industry finance chairs include: Bill Hansen for education; Brett McMahon for infrastructure; Tom Farrell on energy; and Patrick Durkin on financial services. Virginia State Sen. Jeff McWaters is the health care finance chair while Bobbie Kilberg and Dan Runde are listed as defense, homeland security and foreign policy finance chairs.
The invite requests that policy roundtable attendees raise $10,000, while a photo opportunity with Romney requires a $2,500 check and the general reception costs $1,000 to attend.
Policy roundtable leaders on the invite include: Bill Hansen and Superintendent Tom Luna on education; LE Simmons for energy; and Bill Simon on financial services. Former Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, former U.S. ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman, former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman and former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff are all listed Romney policy roundtable leaeders on defense, homeland security and foreign policy. Former Utah Governor Mike Leavitt is listed as health care representative, former Sen. Jim Talent (Mo.) as a policy leader on infrastructure and Bill Kilberg is slated to handle labor issues.
Romney has regularly looked to raise campaign contributions in Washington. Most recently his son Tagg Romney packed a young professionals reception in December.
CONCORD, N.H. — Jon Huntsman Jr. said Monday he wouldn't be running for president had he not served as governor of Utah.
"I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for the good people of Utah," Huntsman told the Deseret News at a rally in the New Hampshire state capital.
Huntsman was one of the state's most popular governors, overwhelmingly elected to a second term in 2008. He resigned the office the following year after being named U.S. ambassador to China.
Utahns, Huntsman said, "taught me a whole lot about what it means to forge an agenda going forward. I learned a lot about leadership and I learned a lot about carrying the good will of the people.
"It all happened there in Utah, and I wouldn't be doing this if not for experience and I'm grateful."
But during a day of campaign appearances around the state, Jon Huntsman Jr. suggested he could use a little more support in Utah.
A Deseret News reporter tried to get him to be specific about the result he needed to see in Tuesday's primary election to stay in the presidential race.
"Listen," Huntsman said with a smile as reporters from other media outlets leaned in to hear his answer. "If we were to get the endorsement of the Deseret News, that would do it for us."
Unfortunately for the candidate, the newspaper, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, doesn't make political endorsements.
Huntsman earned the surge he's now seeing in the polls, his top adviser said.
"There's the hard work that he did throughout the summer and the fall," the adviser, John Weaver, said. "That's not sexy. That's not fun. It's kind of grinding it out so you have your organization in place."
Granite State voters appreciate Huntsman's efforts, Weaver said.
"Gov. Huntsman has been very respectful of the tradition here in New Hampshire. He's campaigning the New Hampshire way," Weaver said. "He's given the time to New Hampshire. He's learned from the voters. He's not just come into the state and pontificated."
The Arizona secretary of state's office says Jon Huntsman has failed to qualify for the state's presidential primary.
A spokesman for Secretary of State Ken Bennett says the former Utah governor filed paperwork a few hours before Monday's 5 p.m. deadline, but it was missing a notarized signature from the candidate and was rejected.
Huntsman spokesman Tim Miller says the campaign submitted what was required and will "aggressively challenge the ruling" to get on the ballot.
Officials will draw the ballot order for Arizona's Feb. 28 presidential preference primary Tuesday.
It's a Republican-dominated affair because President Barack Obama faces no opposition for the Democratic nomination.
Major GOP candidates Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Ron Paul made the ballot, as did 24 other people.
Rick Perry, the lone Republican campaigning for president Tuesday in South Carolina, likened Mitt Romney to a greedy Wall Street "vulture" who was indifferent to the plight of workers who lost their jobs in deals that enriched his investment firm.
Seeking an early edge in South Carolina's Jan. 21 primary while his rivals were tied up with Tuesday's contest in New Hampshire, the Texas governor also ridiculed Rick Santorum's congressional spending record.
Perry started slashing away at Romney's record as chief executive at Bain Capital on Monday, but was more caustic Tuesday in condemning the firm's practice of making money in corporate takeover deals that sometimes triggered job losses.
"They're vultures that are sitting out there on the tree limb, waiting for the company to get sick, and then they sweep in, they eat the carcass, they leave with that, and they leave the skeleton," Perry told about 100 seniors here at the Sun City retirement complex.
Perry took the analogy further in comments afterward to reporters.
"We have allowed these greedy people on Wall Street to take advantage" of small firms going through tough times, he said, alluding to the money that Bain collected in deals that put 150 people out of work at a photo-album manufacturing company in Gaffney, S.C., and cost steelworker jobs at a plant in Georgetown, S.C.
"Instead of trying to work with them to find a way to keep the jobs and to get them back on their feet, it's all about how much money can we make, how quick can we make it, and then get out of town and find the next carcass to feed upon."
Perry went on to castigate the Obama administration for allegedly failing to stop "self-dealing" on Wall Street.
"You've got to ask yourself, when the last three chiefs of staff for this president came out of Wall Street, you don't think there's a little bit of inside dealing going on there?" Perry asked reporters.
"That their buddies aren't calling 'em up and saying, `Hey, how 'bout let's not be quite that tough on those of us on Wall Street. We're just good ol' boys out here trying to make a buck.' This is a corrupt place. Wall Street and Washington are corrupt."
Romney's campaign on Tuesday circulated a National Review editorial criticizing Perry and other Republicans for blaming him for job losses that resulted from Bain takeover deals.
"Wall Street has its share of miscreants, and they should be recognized as such when appropriate," it said. "But to abominate Mitt Romney for having been a success at the business of investing in struggling American companies, connecting entrepreneurs with capital and producers with markets, is foolish and destructive."
A committee supporting Newt Gingrich for president has produced a TV ad focusing on people who lost their jobs in Bain transactions under Romney.
In his remarks at Sun City, Perry, turning to Washington, described the pet projects championed by members of Congress as a prime symptom of the backscratching "virus" that plagues the capital.
"The next thing you know, you've got people like Rick Santorum, who's voting for the bridge to nowhere, who's voting for a teapot museum, who's voting for the Montana Sheep Institute – with no transparency," he said.
"Earmarks are the gateway drug to the spending addiction that we've got in Washington, D.C., and they have to be stopped."
Perry's poll ratings in South Carolina, as elsewhere, have collapsed in the aftermath of gaffes in televised debates. To resuscitate his campaign, he is casting himself as a Washington outsider with conservative Christian values and a record of fiscal restraint.
At Kinch's diner Tuesday morning in Rock Hill, Perry made a case for state's rights, faulting Obama's administration for challenging the South Carolina law requiring voters to show government ID cards in order to cast ballots.
"It is a war," Perry said of South Carolina's conflict with the U.S. government over that and other laws.
Perry also used his state's rights pitch to ding Romney for his record as governor of Massachusetts on taxes and healthcare.
"If you want to live in a state that has high taxes or a regulatory climate that is really big and burdensome … that has individual mandates on insurance, that says you have to buy insurance, you should be free to move to Massachusetts," Perry told the crowd.
"If you'll recall, it was one of the agencies that I remembered," Perry said to a burst of guffaws, referring to his failure in a debate to remember one of the three agencies he called for eliminating. "Don't worry. I'm not going to forget that one – Energy, Commerce and the Department of Education."
The Republican presidential candidates debate in Manchester, New Hampshire. From left: Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry. Photograph: Win McNamee/Getty Images
And then, there were six.
After Iowa, we are left with a half-dozen halfwits who want to defeat Barack Obama and become leader of the free world. These are the Top Dogs, the Pick of the Kitty Litter, the Jewels in the Clown.
So, how did these masterful hatesmen earn their coveted place in the Cream of the Crap? With their unwavering obsession with sex. All kinds of sex. Same sex, opposite sex, sex with animals.
Oh, and Muslims. But not Muslim sex. Not yet, anyway. There is so much to talk about when it comes to gay sex that they probably just haven't gotten around to it. But they will. If they know nothing about something, they always make time to spout off about it.
So, after watching 15 debates, I can't help but ask myself, "Is this the only time in their lives they are allowed talk about sex?" and "Why do guys with no access to my lady junk spend more time talking about it than guys that do?"
If you haven't been following all the Republican pillow talk, good for you. You probably have access to better porn. Here are some highlights that stuck with me like a cactus vibrator.
One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country. It's not OK. It's a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.
Huh, I always thought the only thing sex was supposed to be was consensual. I will say, however, we may see an uptick in abstinence across the board if this sweater-vested Puritan with breeding hips keeps incessantly prattling on about it.
This Dollar Store version of George Bush just keeps trying. He doesn't want the gays getting hitched, OR serving in the military. I mean, it is called the Strait of Hormuz, after all. But Rick has really got his manties in a wad over teaching the theory of evolution in schools.
I am a firm believer in intelligent design as a matter of faith and intellect, and I believe it should be presented in schools alongside the theories of evolution.
It's a theory that's out there. It's got some gaps in it. In Texas, we teach both creationism and evolution.
Yes, he prefers the fact-based "snake convinces the bad lady to eat the apple" story. I'm starting to thing he doesn't believe in evolution because it simply passed him by.
Now, Newt Gingrich claims he loved his country sooo much, it lead him to cheat on his wives. Yes, wives. He is on his third. She seems healthy.
There's no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate.
It makes me wonder whether, if he is not cheating on his current wife, this should call his patriotism into question, thus making him unqualified to lead. But Newt sees a few threats in this country that could make us all cheat on America:
There is a gay and secular fascism in this country that wants to impose its will on the rest of us, is prepared to use violence, to use harassment.
But it's not just the gays who are planning to violently harass us with wedding invitations. Oh no …
I am convinced that if we do not decisively win the struggle over the nature of America, by the time [my grandchildren are] my age they will be in a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists and with no understanding of what it once meant to be an American.
These two statements confuse me because I am not sure who I should be more afraid of: the gay secular fascists or the radical Islamists? Or worse, what if the gay radical Islamists took over? Those guys are vicious: they get gay-married at 10am and then they stone themselves to death in the town square at noon.
On to Ron Paul, the libertarian in the race who believes that the government should totally get out of people's lives – as long as their lives don't involve sex. Then, the government should be all up in that shit. He is unique in that his racist newsletters, coupled with his staunch antiwar stance, have won him the undying support of that coveted "racist pacifist" faction of the American electorate.
The smartest of this bunch – although that is like being the smartest Real Housewife of Beverly Hills – is Jon Huntsman.
We have people on the Republican side too far to the right. We have zero substance. We have no good ideas that are being circulated or talking about that allow the country to get back on its feet economically so we begin creating jobs.
He currently is polling nationally at 2%.
But Mitt Romney still remains the frontrunner. He is not as sex-obsessed as some of his rivals. He is a man of the people. The people who run Fortune 500 companies.
He says it loud: "I'm in the black and I'm proud."
Now, the good news about this statement is that it should end the abortion debate once and for all: "Life begins at incorporation." The bad news is, if corporations are indeed people, we need Planned Parenthood more than ever.
Silver lining is that Americans are fed up and are seeing these guys for who they are: unqualified extremists and book hawking scalawags.
We would like to hear about jobs. Real jobs. Not the ones that involve the words "hand" or "blow".
ROCHESTER, N.H.
–
Voters in New Hampshire began casting ballots Tuesday in the nation's first primary of the 2012 campaign.
Hometown favorite Mitt Romney is expected to win but Republican opponents hoped to chip away at his lead in a presidential race that seems headed toward a climax.
In Rochester, a former mill town of 30,000 people, John Tibbets, 71, voted for Newt Gingrich "because he's going to straighten out America. He ain't like these other wiffly waffly guys."
Tibbets' priorities: "Secure the border and be tough on terrorism. … If Iran gets nukes, I think we should nuke them. Because if we don't, I think they'll do it to us."
Polls showed Romney's standing in the Granite State sliding to 33% from 43% in the past five days, according to a Suffolk University/7News tracking poll. Romney has spent the last two days explaining and defending an offhand comment that he likes "being able to fire people."
When he reached out for a supporter's infant daughter at a polling place, someone in the crowd shouted, "Are you going to fire the baby?"
Romney waded through a crowd of supporters, detractors and media at a polling place in Manchester, where he defended his ill-chosen comment Monday that drew instant ridicule from his rivals.
"I was talking about, as you know, insurance companies," he said. "We all like to get rid of our insurance companies."
Still, he continued to hold a healthy lead, according to the poll. Texas Rep. Ron Paul was second at 20% and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman third at 13%. Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, who came in second to Romney by just eight votes in Iowa last week, received 10%.
Gingrich — an underdog in New Hampshire's primary — arrived at a polling site in Manchester with wife, Callista, to greet voters but was met instead by a crush of reporters. He compared the crowd to Mardi Gras except "not nearly as much fun." He was visiting polling places throughout the day.
The former House speaker said he expected to finish in the top three or four among the field of six serious candidates, but predicted it would be Romney who would be hurt the most - by falling short of expectations. New Hampshire was expected to be Romney's stronghold, Gingrich said, and "I don't think it's going to be much of a fortress."
He said he would continue to criticize Romney for his work with the Bain Capital investment firm, saying it made money even on companies that went bankrupt.
Critics pulled Romney's firing quote out of context to reinforce a withering assault on him for his role in the private equity firm that took over companies and sometimes laid off workers.
Gingrich was an unlikely defender of Romney on Tuesday saying the comment is being used out of context and it's not fair to attack him over it.
But the former House speaker did say it raised questions about how well Romney might be able to campaign in the fall.
"Now he was clumsy the way he said it," Gingrich said on MSNBC's Morning Joe. "In debate, do you really want someone who is that clumsy?"
"I'd be a much more effective debater," said Gingrich, who has emerged as Romney's fiercest critic on the Republican campaign trail after a dispute over negative campaigning in Iowa.
At Rochester Middle School, ward supervisor Jason Hamann said early morning turnout was lighter than he expected: 108 people voted in the first hour and a half the polls were open. He said he had expected 200.
Shannon Taber, 37, a bartender, voted for Romney because she said she's looking for "basically someone who can beat (President) Obama."
She said she likes Romney's experience and the fact that polls show he's got support. As a Republican, she feels "it's time to band together and pick someone."
Kevin Langelier, 42, an unemployed accountant, said he liked Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts.
"He's got a successful career as a businessman and I think he can do a lot for the economy," Langelier said. "I think he can beat Obama. I don't think anyone else is electable."
In the tiny town of Dixville Notch, which voted shortly after midnight, Romney and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman tied for first place with two votes each. Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul got one vote each.
New Hampshire voters will go to the polls throughout the day after receiving months of attention from the Republican candidates and witnessing an increasingly sharp tone in the struggle for the nomination.
Rick Santorum, who rocketed to prominence with a virtual tie with Romney in Iowa, said there wasn't time enough to capitalize on that momentum before New Hampshire's primary and that he would be content to pull a double-digit percentage of the votes.
There are lots of contests still to come, Santorum said, speaking to reporters between shaking voters' hands at a Manchester polling place. "There's going to be lots of opportunities to rise and fall," he said.
With the quirky, libertarian-leaning Paul running a strong second to Romney in New Hampshire polls for much of the year, third place may become a highly coveted spot for the rest of the field hoping to prove they can keep up with Romney.
Romney's ill-timed comment the day before the primary came at a breakfast event in Nashua, when he told an audience that his health care plan would allow them to dismiss insurers and health care providers.
"If you don't like what they do, you can fire them," he said. "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me."
"Gov. Romney enjoys firing people; I enjoy creating jobs," Huntsman told reporters in Concord, adding: "It may be that he's slightly out of touch with the economic reality playing out in America right now."
Romney later said his comments were being misrepresented. "We should be able to choose the insurance companies of our choice," he said. "We should not have to have one foisted upon us by the presidentt and Obamacare."
The former Massachusetts governor also defended the investment firm he founded, Bain Capital, calling criticism of it an attack on free enterprise more likely to come from Obama and "Democrats on the left."
Independents are allowed to vote in the primary which will help decide whether a candidate like Santorum who has a sharp focus can appeal to a broader electorate, as would be required in a successful general election. On the other side, Huntsman is relying upon independents and moderate Republicans to fuel a late surge to relevancy.
Polls suggested Huntsman may be on the rise, but New Hampshire voters will decide if it it's too little, too late. He could be pushed out of the nomination race if he finishes below third place in the six-man field.
A former ambassador to China in the Obama administration, Huntsman spent the final 48 hours trying to capitalize on a notable debate exchange with Romney. A relentless critic of Obama, Romney had criticized Huntsman for serving in Obama's administration. Huntsman countered that he had put his country ahead of partisan politics.
Huntsman aired a new television ad highlighting his call for national unity and adopted a new campaign slogan, borrowing "Country First" from 2008 GOP nominee, Sen. John McCain.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry joined the Romney bashing that intensified over the past few days from South Carolina, where he's been campaigning before the next primary there. He compared his GOP rival and the private equity firm he once headed to "vultures" who go after ailing companies as their prey.
"They're basically just vultures," Perry said, according to MSNBC's First Read blog. They wait "for companies to get sick; they swoop in; they eat the carcass."
Perry has staked his candidacy on portraying himself as the Washington and Wall Street outsider in the GOP field. He's banking on support from social conservatives, who play a key role in South Carolina primaries.
Perry already had South Carolina campaign events Tuesday in Rock Hill and Fort Mill, and will host another one Tuesday night at a barbecue joint in Leesville.
Meanwhile the "super PAC" supporting Romney is going big in Florida, bringing their total spending so far in the presidential campaign to "$7 million and counting."
MSNBC reported ad spending figures in the First Read blog on Tuesday. The cable network is partnering with Smart Media Group Delta, an ad-tracking firm, to determine spending these by independent political action committees.
Restore Our Future, the super PAC supporting Romney, has put down $1.7 million in Florida, which holds its primary on Jan. 31. The group invested heavily in Iowa and ran ads attacking Gingrich, causing him to finish fourth in last week's caucuses.
The spending by Restore Our Future, which is run by former aides to the Massachusetts governor, is double the amount spent so far on ads by Make Us Great Again, a super PAC supporting Perry.
By comparison, MSNBC reports, Romney's campaign has spent $5.5 million in advertising.
The figures don't include a $3.4 million buy in South Carolina by Winning Our Future, the super PAC backing Gingrich.
Super PACs can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money from wealthy individuals, corporations and unions. Under the law, they cannot coordinate their activities with the candidates they support.
Contributing: David Jackson in Concord, N.H.; Gary Strauss and Catalina Camia in Arlington, Va.; Associated Press.
Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Newt Gingrich's return to prominence may not last, but it should stir memories of the last time he was a major figure on the national scene. Indeed, revisiting the events of 1996 allows us to imagine a different scenario for this election year than most observers expect.
Back in 1995, as in 2011, powerful Republican leaders (including Gingrich, then speaker of the House) faced a Democratic president who had been weakened by a stinging midterm defeat. They blocked the president's initiatives, and tried to use their power in Congress to bring him down. By the end of 1995, gridlock had reached a new high with the government shutdown and the failure of budget talks between the White House and Congress. Sound familiar?
Most experts expected things to get even worse in 1996. Then, a few things happened to change that outcome. Bill Clinton, the Democratic president, regained his footing, sharpened his message for re-election and was buoyed by improving economic news. Congress grew less popular as voters became dissatisfied with the lack of progress and obstructionism. There were mounting signs of another tidal wave election, this one to sweep out the new Republican members who had been seated in the previous election. As 1996 unfolded, the party lost enthusiasm for its lackluster emerging nominee, Bob Dole.
Surge of Legislation
The result: Gingrich and fellow Republican leaders in Congress decided to work with Clinton to pass a raft of important legislation. These included a balanced budget deal, an extension of health-care coverage (the Kennedy-Kassebaum Act) and sweeping welfare reform.
Congressional Republicans decided that working with the Democratic White House to improve the standing of Congress with the public was more important than continuing to obstruct the president's agenda as a way to ensure he served only one term.
Could the 2012 election year shape up the same way? Could the most do-nothing, gridlocked Congress in memory change direction, and could its members decide to save their own political hides? Might congressional Republican leaders choose to produce results by cooperating with President Barack Obama, even if it undercuts the party's front-runner for the presidential nomination, Mitt Romney?
The odds of this happening this year are long. Yet, in recent weeks, the first signs of a reversal have emerged.
The payroll-tax standoff that the president won before Christmas was the first indication that such a dynamic could take shape. Although Obama was applauded for his resolve and persuasion, that achievement was equally evidence that the laws of political gravity are finally taking hold: Congressional Republicans cannot defy the public's demands for action on the economy indefinitely without suffering political costs.
The Republican lawmakers who were blocking the extension of the payroll-tax cut -- in an extreme attempt to weaken Obama's re-election by foiling his initiatives to strengthen the economy -- couldn't withstand the damage to their own prospects. In the end, they decided to do what was in their own political interests -- and Obama's -- rather than what benefited Romney.
In the weeks that have followed, there have been further developments that could result in a turnaround in congressional attitudes toward working with the president. Obama's approval rating has risen, strengthening his political hand, while the public's perception of Congress remains at an all-time low.
Better economic news -- such as the recent report of a reduction in unemployment -- reinforces this dynamic.
Lukewarm Front-Runner
Finally, the growing sense that Romney will be the tepidly accepted nominee by default -- much as Dole was in 1996 -- is forcing Republicans to reconsider what price they are prepared to pay to advance his political interests.
A new poll in which the satirical talk-show host is theoretically pitted against the actual Republican presidential candidates finds Colbert ahead of Jon Huntsman in South Carolina.
That could be a foreboding sign for the former Utah governor, who joked that he would benefit from "The Colbert Bump" after guesting on "The Colbert Report" in October (watch video below).
Five percent of GOP primary voters in South Carolina would pick Colbert, while only 4 percent would choose Huntsman, the new Public Policy Polling figures show.
Leading the pack in the poll, released Tuesday, is Mitt Romney with 27 percent, followed by Newt Gingrich (23 percent), Rick Santorum (18 percent), Ron Paul (8 percent) and Rick Perry (7 percent). Last is former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer, who also trails Colbert, with 1 percent.
Also read: Jon Huntsman Offers Stephen Colbert VP Nomination -- in Mandarin (Video)
In December, Colbert, a native of South Carolina, said in a guest editorial in The State that he wanted to sponsor the South Carolina Republican primary and would pony up a half-million dollars to cover the counties' "shortfall."
Colbert -- who, in 2007, attempted to run for president, but only in South Carolina -- also called for a referendum about whether corporations are people. The new Public Policing Polling survey also found that 67 percent of the GOP debate's likely voters think that "only people are people."
"He was rebuffed in his efforts, but our team at PPP decided if he couldn't get all that stuff on the actual ballot, we could at least poll it for him," reads a statement on PublicPolicyPolling.com.
The poll was conducted Thursday through Saturday among 1,112 likely Republican voters.
Watch Huntsman on "The Colbert Report" in October:
Related Articles: Colbert to Perform 'Friday' With the Roots on Fallon for Charity Jon Huntsman Offers Stephen Colbert VP Nomination -- in Mandarin (Video)
Five floors apart in a Salt Lake City office complex, Lew Cramer and Lane Beattie have much in common: they are best friends and serve on each other's business boards. What these two Republicans disagree about is who is the most qualified presidential candidate. Cramer supports Jon Huntsman Jr., Utah's former governor, while Beattie prefers Mitt Romney, who led fundraising for the state's 2002 Olympics.
"In this state there are a lot of divided loyalties, there's no question about it," said Cramer, the World Trade Center Utah chief executive officer, who endorsed Romney in 2008 and switched to Huntsman this year. "I've had friends kid me a lot about being a traitor" even though he's backing a native of the state.
Their split points to a broader divide among Utah Republicans over the two candidates who also have shared backgrounds: both are Mormons, businessmen and former governors. In interviews, Utah Republicans regularly refer to them interchangeably as "favorite sons."
Romney Advantage
Yet it's Romney, who grew up in Michigan and was governor of Massachusetts, who has the edge over Huntsman, who spent much of his life in Utah. Romney is leading in polls, has more local endorsements, and raised more money in the state than Huntsman. Romney reported $1.9 million in contributions from Utah residents through Sept. 30, the most recent figures available — about seven times as much as Huntsman, who took in $255,850, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington- based research group.
"It puts a lot of us in a precarious position," said U.S. House Representative Jason Chaffetz, who ran Huntsman's first campaign for governor in 2004 and served as his chief of staff.
"It's not that I'm anti-Huntsman, but I am very pro-Mitt Romney," added Chaffetz, who has campaigned with Romney in New Hampshire. "I just think he would make a better president. I think he has the best opportunity to beat Barack Obama."
About 60 Utah legislators endorsed Romney, compared with two for Huntsman, Chaffetz said. A Salt Lake Tribune poll in August found that 71 percent of Utah residents who identified themselves as Republicans supported Romney, compared with 13 percent for Huntsman.
New Hampshire Primary
The two candidates will be among those facing off in tomorrow's New Hampshire primary. Huntsman, who is behind in polls and fundraising, has staked his candidacy on a top finish there. The Boston Globe, the largest newspaper in Romney's home state, endorsed Huntsman last week. The latest Boston-based Suffolk University tracking poll had Romney with 33 percent support, compared to Huntsman's third-place 13 percent. Running second for U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas, with 20 percent.
Jacques Couture, second from left, Tanner Tillotson, Peter Johnson, Diane Bureau, Deborah Tillotson and Jeff McIver, six of the nine voters in the Republican presidential primary in Dixville Notch, N.H., wait to be released after voting. Dixville Notch has historically kicked off voting in the state, with ballots being cast at midnight.
EXETER, N.H. – On June 21, Jon Huntsman flew from his official announcement at the Statue of Liberty to the Exeter Town Hall, where he launched his presidential campaign. Tonight, several hundred people crowded into the same room for a final rally with the Republican candidate before they vote in tomorrow's presidential primary.
In June, Huntsman was largely unknown in New Hampshire. Tonight, after months of failing to gain traction, Huntsman was relishing his standing, as polls put him in third place in the state where he has staked his entire campaign. All that was the same about the two events was the red, white, and blue confetti that showered the audience as Huntsman finished speaking.
Huntsman seemed to bask in the cheers, giving thumbs up and huge smiles to the crowd, as he held hands with his wife Mary Kaye and listened to U2's "Beautiful Day" blaring from the speakers. Facing skepticism from some voters – and from New Hampshire frontrunner Mitt Romney - for his service as ambassador to China under President Obama, Huntsman took ownership of the issue.
On large signs next to the stage, Huntsman unveiled his newest slogan: "Country First." It was a reference to his answer to critics, that he put his country before his party when asked to serve. "Our movement is here to put our country first. We're tired of people putting politics first," Huntsman said.
Huntsman said he can feel the momentum. "Something is happening out there," he said. "I have no idea what it is going to mean tomorrow night, but I do know this. We're going to surprise a whole lot of people in this country."
Huntsman recited all the top applause lines from his stump speech. He pledged to institute term limits for members of Congress and withdraw troops from Afghanistan. "We're going to tell Congress we're going to dock your pay until you balance the damn budget, for heaven's sake!" he exclaimed.
The room was packed with a mix of New Hampshire voters and out of towners. Jim Swartz and Joe Schoendorf, partners at Accel Partners, a venture capital firm that funds new technology, traveled across the country to support Huntsman. Schoendorf came in from Napa Valley in California. Swartz lives in Utah, where Huntsman was governor, and has known Huntsman for a decade. "He was a fantastic governor. He listens, he gets things done, he knows how to work with all people," said Swartz.
Schoendorf said he believes Huntsman is the only candidate who can bring the country together. "Obama is hard left, a bunch of the candidates are hard right. Jon's real. He's the most non-political," Schoendorf said.
(Updates with Perry quotes starting in second paragraph after 'Closing Message' sub-heading. For more news, see ELECT.)
Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney's rivals sought to tarnish his image and cut into his lead as voters went to the polls for today's New Hampshire primary, with the candidates reaching for the chance to continue their campaigns as the race moves south.
Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Romney has "some very big questions to answer" about his time at Bain Capital LLC, a Boston-based private equity firm, and whether he chose profit over jobs.
"I don't have much respect if you rig the game so you end up walking off with all the money," Gingrich, 68, said this morning in an interview on Bloomberg Television.
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and second-time presidential candidate who won the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses by eight votes, was competing against expectations that he would win New Hampshire's contest by a wide margin. Anything less may frustrate his efforts to show that he holds enough appeal in his own party to mount a strong challenge to President Barack Obama.
"We've come a long way in New Hampshire, but we can't take anything for granted," Romney said in an e-mail to supporters, appealing to them to "do everything in your power to make it out to your local polling place today."
Firing People
Romney made his final case to voters as his rivals seized on an off-the-cuff remark yesterday that he likes "being able to fire people who provide services to me."
While Romney, 64, was referring to health-insurance companies -- not his own employees -- when he made the comments, his opponents have used the comment to portray him as a corporate raider because of his years in the private equity business, and to undercut his argument that he's the candidate best able to create jobs.
U.S. employers added 1.64 million workers in 2011, the most since 2006, the Labor Department said last week. Even with the gains, little headway has been made in recovering the 8.75 million jobs lost as a result of the recession that ended in June 2009.
Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr., 51, who has blanketed New Hampshire over the past several months and staked his campaign on a solid showing here today, pushed for a late burst of support based partly on a backlash from Romney's gaffe.
'Closing Message'
"Our closing message to New Hampshire voters is about restoring trust and putting country first; Mitt Romney's closing message is about petty politics and firing people," said Huntsman spokesman Tim Miller in a statement that accompanied a new web video his campaign released featuring the candidate expounding on New Hampshire's "Live Free or Die" motto.
Texas Governor Rick Perry, who skipped campaigning in New Hampshire in recent days to focus on South Carolina's Jan. 21 primary, told a town-hall meeting today at a retirement community in Fort Mill that Bain's dealings had hurt workers in the southern state.
He mentioned stopping yesterday at a photo album company in Gaffney, South Carolina, that he said lost 150 jobs "so a Wall Street firm could make $20 million." He said a steel plant in Georgetown had made Bain $65 million in management fees as they "shut down rather than trying to restructure and to keep the jobs in South Carolina."
'Quick Buck'
"They were more interested in making the quick buck," Perry said. "And that's the Wall Street mentality. Ethics kind of get thrown out the door. And it's all too often just about how can we make as much money as we can make in a hurry. And then walk away from the rubble that's left."
Perry said that while he is a capitalist, there's a difference between that and "making money at all costs."
Romney, stopping today at a New Hampshire polling place at Manchester's Webster School, couldn't escape the storm.
As he held a baby thrust into his arms by a supporter, a protester shouted: "Are you going to fire that baby?"
"I was talking about, as you know, insurance companies," Romney told reporters. "We all like to get rid of our insurance companies. We don't want Obama to tell us we can't."
Romney said he was excited for the voting to get under way and hoped to do better than his narrow victory in the Iowa caucuses last week.
Choosing Late
New Hampshire voters suggested they are living up to their reputation for choosing a candidate late and changing their minds up to the final moments.
Romney was favored by 37 percent of likely New Hampshire primary voters surveyed in a tracking poll conducted Jan. 8-9 by the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston and sponsored by 7NEWS. U.S. Representative Ron Paul was second with 18 percent, followed by Huntsman at 16 percent, former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania with 11 percent and Gingrich at 9 percent. Perry drew 1 percent.
The survey showed Romney's support eroding since last week, when he drew 43 percent in Suffolk's poll released Jan. 2, and Huntsman on the rise, having built on the 9 percent support he had in the same survey.
John Burns, 23, a construction traffic controller from Manchester decided yesterday to vote for Santorum, 53, after attending a rally the candidate held here.
"I liked what I saw," Burns said after casting his vote. "He is a supporter of Israel and of the Bible, and I believe he's the one who can turn this economy around."
Vote for Paul
Patrick Boissonneau, 30, a student who had Ron Paul's name tatooed on his neck, said he "came down to vote for him because I believe more in the personal liberty aspect of things."
Boissonneau said he also likes Huntsman and that both his economic plan and Romney's would be better than Obama's. "But I think overall, for the direction of the country, I think Ron Paul's is better."
The Republican candidates were already looking toward the South Carolina primary, in which socially conservative voters hold considerable sway and Romney's rivals hope to halt his momentum.
Paul, 76, e-mailed supporters telling them he was "excited about our chances to follow up on our incredible top-tier finish in Iowa with a strong showing" in New Hampshire today, and announcing he would hold a "money bomb" Jan. 14 to help him make a "strong final push in South Carolina."
--With assistance from Peter Cook, Sandrine Rastello and Lisa Lerer in Manchester, New Hampshire, Julie Bykowicz in Fort Mill, South Carolina, and Roger Runningen in Washington. Editors: Robin Meszoly, Mark McQuillan.
To contact the reporter on this story: Julie Hirschfeld Davis in Manchester, New Hampshire at Jdavis159@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net
Last month, Stephen Colbert's Super PAC, Americans for A Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, attempted to sponsor South Carolina's GOP primary with a $500,000 donation. "Of course, I can't offer that kind of no-strings-attached-money without getting something in return," Colbert wrote in an op/ed for The State, and in exchange for the money, he asked that his name be placed on the ballot and the primary itself, and that voters also be asked about corporate personhood. Alas, the state's GOP declined to take the bait, but PPP polled voters anyway: 33% of likely voters think that "corporations are people," while 67% believe "only people are people." Look for Jim DeMint to be unseated by Senator Bojangles in 2016.
This question of corporate personhood was settled once and for all [pdf] by The Supreme Court of Anthony Kennedy the United States, but it was Mitt Romney reminding a few protesters this summer that fanned the flames of this total non-issue.
According to the PPP Colbert would finish fourth in the primary with 5% of the vote, beating Jon Huntsman. Sure, the state has an open primary that allows Democrats to vote, but lets see Huntsman's daughters tweet their Dad out of this one.
As New Hampshire's primary voters gear up for today's contest, Romney, who is maintaining a commanding lead in the polls, is being criticized for telling a group yesterday, "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me" while making a point about his beliefs on health insurance. He utters the line at the 1:30 mark.
Appearances by Ron Paul over the past several days in New Hampshire have been jammed, to the point where one crucial stop degenerated into chaos.
Ron Paul followers have long complained their guy does not get enough media coverage. They echo the words of comedian Jon Stewart, who last August pointed out that reporters generally ignored Representative Paul following his second-place finish in the Ames, Iowa, straw poll. "How did libertarian Ron Paul became the 13th floor of a hotel?" Mr. Stewart asked on his "Daily Show."
Well, Paul's the main lobby now. A media horde follows him everywhere. Is he getting too much press attention – so much that it's interfering with his ability to get out his preferred campaign message?
On one level, the answer to that is obviously "yes." Paul's appearances over the past several days in New Hampshire have been jammed, to the point where one crucial stop degenerated into chaos.
Paul seemed "overwhelmed" by the madness at a morning event at Moe Joe's diner in Manchester on Monday, according to CNN political reporter Dana Bash.
Paul circulated some in the room, but eventually he and his wife, Carol, were forced to retreat because of the media scrum. Cameras followed them outside and surrounded their black SUV. One voter pounded on the vehicle's windows, pleading for Paul to come back inside. A heckler called Paul "chicken" and played the chicken dance song on portable electronic equipment.
"The scene rendered Paul's SUV immobile for about 5 minutes – until his security was forced to move everyone out of the way," said an ABC News account of the incident.
Paul's campaign apologized for the incident in a post on his website. The statement noted that Mrs. Paul got shoved by a cameraman and claimed that 120 reporters had created a moblike atmosphere.
"The campaign had planned to cover our normal degree of media interest, which is always ample. However, a significant increase in the press corps, largely driven by an influx of foreign journalists, exceeded all expectations," said the Paul statement.
Should Paul really be blaming this on "foreign" journalists? And were they foreign in the sense that they're from another country, or are they fresh troops reassigned from the Bachmann beat?
Anyway, the real point is that this is a bad time for Paul's campaign machine to develop problems. Monday was the last campaign day in New Hampshire, where Paul is projected to finish in second place, and meet-and-greets have been crucial to Paul's appeal everywhere.
As New York Times polling analyst Nate Silver notes on Tuesday, Mitt Romney's and Paul's share of the vote has remained stable in a volatile year – in part because of the skill of their organizations.
"Mr. Romney and Mr. Paul have built the best field operations in New Hampshire and other early-voting states, many Republicans say," writes Mr. Silver on his FiveThirtyEight blog.
The harsh scrutiny of the media could be damaging to Paul on a more abstract level, as well. The press is like a searchlight: It has a narrow focus, but when it shines on you, it can be blinding. In recent weeks, media reports of racist language in old newsletters printed under Paul's name have angered his campaign and reminded voters of an old controversy involving the libertarian.
Reports have also focused on Paul's refusal to completely disavow any intention to run as a third-party candidate, or his refusal to promise to support any eventual Republican nominee in the fall. This has caused some conservatives to begin to grumble about Paul's continued participation in the GOP process.
"Having thus used the GOP's brand and standing to hoard a metric ton of attention for himself, the very least he could do, even if he could not bring himself to promise to support the eventual GOP nominee, would be to promise not to run against the GOP's nominee under the banner of some other party," wrote contributor Leon Wolf on the conservative RedState blog on Monday.
Meanwhile, Paul is continuing to do OK in polls. A new CBS survey finds a hypothetical race between Paul and Barack Obama as a statistical tie, with Paul the choice of 45 percent of respondents and Obama the choice of 46 percent. Among Republican candidates, only Romney does better: He leads Mr. Obama 47 to 45 percent in CBS's findings.
MANCHESTER, N.H. - With Mitt Romney the overwhelming favorite, his five Republican opponents hoped to chip away at his dominance in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary and finish well enough to challenge him again in South Carolina and Florida.
A narrower than expected win for Romney in the nation's first presidential primary -- or a surprisingly strong finish from one of his rivals -- could weaken the front-runner. Either would play as more evidence that Republicans still have doubts about Romney, who barely squeezed out a win in the Iowa caucuses.
Making the rounds of morning news shows with voting under way, Newt Gingrich fanned those doubts, saying he believed "the biggest story" in New Hampshire is that the former Massachusetts governor will fall short of "any reasonable expectation" in a state where he has been heavily favored for many months.
"New Hampshire is his third strongest state after Utah and Massachusetts," Gingrich told CNN in an interview. "If he can't do very, very well here tonight, I think it raises questions about his candidacy everywhere else."
The former House speaker said people expected New Hampshire to be Romney's for the asking, but "I don't think it's going to be much of a fortress."
In the first ballots cast in the primary, in tiny Dixville Notch, the New Hampshire village that traditionally votes at midnight. Romney and Jon Huntsman each received two of the six votes; Gingrich and Ron Paul received one vote apiece.
"Dixville Notch might be a harbinger in this race," said Huntsman, a former Utah governor who skipped Iowa to pin his hopes on a decent showing in New Hampshire.
The rest of New Hampshire voters go to the polls throughout the day after receiving months of attention from the Republican candidates and witnessing an increasingly sharp tone in the struggle for the nomination.
Rick Santorum, who rocketed to prominence with a virtual tie with Romney in Iowa, said there wasn't time enough to capitalize on that momentum before New Hampshire's primary and that he would be content to pull a double-digit percentage of the votes.
There are lots of contests still to come, Santorum said, speaking to reporters between shaking voters' hands at a Manchester polling place. "There's going to be lots of opportunities to rise and fall," he said.
Gingrich said he anticipated finishing in the "top three or four" in Tuesday's primary and going on to confront Romney head-on in South Carolina.
(Below, watch Gingrich's interview with Scott Pelley on Monday night's "CBS Evening News")
"We're all going to be dividing the vote and I think it will shake itself out when we get to South Carolina," Gingrich said.
With the quirky, libertarian-leaning Rep. Ron Paul of Texas running a strong second to Romney in New Hampshire polls for much of the year, third place may become a highly coveted spot for the rest of the field hoping to prove they can keep up with Romney.
Romney suffered an ill-timed, foot-in-mouth moment the day before the voting -- declaring he liked being able to fire people -- and his rivals were quick to pounce. But some pulled back from their attacks Tuesday, noting that Romney's clumsy quote actually referred to individuals ditching their health insurance company for better coverage elsewhere. "I'm not going to play gotcha politics," Santorum said.
Romney's firing comment on Monday helped Gingrich leverage his portrayal of the GOP front-runner as a former corporate raider who enriched himself by looting companies and laying off workers. On Tuesday, Gingrich said it was "totally unfair" to take Romney's remark out of its health care context and that he wouldn't do so.
Romney, who owns a vacation home in New Hampshire, has long enjoyed a substantial lead in the polls here.
"If I am president of the United States, I will not forget New Hampshire," Romney said during a Monday night rally in Bedford, hinting at the impact of the contest while surrounded on by his wife, children and grandchildren.
None of Romney's rivals has proved to be a consistent and credible threat to the former Massachusetts governor. The latest to emerge from the pack is Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator who used a passion for social conservatism and a populist economic message to come within eight votes of Romney in Iowa's caucuses.
New Hampshire, which allows independents to vote in its primary, will help decide whether a candidate with Santorum's focus can appeal to a broader electorate, as would be required in a successful general election. On the other side, Huntsman is relying upon independents and moderate Republicans to fuel a late surge to relevancy.
Polls suggested Huntsman may be on the rise, but New Hampshire voters will decide if it it's too little, too late. He could be pushed out of the nomination race if he finishes below third place in the six-man field.
A former ambassador to China in the Obama administration, Huntsman spent the final 48 hours trying to capitalize on a notable debate exchange with Romney. A relentless critic of President Obama, Romney had criticized Huntsman for serving in Mr. Obama's administration. Huntsman countered that he had put his country ahead of partisan politics.
Huntsman aired a new television ad highlighting his call for national unity and adopted a new campaign slogan, borrowing "Country First" from 2008 GOP nominee, Sen. John McCain.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry joined the Romney bashing that intensified over the past few days from South Carolina, where he's been campaigning.
Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Virginia officials asked a federal appeals court to overturn a judge's order blocking them from mailing absentee ballots or printing regular ones for the state's Republican primary pending a Jan. 13 hearing.
Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli today filed an emergency request with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, arguing that ballots for the March 6 primary need to go to the printer immediately in order to meet legal deadlines to provide ballots to absentee and overseas voters.
U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney Jr. in Richmond yesterday ordered the process halted while he considers a suit by Texas Governor Rick Perry and other Republican presidential candidates who were disqualified from the primary because they didn't submit 10,000 signatures from qualified Virginia voters.
"Should there be any delay in the printing of ballots, or a reprinting, it will be to the detriment of military and overseas voters," Cuccinelli said in the appellate filing, adding that sending two ballots to voters would create confusion and result in a "significant" cost to Virginia.
Perry last month sought a temporary order to halt state officials from printing the ballots, or to require them to include his name. In a lawsuit filed Dec. 27 in federal court in Richmond, Perry claimed the state's requirement that people who circulate petitions be eligible or registered to vote in Virginia violates his constitutional rights.
Santorum, Gingrich
Last week, Republican presidential candidates Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman won permission to join Perry's challenge.
They argued that Virginia's rules governing petition circulators violate "freedoms of speech and association protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments" of the U.S. Constitution.
Perry and the other candidates must respond to Virginia's appeal by tomorrow morning, according to a directive from the deputy clerk of the appeals court.
In yesterday's order, Gibney said he will rule on Perry's request for a preliminary injunction the same day as the Jan. 13 hearing.
"This is a positive development for the presidential candidates and the citizens of Virginia," Ray Sullivan, a spokesman for the Perry campaign, said of yesterday's order. He didn't immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on Virginia's appeal.
Cuccinelli said Perry was disqualified from the March vote because he failed to collect the 10,000 signatures required by state rules.
'Lacks Standing'
Perry "lacks standing to assert an injury arising from the inability to circulate his own petitions because there is no averment that he stood ready, willing and able to circulate his own petitions and there is no basis for concluding that he would have collected a sufficient number of valid signatures," the state said in its filing.
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas are the only Republicans to make it onto the ballot for Virginia's primary on so-called Super Tuesday, the Republican Party of Virginia said last month.
The case is Perry v. Judd, 3:11-cv-00856, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia (Richmond). The appeal is Perry v. Judd, 12-1042, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (Richmond).
--Editors: Fred Strasser, Michael Hytha
To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Schoenberg in Washington at tschoenberg@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net
Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Virginia officials asked a federal appeals court to overturn a judge's order blocking them from mailing absentee ballots or printing regular ones for the state's Republican primary pending a Jan. 13 hearing.
Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli today filed an emergency request with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, arguing that ballots for the March 6 primary need to go to the printer immediately in order to meet legal deadlines to provide ballots to absentee and overseas voters.
U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney Jr. in Richmond yesterday ordered the process halted while he considers a suit by Texas Governor Rick Perry and other Republican presidential candidates who were disqualified from the primary because they didn't submit 10,000 signatures from qualified Virginia voters.
"Should there be any delay in the printing of ballots, or a reprinting, it will be to the detriment of military and overseas voters," Cuccinelli said in the appellate filing, adding that sending two ballots to voters would create confusion and result in a "significant" cost to Virginia.
Perry last month sought a temporary order to halt state officials from printing the ballots, or to require them to include his name. In a lawsuit filed Dec. 27 in federal court in Richmond, Perry claimed the state's requirement that people who circulate petitions be eligible or registered to vote in Virginia violates his constitutional rights.
Santorum, Gingrich
Last week, Republican presidential candidates Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman won permission to join Perry's challenge.
They argued that Virginia's rules governing petition circulators violate "freedoms of speech and association protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments" of the U.S. Constitution.
Perry and the other candidates must respond to Virginia's appeal by tomorrow morning, according to a directive from the deputy clerk of the appeals court.
In yesterday's order, Gibney said he will rule on Perry's request for a preliminary injunction the same day as the Jan. 13 hearing.
"This is a positive development for the presidential candidates and the citizens of Virginia," Ray Sullivan, a spokesman for the Perry campaign, said of yesterday's order. He didn't immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on Virginia's appeal.
Cuccinelli said Perry was disqualified from the March vote because he failed to collect the 10,000 signatures required by state rules.
'Lacks Standing'
Perry "lacks standing to assert an injury arising from the inability to circulate his own petitions because there is no averment that he stood ready, willing and able to circulate his own petitions and there is no basis for concluding that he would have collected a sufficient number of valid signatures," the state said in its filing.
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas are the only Republicans to make it onto the ballot for Virginia's primary on so-called Super Tuesday, the Republican Party of Virginia said last month.
The case is Perry v. Judd, 3:11-cv-00856, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia (Richmond). The appeal is Perry v. Judd, 12-1042, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (Richmond).
--Editors: Fred Strasser, Michael Hytha
To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Schoenberg in Washington at tschoenberg@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net
In this Jan. 3, 2012, file photo Republican presidential candidate, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, campaigns in Keene, N.H., where a factory worker asked,"Who's that guy?" The complex answer from his biography is he's an Obama administration appointee running in a GOP primary where candidates have been working to out-conservative one another. He's a Mormon navigating a process typically dominated by evangelicals. He's a Harley-riding, high school dropout who frequents taco stands, and the son of a billionaire businessman. But what Huntsman, 51, would have you know, first and foremost: "I can get elected." (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
The Arizona secretary of state's office says Jon Huntsman has failed to qualify for the state's presidential primary.
A spokesman for Secretary of State Ken Bennett says the former Utah governor filed paperwork a few hours before Monday's 5 p.m. deadline, but that it was missing a notarized signature from the candidate.
Huntsman spokesman Tim Miller says the campaign submitted what was required and will aggressively challenge the ruling to get on the ballot.
Arizona's presidential preference primary is scheduled for Feb. 28.
It's a Republican-dominated affair because President Barack Obama faces no opposition for the Democratic nomination.
Major GOP candidates Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Ron Paul made the ballot, as did 24 other people.
So a memo to dictionary editors: If you decide to someday list "super PAC" in your pages — it refers to political committees that may raise and spend unlimited money to independently support or oppose candidates — be sure to call veteran political scribe Eliza Newlin Carney for help with its etymology.
Carney, a Roll Call reporter, made the first identifiable, published reference to "super PAC" as it's known today while working at National Journal, prophetically writing on June 26, 2010, of a group called Workers' Voices — a kind of "'super PAC' that could become increasingly popular in the post-Citizens United world."
And Carney's wording wasn't accidental.
"I very much wanted to consciously develop a term to avoid using, every time I wrote something, 'independent expenditure-only political action committee.' I knew they were going to be a big deal, and I knew I was going to write about these committees all the time," Carney told POLITICO. "Even today, I get questions from people wondering where 'super PAC' came from and why they're called that. I'm always embarrassed to tell them. Some people don't realize it's not an official term – just shorthand."
Does Carney feel a little famous now that her term has caught political fire thanks to super PACs already spending into the tens of millions of dollars this election cycle?
"Fame would be far too strong a word," she said, quickly joking, "but you take your victories where you can get them in this business."
Turns out that one of the world's preeminent word authorities is watching.
After scouring an in-house database, Merriam-Webster Associate Editor Kory Stamper told POLITICO that The Capital Times in Madison, Wis., used the term in an article in April 1993 — the earliest citation on record.
But that long-forgotten mention referred to an altogether different type of political organization unrelated to contemporary super PACs.
"'Super PAC' then dropped out of sight until 2010," Stamper explained.
The super PACs of today materialized in mid-2010 following a pair of federal court decisions that significantly altered campaign finance law — Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission. Carney christened them "super PACs" soon after.
"We have evaluated it for entry, but have not yet entered it into any of our dictionaries, probably because of the lapse between its first use and the boom in 2010," Stamper said. "My guess is, however, that as much discussion as super PACs have been getting in the last few years, it will soon be eligible for entry."
No comments:
Post a Comment