Cyan Magenta Yellow Black

Cyan Magenta Yellow Black

VOTERSSPEAK“I’m a conservative Christian, and I

think (Rick Santorum’s) values most lineup with mine, both personally and

politically.”

CCaattiiee CCaasseeyy,, 3366,, CCoonnccoorrdd

“(Newt Gingrich)’s got the experience,and I don’t care where he’s been, I only care about where he’s going. Our country’s in deep doo-doo.”

MMaarriiee HHoouuddee,, 6666,, HHeennnniikkeerr

“I like the way (Jon Huntsman) carries himself. He doesn’t fumble around, and he gets right to the point. It’s a

gut feeling.”

PPaauull AAuuccooiinn,, 7722,, HHeennnniikkeerr

“I like that (Mitt Romney) is an honorable family man that did a real

good job in Massachusetts.”

SSuussiiee BBuuzzzzeellll,, 7799,, HHooppkkiinnttoonn

For more quotes from local voters onthe primary, see page B1.

PRIMARY 2012

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2012 concordmonitor.com CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE 75¢

MORE PRIMARY COVERAGE• Ron Paul savors second-place finish. A6

• Primary totals chart breaks down which wardsand towns voted for which candidates. B3

• The unemployed aren’t feeling much enthusiasm for the primary. B1

• Voters give Concord council ward line authority. B2

• Columnist Grant Bosse cries foul on attacksagainst Mitt Romney. B5

Comics D5Crosswords D3,D5Editorial B4Food D1Local & State B1Movies D6Nation & World A2Obituaries B2Sports C1Sudoku D2TV D4

CLOUDS with sun, high32, low 24. CamPacheco, 6, of Concorddraws the day. B6

For daily delivery,call 224-4287 or800-464-3415.

By FELICE BELMANMonitor staff

Former Massachusettsgovernor Mitt Romney wonthe 2012 New HampshireRepublican presidential pri-mary yesterday, succeedingwhere he failed in 2008 andbesting his nearest opponentby 16 points, despite a late bar-rage of fierce criticism fromhis competitors. He wasbuoyed by voters whose mainagenda was defeating Presi-dent Obama in November.Romney, they said, had thebest shot.

“Tonight we celebrate.Tomorrow we go back towork,” Romney told support-ers in an early evening victoryspeech. “The president hasrun out of ideas. Now he’s run-ning out of excuses.”

But with much of theRepublican electorate stillapparently unconvinced aboutRomney, perhaps more signifi-cant was the race for secondand third place. Those spotswent to Texas CongressmanRon Paul and former Utahgovernor Jon Huntsman.

In a tight race for fourthplace were former Housespeaker Newt Gingrich andformer U.S. senator Rick San-torum – candidates who bothenjoyed a brief flurry of popu-larity before most voters ulti-mately chose someone else.Coming in last among themajor candidates was TexasGov. Rick Perry, who spent lit-tle time in New Hampshireand finished poorly in lastweek’s Iowa caucuses.

At the polls, many votersseemed in a pragmatic mood.Maleeka Lloyd of Concord, forinstance, cast her ballot forRomney. “He is the only onewho can beat Obama,” shesaid.

And some voters rewardedthose who paid homage to thestate’s first-in-the-nation elec-tion tradition. Deborah Woods,56, of Concord, was a Hunts-man voter. “I really appreciat-ed all the time he spent in thestate,” she said.

In the months leading up to

MITT’S MOMENT

ANDREA MORALES / Monitor staff

Mitt Romney greets supporters at his election night party at Southern New Hampshire University after winning the New Hampshire primary.

See PRIMARY –– A5

By BEN LEUBSDORFMonitor staff

Jon Huntsman bet his pres-idential hopes on New Hamp-shire, and last night he saidhis third-place finish in theGranite State was goodenough to give his campaign acritical boost and continue onto the next contest.

“I say third place is a ticketto ride, ladies and gentlemen,”Huntsman told cheering sup-porters packed into the BlackBrimmer American Bar andGrill in Manchester. “Hello,South Carolina!”

As the votes were countedlast night, Huntsman was inthird place with about 17 per-cent, finishing behind formerMassachusetts governor MittRomney and Texas Congress-

man Ron Paul.Stuck in single digits in

some surveys just last week,polls showed Huntsman withthe wind at his back in thecampaign’s final days, though

he couldn’t catch up to Paul.And after clashing with

Romney in last weekend’sdebates over his service as

Huntsman has ‘ticket to ride’

By KAREN LANGLEYMonitor staff

After capturing the NewHampshire primary victorydenied him four years earlier,Mitt Romney looked beyondthe nominating battle andsharpened his call for replac-ing President Obama.

