Mitt Romney absolutely crushed last night’s New Hampshire primary, no doubt about it. Aaron Blake, of the Washington Post, penned an excellent analysis of the returns, detailing just how impressive of a performance Mitt had:
Specifically, the exit polls showed that Mitt Romney is the pick of pragmatists who want to beat President Obama and that everybody else in the field has a very defined base of support that calls into question any chance they may have of winning the GOP nomination.
…The former Massachusetts governor, in his double-digit win, took a stunning 62 percent of those who say they see the ability to beat Obama as the most important characteristic in a nominee, even more than he took in Iowa.
He also led all candidates among those who see the economy as the most important issue, taking 45 percent and doubling up second-place Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) on that measure.
This continues to argue for the fact that Republicans see Romney as their best hope for the race ahead, and that bodes well as he inches closer to becoming the presumptive nominee. He does pretty well among essentially every group — even upping his vote share among self-described “very conservative” voters in New Hampshire — and figures to have a good shot at picking up supporters from opponents who may drop out in the coming days.
To top it off, Romney also obviously became the first non-incumbent candidate to win the first two Republican nominating contests. In short, with campaign dynamics leading him to adopt an optimistic message focused on free enterprise, capitalism, and a brighter future, he looks VERY tough to beat, especially with his prospects in South Carolina appearing stronger than some believe.
January 11th, 2012 at 11:42 am
Congratulations to Romney and his supporters in the NH victory. Congratulations also to Paul and his supporters. I guess their victories shouldn’t surprise some of us that lean more to the right since reportedly, …in the granite state almost 50 percent of those polled upon exiting the voting identified themselves as “moderate and liberal…
January 11th, 2012 at 11:44 am
LOL neither Romney or Paul are exactly liberal men. Romney won across all ideological demographics last night including people that call themselves “very conservative”.
January 11th, 2012 at 11:46 am
According to Fox exit poll of 2760 voters…
Mitt also took
#1 (42%) among Conservatives (Most political matters)
#1 (34%) among Social Conservatives
#1 (41%) among those who support the Tea Party
#1 (31%) among born-again or evangelical Christians
The number one issue of voters? Can defeat Barack Obama. 63% who said that voted for Mitt.
When asked: Regardless of how you voted today, which ONE of these candidates do you think would be most likely to defeat Barack Obama in November?
56% Romney
15% Paul
11% Huntsman
8% Gingrich
5% Santorum
1% Perry
You can see the full Exit Poll breakdown at http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2012/new-hampshire-primary-jan-10/exit-polls
January 11th, 2012 at 11:46 am
The operative word is “crushed”, here. Now, conservatives have a seriously good chance at getting this guy at the helm and righting the collision course we’re on. So if the chronic whiners could take it into the back room now.
January 11th, 2012 at 11:48 am
1 Kind of irrelevant considering he won Iowa.
January 11th, 2012 at 11:49 am
Nobody has been able to unite the whole party better than romney at this point. I am tired of hearing otherwise.
When do the south carolina polls start coming out. i am anxious to see them. it appears romney is only going to be there in order to make it hard for gingrich or perry to gain any steam, much like he did in iowa.
florida is where he plans to end this thing.
January 11th, 2012 at 11:52 am
Rush playing Romney clips. Saying speech was one of his best.
January 11th, 2012 at 11:56 am
7 – After he tried to prop Newt and Perry by a comment Romney made today. Rush wants Romney to sound like him but Romney doesn’t do that. This is why he’s able to coalesce everyone. Listening to a Newt commercial.
January 11th, 2012 at 11:56 am
Can anyone find a prior primary on either ticket, since 1960, where a candidate won 40% of the vote with 6 candidates still in the race? It’s an ARSE Kickin by any standard.
January 11th, 2012 at 12:00 pm
So who came closest on predicting the NH primary?
January 11th, 2012 at 12:00 pm
Mitt should capitalize on the fact that those who know him, like him.
It seemed to be conventional wisdom that Mitt did well last night because NH is so close to MA. But that only works if you did a good job as Gov.
Huntman isn’t going to win Utah, even though he was a very recent Gov there. Think about it.
Mitt should tell them in SC why he won NH.
January 11th, 2012 at 12:02 pm
My favorite lines or quotes I came across last night (some are actually from previous, but I found them last night):
Joe Trippi on Fox: 51% of people who voted with Huntsman say they’re “satisfied” with Obama as prez
Sununu with a zinger: Huntsman was in NH for 6 months. At that rate it would take him 25 years to win the race.
