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Interviews with New Hampshire voters on Tuesday gave a glimpse into the issues that drew these newcomers to a campaign that has been trying to gain mainstream support for its message since Paul first ran for president in 1988. Most said they were initially drawn to one element of Paul's platform, but came to support the rest of it later. 'Painfully, Very Slowly' One voter, James Kelley, said he supported Paul at first because he seemed like the only candidate who was serious about cutting taxes and spending. But as he researched Paul's platform, he found himself reconsidering his hawkish...

The final tally in the New Hampshire primary showed Rick Santorum clinched fourth place and Newt Gingrich took fifth, according to the New Hampshire secretary of state. Throughout late Tuesday night and early yesterday morning when the votes were tallied, Gingrich had been fourth, but Santorum overtook him, beating him by just 138 votes, with 23,174 votes for Gingrich and 23,312 for Santorum. It was the second close race for Santorum, who lost to Mitt Romney in the Iowa caucuses by eight votes.

Following much thoughtful consternation, I have decided to pull my support and endorsement of Texas Governor Rick Perry for the GOP presidential nomination.  I realize the redstate diary commenters, won’t be kind but this needs to be said.  This decision wasn’t easy but a serious evaluation of the field should inform us that Rick Perry has no realistic path to victory in South Carolina, Florida and beyond. I realize that redstate.com’s Erick Erickson continues to stick by him, that South Carolina is Perry’s state and that he has re-tooled his staff.  But it is too little too late and at...

I have been a fan of country music since the mid-1970s, when Ellie Dylan jockeyed disks on Chicago’s WMAQ radio. There are different kinds of country fans, of course – those who like the modern guys more, or the modern gals more, or the oldies more, and of course there are the “traditionalists” who think that nobody’s REALLY been country since we lost Hank Sr. But we’re still all country fans. So, when the internet came along, and fans gained the opportunity to vote for the top 20 songs of the week, and then the top 20 videos of the...

GOP Presidential Primary: Total Numbers after Iowa and New Hamshire: Thought I would create a thread that shows the totals of the primaries thus far in terms of total votes, totals by candidate, percentages, and delegates thus far. So, here it is Total Votes Cast (with percent in parens): Iowa = 121,914 (33.57%) New Hampshire = 241,299 (66.43%) Total Votes = 363,213 Total Vote/Percent and Delegates by Canddiate : Romney = 126,185 (34.74%) (12 Delegates) Paul = 82,122 (22.61%) (10 Delegates) Santorum = 52,921 (14.57%) (7 Delegates) Huntsman = 41,650 (11.52%) (2 Delegates) Gingrich = 39,321 (10.83%) 2 Delegates Perry...

It’s an anniversary of sorts. It was four years ago this week, the day after the New Hampshire primary when I first began to become an invisible man. It all started when I fell down dead on the living room floor. Apparently, a lifetimes of cigarettes, brownies and Italian sausage has consequences. At midnight, without any warning other than mild heartburn, I collapsed and heard my wife call 911. She alternated between assuring me that I was fine and telling the 911 operator that if they didn’t get there soon, I would be gone. Within minutes there was the loud...

MANCHESTER, N.H.--Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire primary Tuesday, the second state in a row he has carried in his campaign for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Romney is the first Republican, not including incumbent presidents, to win both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary since Iowa Republicans began holding their first-in-the-nation caucuses in 1976. Ron Paul came in second; Jon Huntsman in third. It was a start-to-finish victory for Romney in New Hampshire, who led in the polls here throughout the 2012 campaign. Romney owns a summer home in the state, which borders his home state of...

New Hampshire and the NE can go get blanked

Mitt Romney rolled to an easy victory Tuesday 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.

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire—Rep. Ron Paul's campaign called on the rest of the Republican field to drop out of the race and unite behind him in order to defeat Mitt Romney. “We urge Ron Paul’s opponents who have been unsuccessfully trying to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney to unite by getting out of the race and uniting behind Paul’s candidacy,” campaign chair Jesse Benton said in a statement. Read the full statement below: LAKE JACKSON, Texas – Ron Paul tonight scored an historic second-place victory in the 2012 New Hampshire Primary. Below please find comments from National Campaign Chairman...

The gloves have come off by the other candidates now in response to all of the mudslinging being done at the hands of the Romney and Paul campaigns so the New Hampshire Primary is proving to be a little more contested than originally thought and is proving that it may not be the coronation that Mitt Romney expects. I came fairly close with my predictions for Iowa, correctly nailing that Bachmann would end her race by the end of the week and calling Mitt Romney the winner, albeit by 8 votes. I thought Santorum would run fourth, but did expect...

Results as of 3:42pm. ROMNEY: 37% PAUL: 26% HUNTSMAN: 21% GINGRICH: 11% PERRY: 9% BACHMAN: 0% SANTORUM: 0%

Voter in Ward 9 attempted to vote as a dead man, caught by moderator who knew dead man, Herald's Katy Jordan reports And: Staff_reports @jordankaty Voter who attempted to use dead man's ID was testing system: "I could have gotten away with it. Couldn't I?" he reportedly said

<p>If you are looking for a conservative alternative to Romney and had to choose today between Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry or Rick Santorum, which one would you choose?</p>

The nominating process may officially be underway, but Republicans have yet to enthusiastically embrace a potential nominee for president - and despite the late date, most would like to see other candidates enter the race, according to a new CBS News poll. The survey finds that 58 percent of Republican primary voters want more presidential choices, while just 37 percent say they are satisfied with the current field. The percentage of Republican primary voters that wants more choices has increased 12 percentage points since October. Mitt Romney, the frontrunner for the nomination, has struggled to break 30 percent support in...

DIXVILLE NOTCH, N.H. (AP) — Voters in the tiny New Hampshire village famed for casting the first ballots in the nation’s first presidential primary have found themselves in a tie between Republicans Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman. Nine ballots were cast in New Hampshire’s Dixville Notch just after midnight. Romney and Huntsman received two votes each. Coming in second with one vote apiece were Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul. For the Democrats, President Barack Obama received three votes. The nine residents who cast their ballots include three registered Republicans and two registered Democrats. Four other voters haven’t declared a party.

Mitt Romney: 36 Newt Gingrich: 25 Rick Santorum: 17 Ron Paul: 7 Other: 5 Undecided 10 Other: 5

Gordon Gekko Romney is being taken to task over his proclivities, and activities at Bain. To make it short, Romney engaged in what is commonly known as asset-stripping. My point in this thread isn't to delve into the minutiae of what asset-stripping entails, but rather to point out that Romney is attempting to pigeonhole Gingrich as being anti-free market capitalism through the use of a false choice: If Gingrich doesn't support what Romney did at Bain, then he is anti-free market capitalism. Romney's false choice... And all the while, Romney is trying to use a smokescreen to cover what he...

Long video of Rick Santorum campaigning in Amherst and Hollis, NH on January 7, 2012 prior to the debate. No editing out, no commentary. Just the candidate and questions from the folks.

Santorum's so-called surge is all but gone. Huntsman is catching up.