Romney was favored inNew Hampshire from thestart, and he strode to thestage at Southern NewHampshire University inManchester to declare victo-ry less than half an hour

after the polls closed – and tolook ahead to the next con-test.

“The president has runout of ideas. Now, he’s run-ning out of excuses,” Rom-ney said. “Tonight we areasking the good people ofSouth Carolina to join the cit-izens of New Hampshire andmake 2012 the year he runsout of time.”

Romney claimed 39 per-cent of the vote, finishing 16points ahead of his nearestchallenger, Texas Congress-man Ron Paul. During hisfirst run for president, in2008, Romney placed second

President ‘runningout of excuses’

Romney targetsObama in win

By MATTHEW SPOLARMonitor staff

Just as the Republicanprimary race was starting toget chippy, here comes SouthCarolina.

Shortly after staffers, sup-porters and the nationalpress corps awake from last

night’s New Hampshirefinale, the Palmetto State willpresent them with a moresocially conservative, job-starved electorate – and alegacy of brutal campaign-ing.

“South Carolina has along history of bare-knuckleprimary elections and, giventhe tone and tenor of therace in the final days of NewHampshire . . . I suspectSouth Carolina will live up to

its rough-and-tumble tradi-tion,” said Ray Sullivan,spokesman for Texas Gov.Rick Perry, who skipped NewHampshire to go straight toSouth Carolina after a fifth-place showing in Iowa.

Well before last night’slong-anticipated romp byMitt Romney, candidateswere gearing up their SouthCarolina organizations to

Anti-Romney racewill only intensify

No rest as South Carolina beckons See HUNTSMAN –– A4

JOHN TULLY / Monitor staff

Jon Huntsman told his audience: “Hello, South Carolina!”

See ROMNEY –– A6

See AHEAD –– A5

TOTALSMITT ROMNEY

39%

RICK SANTORUM

9%

NEWT GINGRICH

9%

RON PAUL

23%JON HUNTSMAN

17%

RICK PERRY

1%278 of 301 precincts

Third-place finishsends him to S.C.

Romney makes good on second chance; Paul, Huntsman follow behind

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PRIMARY 2012A6 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2012 CONCORD MONITOR

By JENNIFER AGIESTA Associated Press

Mitt Romney won NewHampshire’s Republicanpresidential primary by build-ing on the strengths that car-ried him to a narrow victoryin Iowa and bringing in abroader coalition of Tea Partysupporters and conserva-tives, according to exit polls.

The economy: NewHampshire voters were moreapt than Iowa caucus-goersto say the economy was themost important issue indeciding their vote, and theissue was again Romney’sbest.

Among the 61 percent ofvoters who called it their topissue, Romney more thandoubled the support of hisnearest competitor. Romneyand Ron Paul split the votesof the 24 percent who calledthe federal budget deficittheir top issue. Health carewas cited as a top concern byjust 5 percent.

Looking ahead: As inIowa, Romney’s argumentthat he is the most electablecandidate buoyed his candi-dacy in New Hampshire. Justover a third said their mostimportant consideration wasfinding a candidate whocould defeat PresidentObama in November, andRomney won 62 percent oftheir votes. A majority of vot-ers said they would be satis-fied if Romney became theparty’s nominee, whilemajorities said they would bedissatisfied with Newt Gin-grich, Paul or Rick Santo-rum.

Iowa trouble spots: Rom-ney carried New Hamp-shire’s conservatives andTea Party supporters – bothgroups he failed to win inIowa – and held a 10-pointadvantage among those whomade up their minds in thelast few days of the contest.

Registered indepen-dents: Voters who are regis-tered as independents orwho have not chosen a partymade up 45 percent of votersthis time around comparedto 34 percent in 2008. These

voters split between Romneyand Paul, with Jon Hunts-man in third. Romney car-ried registered Republicansby more than 30 percentagepoints. Unaffiliated voters inNew Hampshire can chooseto participate in eitherparty’s primary; there wasnot a contested Democraticprimary this year.

Debates: The frequentdebates that have markedthe campaign thus far werean important factor for 84percent of New HampshireRepublican voters. Thoughthey had been viewed as astrong point for Gingrich, hecarried just 11 percent of vot-ers who considered themimportant.

