ANALYSIS | CNN is reporting that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has won New Hampshire Republican primary by a considerable margin, while Texas Rep. Ron Paul has aptly cruised to second place, and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman has come in third with roughly 18 percent of the vote.
Former frontrunners Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, both of whom rose from the back of the pack to challenge an entrenched Romney, each won a meager 10 percent of the vote. Texas Gov. Rick Perry has effectively crumbled after only winning 1 percent of New Hampshire votes.
The primary has been one to strengthen the status quo: Romney, long considered the favorite to win, won handily. Paul, a solid performer throughout who has never ballooned to frontrunner status, remained slow-and-steady as the second-place finisher and walked away with 23 percent of the votes. Paul, a veteran politician who is known for having the support of a dedicated core of small-government conservatives, is unlikely to see his support swell or flag to any great extent.
Romney and Paul head to South Carolina with smiles on their faces and contentment in their hearts.
Last-place finisher Perry, who began his campaign in the summer to such fanfare, will struggle to continue his campaign after two poor showings in a row; he stumbled into fifth place in the Iowa caucus last week. Though Perry vowed to continue after receiving the Iowa results, it is unlikely that he has a chance to win after today's defeat. As a sitting governor he should honorably admit defeat and return to Austin, Texas, to devote his full attention to the task to which he was elected.
Gingrich and Santorum, though winning an unimpressive percentage of the vote, have won enough to justify carrying on.
Gingrich's and Santorum's 10-percent finishes are bolstered by the fact that each man scored a large victory within the past week that allow them more than a glimmer of hope: Santorum, who lost Iowa to Romney by a mere eight votes, can count on his upset near-victory to keep him fresh in the news cycle and on donors' minds. Gingrich, whose campaign just received a $5 million donation from a Las Vegas billionaire, according to the Huffington Post, now has deep enough pockets to continue his campaign through many more primaries.
The money will buy the former Speaker of the House enough time and television advertising to try and tear down the formidable Romney political machine, upon which he has declared war after considering himself "Romney-boated" in Iowa, says the New York Times.
The eyes of the news cycle rest on the underdog candidate, Huntsman, who finished third despite staking virtually all of his campaign on New Hampshire. The underfunded candidate chose to consolidate his campaigning in the Granite State, focusing on pounding the ground and meeting with voters while his competitors focused on Iowa, says the Washington Post. Such a tactic, while bold, may not have paid off enough to keep Huntsman, billed as the most moderate of the batch of 2012 Republican presidential candidates by the Washington Post, afloat for much longer.
While Huntsman has decided that his finish was strong enough to continue his campaign into South Carolina, according to the Kansas City Star, it remains to be seen whether or not prospective donors will consider a third-place finish in the state that was the candidate's sole focus to be strong enough to merit contributions.
I admire Huntsman's grit and determination, but wouldn't cut him a check after this New Hampshire showing.
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