Jon Huntsman moves to LESS hospitable territory now, and he just told CNN, “We go South from here”!
So, is he acknowledging that his numbers will only go down from here? LOL
Paul derides being called “dangerous” then delivers a maniacal laugh. That’s reassuring.
Little kid at Santorum town hall just told me: “I like Ron Paul’s commercials but I think he’s just trying to get us to vote for him”
And, from Romney’s victory speech:
The president has run out of ideas; now he’s run out of excuses. And tonight, we’re asking the good people of South Carolina to join the citizens of New Hampshire and make 2012 the year he runs out of time.
- Romney
Obama wants to put free enterprise on trial, and the last few days we’ve seen desperate Republicans join forces with him. – Romney
January 11th, 2012 at 12:06 pm
Romney only got 40% of the vote. 60% of the people there rejected him. This was a major loss for Romney going into South Carolina.
January 11th, 2012 at 12:09 pm
Gallup poll, taken before yesterday’s results, but right in the middle of the anti-Bain OWS rhetoric.
Romney 31 (30)
Gingrich 16 (18)
Santorum 15 (17)
Paul 13 (12)
Perry 6 (5)
Huntsman 2 (1)
http://www.gallup.com/poll/election.aspx
January 11th, 2012 at 12:10 pm
SC is really important, people.
From what I’m reading, there’s a much more adamant anti-Mormon contingent, there. The ABR leadership will be pushing hard to find one candidate to coalesce behind. Perry, Hunstman, and Newt have shown they’re going to distort Mitt’s Bain record. Newt’s going after Mitt’s abortion record.
If Mitt does not have a strong showing, it will be spun as IA and NH were flukes. ABRs will become invigorated.
Anything we can all do to help Mitt in SC will be highly valuable. From reading between the lines, the Romney team has some concerns about SC.
Donations and the home phone bank are ways we can all help Romney in SC.
You can sign up for a phone (from home) shift at: http://www.mittromney.com/call-home/landing
January 11th, 2012 at 12:10 pm
Articles like this have nothing to do with the Primary anymore. This is purely the Obama machine revving up so voters will not turn out to beat Obama in November:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57357064-503544/after-new-hampshire-primary-win-all-is-not-rosy-for-mitt-romney/
People need to start realizing that the Anybody But Mitt line is being co-opted by the left to win in November. You can’t look at attack articles like this as if it has any truth at all.
January 11th, 2012 at 12:10 pm
Romney is up to a 15% margin over Newt and the rest of the field in the Gallup daily tracking.
January 11th, 2012 at 12:10 pm
Romney got more votes than Gingrich, Huntsman, Santorum, and Perry COMBINED!
January 11th, 2012 at 12:11 pm
Governor Jindal here in New Orleans saying he still supports Rick Perry and that he is not a fair weather friend. Rick should apologize to Bobby for being such a simple dumb#%& and making Bobby look like a fool for supporting him.
January 11th, 2012 at 12:14 pm
#13 Yep. That logic is such an epic fail and only appeals to double digit IQ’s. Yet the leading DNC folks keep using it. Hmm. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
January 11th, 2012 at 12:14 pm
Rush now telling Newt and Perry how to go after capitalism. I’ve heard it all.
January 11th, 2012 at 12:17 pm
Rush and everyone else that follows him are going to sadly open the door on their faces for again taking something Romney stated out of context. The firing thing. The Bain thing. Now this statement and comparison made about private equity and what Obama did with GM.
January 11th, 2012 at 12:18 pm
The reality of this race is that Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, and Jon Huntsman have already joined team Obama. Their hatred is so deep, they would rather see Obama win in 2012 than see Romney in the White House. What other explanation is there for these guys hanging around in the race and the kind of rhetoric they are spewing?
Is there any plausible way for any of these losers to actually pull off a win? Most of them didn’t even register in time for many of the Primary states. They are here to ding up Romney as much as possible before he faces Obama. Period. They are on Team Obama, just like teledude and many others who hate Mitt Romney on a personal level.
January 11th, 2012 at 12:20 pm
It was really fun watching the media and some of the RomNots desperately searching for a why to paint this as disappointing for Mitt. It was an across the board impressive showing. Now they have just resorted to writing it off as being in his “back yard”.
At some point they are going to run out of ways to justify calling him a “weak front runner”.
January 11th, 2012 at 12:24 pm
23 – It doesn’t help when you have lazy talk show hosts who build up a following and then get so arrogant that they don’t have to do show prep except through their staff. It’s a stark contrast between preparation and organization and just winging it. Many “conservatives” are getting very lazy with the truth. All of this arrogance and lack of humility is going to damage a lot these people.
January 11th, 2012 at 12:28 pm
#21: Rush ——-> FIRED!!! He’s really irrelevant and making himself even more so!
January 11th, 2012 at 12:28 pm
How perfect is it that one of Ron Paul’s senior advisors is named Doug Wead (pronounced weed).
January 11th, 2012 at 12:31 pm
Winning South Carolina will be a much bigger feat for Romney though. He got FOURTH place in 2008. Fred Thompson did better than Romney.
The polls look good for Romney, and South Carolina has a tradition of voting for the front runner (which is why they always seem to vote for the winner). But he did pretty poorly there in 2008. He is going to have to more than double his 2008 support to win (something he didn’t do in either Iowa or New Hampshire). There are a lot of McCain voters that I’m not really sure what happens to. Romney doesn’t have any real competition from the left (like he did in 2008). A vast majority of the McCain vote could go to Romney. Or, it could go somewhere else. It is hard to tell.
January 11th, 2012 at 12:33 pm
26 – Don’t count his voice out. He’s the reason why Newt and Perry and everyone stays in. Rush through his listeners provides cover for them. I think the misinterpretation from them is how relevant is Rush? We really don’t know but the MSM props him up because they still want him and his face to be the representation of conservatism. He does too. He just as much as Newt and Perry and everyone that isn’t a Romney stand to lose a lot in their minds.
January 11th, 2012 at 12:37 pm
28 – We shouldn’t discount nor allow the ABR’s to discount Romney’s winning both Iowa and New Hampshire. I have no doubt that Romney will be prepared for all that’s going on in SC and ready for the fire coming.
January 11th, 2012 at 12:40 pm
30 – I don’t disagree at all … I am just saying that South Carolina will be a lot tougher and a more impressive victory if he wins.
January 11th, 2012 at 12:41 pm
I don’t really like John Stewart, but when he’s not making of fun of me or mine, he can actually be pretty funny:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-january-9-2012/indecision-2012—extremely-loud—incredibly-wealthy
Here he takes on the hypocrisy of Newt, Perry, and Huntsman in attacking Mitt on capitalism.
FUNNY STUFF.
January 11th, 2012 at 12:47 pm
Rush Limbaugh is so stupid. I feel bad for the man and his regular listeners.
January 11th, 2012 at 12:47 pm
Not just “Rombots” that see the bias in the conservative media:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/11/romney-win-provokes-panic/
January 11th, 2012 at 12:52 pm
The article in 34 hits the nail on the head. The attacks on Romney from conservatives are not a good thing at all. It legitimizes them when Obama uses them. Obama can say “even Republicans think Romney was an unethical and immoral business man.”
The idea that him getting attacked by desperate Republicans in such a desperate and unprincipled way is a good thing is 100% false. These clowns need to be called out for their disgusting tactics.
January 11th, 2012 at 12:54 pm
The saving grace (pun intended) for Mitt in SC is the fact that this whole crew is going on to compete in that State.
Romney has proven that he can beat Santorum/Gingrich/Perry crowd, with Paul as his stalking horse.
It could’ve been harder to beat one good Huckabee there, but since they are all going to play against Mitt, we should see a result like Iowa.
Perhaps someone else, Santo or Gingrich can get a closer second, if the troops can get organized, but more likely each candidate will bring his strengths and weaknesses, and we will end up with 35% of the more sensible voters going to Mitt, with some other guy getting 25%. I don’t think Ron Paul does as well in SC, but who knows?
Anyway, right before Iowa, I asked the question: How organized are evangelicals? Do they have a few figure heads? Turns out, they aren’t all that organized, and couldn’t push Santorum over the top.
SC will probably prove to be the same.
Mitt’s got a good playbook for the State and will probably win.
January 11th, 2012 at 12:56 pm
33.
I think Rush was in his Prime during the Clinton years and when Bush ran against Kerry.
But maybe he’s jumped the shark?
January 11th, 2012 at 1:00 pm
You know, when I came into supporting Mitt in this race, my only goal was to see Romney win the election and beat Obama. I never dreamed I would get Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Rush Limbaugh exposed as closet Liberals too. That’s a 2-Fer-1 right there. Woohoo!
January 11th, 2012 at 1:01 pm
35
They need to be run out of the race with pitchforks. They have no place in the party.
Reince Priebus ought to call them and tell them to cut it out. That’s his job, to keep the party together.
January 11th, 2012 at 1:01 pm
Listen to Rush…it’s important to hear the power struggle between the “establishment” as he puts it and the non-establishment. The guy is really trying to create a wedge in order to garner more conservatives to him by going after the “establishment”. Rush wants either Gingrich, Santorum, or Perry to represent the Republican party and by extension him. Why? So Rush can stay viable. Rush knows politics and he knows these guys are easily pliable. They’re pliable because they’re politicians and politicians always kiss the a** of the kingmaker. Romney doesn’t kiss a**. It’s not how he operates. Rush hides behind the idea that these guys can win even though they are neither prepared nor organized – what do you expect from career politicians? Rush’ narrative is that Romney isn’t tough enough, yet he knows Romney has gravitas. The miscalculation between the “establishment” and the “non-establishment establishment” is that they think that Romney needs either of them. He doesn’t, and neither do we. We’re free to make our own decision and we don’t need either the “establishment” or Rush Limbaugh to help us do that. Go Romney, do your thing.
January 11th, 2012 at 1:02 pm
CF, others.
You are going to LOVE THIS: Pointing out the hypocrisy of the candidates.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-january-9-2012/indecision-2012—extremely-loud—incredibly-wealthy
January 11th, 2012 at 1:08 pm
41
I saw that. Hilarious! Especially the “Welcome Comrades!” line.
Does this remind people of how Republicans flip-flopped on health care mandates and MassCare in Massachusetts? Republicans are once again deciding to flip-flop on their core values simply to be AGAINST Mitt Romney. This time it’s capitalism. It’s amazing how an entire life’s work of values in your own party can go out the window because you hate one man so much. Unbelievable.
January 11th, 2012 at 1:10 pm
The reason Romney is winning is because he’s taking it to the people.
January 11th, 2012 at 1:12 pm
Time for Cain to decide who’s side he’s on. Time to decide if he’s joined the dark side with Anakin Newtwalker, Emporer PalpaPerry or if he’s with Obi-Won Romnobi
January 11th, 2012 at 1:16 pm
Rush Limbaugh has now embraced class warfare rhetoric. He says the “Establishment” took out Noot because he threatens their ability to make easy money.
Wow. What a dumbass. He’s off now. Good riddance.
January 11th, 2012 at 1:24 pm
Rush, Newt, Santorum, Perry all think that people are dumb and that we need them to help us make decisions regarding conservatism. Push back people. We don’t need them.
January 11th, 2012 at 1:32 pm
40 – Rush has always tried to demonize the “establishment”. The problem is that Romney is not doing well because of the establishment. In fact, the “establishment” has been very slow to embrace him.
January 11th, 2012 at 1:33 pm
There is no real “establishment” candidate this year, which is why Rush has to make Romney into one.
January 11th, 2012 at 1:34 pm
The suggestion that Newt is the “anti-establishment” candidate and Romney is the “establishment” candidate is laughable at best.
January 11th, 2012 at 1:36 pm
#32 Keith,
My husband showed that to me last night. It is especially intelligent and clever and unfortunately right on.
January 11th, 2012 at 1:40 pm
47 that’s the point I’m trying to make. Romney wants all people on board and a lot of people see that. He’s not really interested in politics. The only ones that don’t see this is the establishment and the non establishment establishment. Those are the two sides right now that Rush Limbaugh and his followers have created. Who is the establishment except who Rush decides? Both sides are fighting for their share according to him. Look at the money Romney brought in – THROUGH FUNDRAISING. Look at the diversity of Republicans that are endorsing him. Compare that to Gingrich who has to rely on his super PAC. Romney is bringing people together and he doesn’t care who it is that is backing him as long as they understand his message and vision.
January 11th, 2012 at 1:45 pm
Rush now defending capitalism and by extension Romney from the Perry attacks. The contradictions of today’s show are amazing but interestingly he’s managed to make me to do the hard work of listening to him tomorrow so that I can give you all the play by play of what the ABR’s think.
January 11th, 2012 at 2:12 pm
51- Bingo!
January 11th, 2012 at 3:19 pm
Nice post, Anthony. I agree with your assessment.
January 11th, 2012 at 3:50 pm
These figures essentially represent the BASE for Romney’s opponents, which breaks down to 56% support for Romney and only 39% support for his opponents.
January 11th, 2012 at 10:09 pm
I don’t listen to Rush Limbaugh any more. I used to listen to him every day.