Religion: Santorum andGingrich failed to gain trac-tion among their fellowCatholics; Romney carriedthe group with 45 percent ofthe vote while no other candi-date broke 20 percent. Rom-ney held a narrow edgeamong the state’s evangeli-cal voters; they made up 22percent of voters.

Ad wars: Most NewHampshire voters said cam-paign advertising was not amajor factor in their vote.Voters were divided on whichcandidate ran the mostunfair campaign, with abouta quarter each saying Gin-grich and Romney were theworst offenders.

Getting out the vote:About half of New Hamp-shire GOP voters said theywere contacted by the cam-paign of the candidate theyvoted for, with most of thosereached by the more tradi-tional methods of mail orphone than by email or textmessage.

The exit poll was conduct-ed for The Associated Pressand the television networksby Edison Research as vot-ers left their polling places at40 randomly selected sites inNew Hampshire. Prelimi-nary results include inter-views with 2,760 voters andhave a margin of samplingerror of plus or minus 3 per-centage points.

Polls: Romney winswith broad coalition

GRAND AMBITIONS

By SARAH PALERMOMonitor staff

Ron Paul ended his NewHampshire primary campaignthe same way he began it: infront of an adoring crowd whochanted his name as hepledged to restore constitu-tional freedoms.

Paul, who finished secondto Mitt Romney in the NewHampshire primary with 23percent of the vote, had heldsteady near the top of the packalmost all summer andthrough the fall, as opponentsrose and then fell around himand Romney. And like Rom-ney, Paul had a much betternight than he’d had four yearsago: Then he had finished fifthwith about 8 percent of thevote.

Romney “certainly had aclear-cut victory, but we’renibbling at his heels,” Paultold a packed room of sup-porters at the ExecutiveCourt in Manchester lastnight. “There’s been anothervictory tonight. . . . We havehad a victory for the cause ofliberty tonight. There is nodoubt that this whole effortthat we are involved in willnot go unnoticed.”

In an interview after thecelebration, Paul said he was-n’t surprised by the strong fin-ish even though pundits hadcontinued to doubt him.

“Once they said we were at9 percent and we always wouldbe, that there’s no more liber-ty-lovers out there. A couplemonths ago they said we’d bein single digits forever, but Ithink this election provesthere’s a lot more than 9,” hesaid.

Paul, 76, says he’s inspiredand energized by his youngsupporters, and that they keephim going.

He’s held fewer events thanother campaigns, especiallyduring the last week, but thecrowds have never been small.

At some campaign eventsin the past few days, passion-ate supporters from beyondthe state’s borders left littleroom for undecided voters tosqueeze in and hear him out,but Paul’s base has apparentlygrown beyond the coalition oflibertarians, drug-legalizationactivists and anti-war protest-ers.

“We’re no longer an irate,tireless minority,” Paul saidlast night to supporters.

Twenty-one year oldBenedetto Ferrandi of Newtonwas in the crowd after castinghis first presidential ballot thatmorning, hoping not to gainenergy but to give some.

“I really like his views, thathe’s a libertarian on theissues, on bringing home thetroops and that we shouldn’t

be the policeman of theworld,” Ferrandi said.

He skipped his shift at theMall of New Hampshire toattend the party, hoping tosend Paul off to South Carolinaon a wave of support. “I wanthim to feel everybody’s energyand everybody’s support andgo to the next step, the nextstate and on to all,” he said.

In a phone interview afterthe party, Paul said he wasalready looking ahead to theprimary in South Carolina, abigger state where town hallsand back-and-forth exchangeswith voters are more rare thanin New Hampshire. But they’llstill be important. “I can’tchange the message and Ican’t change my position. Ihave to just reach more peo-ple,” he said.

“I was talking to some peo-ple and they told me they justdecided yesterday or they justdecided today (to vote forPaul), so the answer is youhave to reach them, go on thecampaign trail and talk tothem.”

The campaign has benefit-ed from a flood of youthful vol-unteers. Jessica Abbott, 22,was one of them. All day yes-terday, she phoned undecidedvoters. Once she started talk-ing about Paul, she said, “theywere very receptive.”

She spent the most timetalking about his “consistencyand character,” and found itwas a popular message.

“I think deep down insidethey know that if they vote forsomebody’s who’s going to atleast be honest, they’re goingto get a better government outof it.”

That’s what got VictoriaHoule’s vote.

The 24-year-old from Derrysaid she doesn’t like politics,doesn’t trust politicians, and isworried about the state of theeconomy.

“It seems like he wouldn’tput on a front. I feel like all theother ones are just a face andother people make the deci-sions.”

(Sarah Palermo can bereached at 369-3322 orspalermo@cmonitor.com.)

‘We’re nibbling’ at Romney’s heels, he tells supporters

Paul celebrates 2nd with fans

ALEXANDER COHN / Monitor staff

Newt Gingrich buttons stare back from a board outside his victory party at the Manchester Radisson last night.Gingrich finished behind Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman; late last night he was competing with for-mer Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum for fourth place in the New Hampshire primary.

GREG LINDSTROM photos / Monitor staff

Above: Ron Paul and his wife, Carol, greet supporters during his election night party at the Executive CourtBanquet Facility in Manchester. Below: Audience members show off their U.S. flags at the Paul party.

“There’s beenanother victorytonight. . . . We

have had a victory for thecause of liberty

tonight.”Texas Rep. Ron Paul

in New Hampshire to eventu-al Republican nominee JohnMcCain.

Having won the Iowa cau-cuses by eight votes lastweek, Romney now heads tothe first Southern primary.He flies to South Carolinathis morning to campaign forthe Jan. 21 contest.

Since declaring his candi-dacy in June at a Strathamfarm, Romney, a former gov-ernor of Massachusetts whoowns a home in Wolfeboro,stuck fast to his argumentthat his conservative valuesand business experiencemake him the best candidateto beat Obama and reinvigo-rate the economy. He rarelystrayed from that message,though rivals for the Republi-can nomination tried in thefinal days before the primaryto portray his tenure at thehead of a private equity firmas the work of a corporatemarauder who profited bycutting jobs.

Last night, Romney dis-missed those attempts as anattack on entrepreneurshipbetter suited to the left.

“President Obama wantsto put free enterprise ontrial,” he said. “In the last fewdays, we have seen somedesperate Republicans joinforces with him. This is sucha mistake for our party andfor our nation.”

Romney made the NewHampshire primary a focusof this campaign, visiting thestate frequently and drawingon relationships with localRepublicans that he hadmaintained and built sincehis first run. His advisers inthe state credit him with run-ning a more disciplined cam-paign with a leaner staff.

For much of the primarycampaign, Romney floatedabove the Republican fray,focusing his sights on Obamawhile leaving his opponentsto assert themselves as analternative. Last night hesharpened his argumentagainst the Democratic pres-ident.

“He wants to turn Ameri-ca into a European-stylesocial welfare state,” Rom-ney said. “We want to ensurethat we remain a free andprosperous land of opportuni-ty.”

Romney declared thatObama has grown the gov-ernment while he wouldshrink it, damaged thenation’s credit rating whilehe would restore it andpushed for a health care lawthat he would repeal.

And he pledged, as he hasat business roundtables andspaghetti dinners and townhall meetings throughout thestate, to create an economicclimate where jobs wouldflourish.

“When it comes to theeconomy, my highest priorityas president will be worryingabout your job, not about sav-ing my own,” he said.

Yesterday afternoon inAllenstown, Shawna Moore, a25-year-old independentvoter who works in account-ing, said she voted for Rom-ney because of his career inbusiness.

“I haven’t been happy withhow our government hasbeen going,” she said. “I’mhoping if we get a business-man in there we’ll get backon track.”

Cheryl Bouley, a 44-year-old Republican also fromAllenstown, said she support-ed Romney for much thesame reason. Bouley, whoworks for a large healthinsurance company, said shewas not persuaded bycharges that Romney madehis money by investing incompanies and laying offtheir workers. She said herown employer has acquiredsmaller companies and laidoff workers when needed.

“The thing is sometimesyou have to do that to save abusiness,” she said. “If abusiness can’t survive withthe people they have, theyhave to restructure and startover.”

Romney’s dominance inthe voting yesterday extend-ed nearly throughout thestate. Last night, Paul wasleading Romney in northernCoos County, while Romneyled the remaining nine coun-ties. Four years ago, he wononly Hillsborough and Rock-ingham counties, which bor-der Massachusetts.

(Karen Langley can bereached at 369-3316 or klan-gley@cmonitor.com.)

ROMNEY Continued from A1

the New Hampshire vote,Romney never lost his lead instatewide polling. Someshowed him likely to win asmuch as 40 percent of thevote. The race tightened inthe final days of the race asNew Hampshire voters –notoriously slow to commit toa candidate – made up theirminds. