President 2012: Mitt Romney Wins New Hampshire But….
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney surrounded by his family points towards supporters at the Romney for President New Hampshire primary night victory party at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012
Mitt Romney cruised to a solid victory in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday night, picking up steam from his first-place finish in the lead-off Iowa caucuses and firmly establishing himself as the man to beat for the Republican presidential nomination.
“Tonight we made history,” Romney told cheering supporters before pivoting to a stinging denunciation of President Barack Obama. “The middle class has been crushed … our debt is too high and our opportunities too few,” he declared – ignoring the rivals who had been assailing him for weeks and making clear he intends to be viewed as the party’s nominee in waiting after only two contests.
His Republican rivals said otherwise, looking ahead to South Carolina on Jan. 21 as the place to stop the former Massachusetts governor. Already, several contenders and committees supporting them had put down heavy money to reserve time for television advertising there.
But, will Romney be able to seal the deal in South Carolina?
It remains to be seen, but it increasingly looks like Romney is on a roll to the nomination. In fact, conservative South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint has said that he expects Romney to win in South Carolina.
If the GOP conservative field stays as large, they cannot help but split the vote sufficiently, so that Romney wins.
But, stay tuned…. the negative ads in South Carolina are ready to roll….