N.H. May Be "Win Or Bust" For Romney
Reeling From Iowa Loss, GOP Candidate Goes After Rival McCain In Hopes Of Salvaging Campaign
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Republican presidential hopeful, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, campaigns at the Krause Gentle corporate headquarters in West Des Moines, Iowa, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008. (AP)
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McCain Shrugs Off Iowa Loss
Addressing a crowd of supporters, John McCain de-emphasized his loss in Iowa and congratulated rival Mike Huckabee. He then turned his attention and enthusiasm to next week's New Hampshire primary.
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Romney Muses On Competition
Harry Smith chats with former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney about the Iowa caucuses and who among the other Republican candidates presents the most competition.
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Romney Poised For Tight Race
After months of persistent campaigning, Mitt Romney is bracing for a very tight race in Iowa. Bill Whitaker reports.
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Photo Essay
Mitt Romney
He turned around companies, and the Olympics and ran for president pledging to turn around the country.
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Photo Essay
John McCain
Some call him a hero, some a maverick. Will Americans call him Mr. President?
Mitt Romney, having suffered a crushing defeat in Iowa - a state in which he led the polls for months and invested millions of his own dollars - is now looking to rebound in New Hampshire, which holds its primaries on Jan. 8. Yet for all the differences between the two states, Romney is facing a situation in New Hampshire not unlike what he saw in Iowa, at a time when a victory there may be his only hope for salvaging his campaign.
Just as in Iowa, Romney, after dominating surveys for months, is now fighting off a stiff challenge in New Hampshire from a rival many pundits had previously written off. But instead of Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee, who won Thursday's caucuses with 34 percent of the vote to Romney's 25 percent, the challenger is John Mcain, whose maverick image made him a favorite of Granite State Republicans eight years ago.
Recent polls show the two men tied, with some even giving McCain a slight edge.
Romney is wasting no time in going after McCain. A new television ad set to air in the state features several New Hampshire residents - all Romney volunteers, the Associated Press reports - making critical statements about McCain's record after initially praising his military service.
"John McCain has been one of those Republicans that have been wrong on tax cuts," says one face in the ad.
"Opposing tax cuts that would have helped our family, supporting amnesty for illegal immigrants, taking jobs away from Americans," says another.
Romney started taking aim at McCain even before the Iowa campaign was finished. On the eve of the caucuses, he was highly critical of McCain's votes against President Bush's tax cuts, which the Arizona senator now supports making permanent.
I think he was just wrong to vote against the Bush tax cuts twice, Romney said Wednesday. He continues to defend that vote. He continues to believe it was the right thing to vote no on the Bush tax cuts, despite the fact that the Bush tax cuts helped working families, helped people meet their obligations.
The ad and Romney's initial statements suggest that the talk of values and morals that formed the core of his Iowa campaign are set to be jettisoned in favor of tax cuts, immigration and other issues with an economic bent. Such issues are normally well-received in New Hampshire, where Republicans are often defined by their fiscal conservatism and support of limited government.
But Romney's moves also suggest he's sticking to the same strategy he used against Huckabee in Iowa - one based on "contrast" ads and critical remarks - even though it appears to have done him little good in the Hawkeye State, a fact McCain seized on in his post-caucus remarks, the Associated Press reported.
"One, you can't buy an election in Iowa," said McCain, who was campaigning in Manchester, N.H., Thursday night. "And two, negative campaigns don't work. They don't work there and they don't work here in New Hampshire."
Beyond the challenge presented by McCain, Romney cannot afford to disregard Huckabee, either. Iowa winners sometimes enjoy a brief "bounce" in New Hampshire, and because that contest is only five days after Iowa, Huckabee might be able to ride his victory there to a stronger-than-expected showing in the primary.
But New Hampshire offers Romney, the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts, some reasons to be optimistic. The state has been kind to New England politicians in the past and Romney's Mormon faith is unlikely to be an issue in a state where a relatively low percentage of Republicans are regular churchgoers, and few are of the evangelical variety that propelled Huckabee to victory in Iowa.
However, the improved environment will come with heightened expectations. If Romney cannot score a win in one of the first two states in the nominating process despite having the largest war chest and most elaborate organization of any of the Republican candidates, his chances of winning the nomination will be put into serious doubt. This will prove especially true in South Carolina, where evangelical Christians make up a large part of the GOP base, looming on Jan. 19.
By David Miller
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The Democrats kind of had an in-fight of change versus experience, whereas the Republicans seem to be divided over religion versus fiscal conservatism versus the war versus domestic terrorism. And Iowa Republicans seem to be very different from New Hampshire Republicans.
So like the Evangelicals picked Huckabee in Iowa, and went for the fiscal conservative second; In New Hampshire the Iraq War hawks''ll probably vote for McCain, and will likely vote for Mitt second again.
So isn''t that maybe a good thing to be everybody''s second choice amongst a divided party rather than somebody''s first and somebody else''s third?
I think the big winner tonight is Rudy, who can still come into the picture in Florida because nothing may have been resolved internally by then . . .
Posted by JetRanger7
ROTFL too funny :D
Posted by SamTheTVCat at 12:11 AM : Jan 04, 2008
With 4%? Yup, that''s a reason to break out the champagne! He''s lucky Hunter kept him out of last place.
But just looking at the ''momentum'' trends over the long-haul of the entire primaries for the past year, aren''t Huckabee and Romney the only two who are on the uptick? So maybe it''s not true that the more people get to know Romney the more they dislike him (?)
I don''t know . . . don''t really watch the Repubs too much.
I''m a little surprised at Rudy''s poor showing, but also enjoying it very much. He''s a thug and his sense of entitlement sickens me.
But, it will be a different story outside Iowa. Mitt Romney will win the nomination. Mark my word.
And Huckabee has a scandal in his closet. He fired a man in his Administration for looking into Huckabee''s son''s hanging of a dog when the son was 17.
Do we have someone here who thinks his family is above the law and winning a presidential contest ?
To tell you the truth, America will be better off with a Mormon President than a bigoted pastor serving as the President.
(That''s right, the Romney family, but precious few other families -b.)
"...supporting amnesty for illegal immigrants, taking jobs away from Americans," says another.
(The slave wage, manual labor jobs that haven''t yet, or can''t be outsourced -b.)
It humanized Bill & Hillary just a bit but Mitt looked PO like somebody stole his gym set.
Mitt comes in second and our corrupt wolfpack press is now saying that he''s dead.
McCain comes in fourth in Iowa and our corrupt wolfpack press is now saying that McCain will get a boost for coming in fourth.
Does this make sense to anyone? or is our press using propaganda against the American people?
People who actually tune in to watch Huckabee speeches will find that he is not the stereo type, rigid kind of bigot. He is probably the best candidate who shows biblical principle of loving one another (no neg campaign), loving your neighbors, help the widows, the sick, and the weak.
His humble background and up-bringing helps him to see regular people''s life struggles that rich CEOs and the their heirs cannot see. Do I want to vote for a guy who lays off people with no tears or do I vote for a guy who sees me as a person and cares about me? Your vote is your own pick. Mine is Huckabee.
In that case, it sure is curious how Huckleberry keeps on running out Jesus like he has an endorsement from the guy!
Especially the part about visiting people in prison--except he didn''t have time to actually visit the murdering rapist, so he just had him released to kill again.
Pisses off half the Republican base in the west who are LDS and somehow he''''s going win the general election.
Let me you guys right tell right now, I will hire a company to distribute 100,000 flyers in 6 different states and the flyers will be about how he raised taxes in Arkansas, and let 12 convicted murders walk because they found Jesus, one later killed someone in Missouri, because Huckabee.
6 ethic violations by Huckabee that he was found guilty of. Guilty.
His son hung a dog from a tree and beat it to death. And Huck try to cover it up.
Wanted Quranteed AIDS patients in 1992 and stills stand by that.
And you annoint this guy because you hate Romney''''s religon so much you support this guy.
I will do the flyers in each of the following states Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming and Idaho
You want open borders and a bad economy vote Huckabee/McCain...
You want actions and things to get done vote Romney/Thompson 2008
But I''m not sure a conciliatory personality in and of itself is enough to get somebody to vote - like the person''s platforms still matter more (?)
So now, it''s the War, silly. It''s what''s hip, it''s the sign of the times. Are you in, man?
Also, why is it that Romney suffered a ''crushing defeat'' in Iowa, but Hillary got the bronze medal instead of the gold. The media is so freakin biased towards democrats it''s sickening!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1947524/posts
Rich guys are rich because they know how to be. Losing money is no skin off their noses because they''ll just make more. They don''t see wealth as a finite pie to be sliced up till it''s all gone. They see themselves as the maker of the pies.
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by ljvostro
January 5, 2008 12:42 PM PST
- People please wake up. Judge candidates on ISSUES and not on fables you are spoon fed by media owned and financed by corporate America which profits from globalization and shipping US jobs overseas. Restore The Republic - Say YES to Limited Constitutional Government - End the War on Drugs - End The IRS - End the Federal Reserve - Say YES to Liberty - Say YES to Freedom - Say Yes to Individual Responsibility! - Say Yes to policing the world - Say YES To Ron Paul and We The People!!! Go to ISSUES tab on Ron Paul web site.
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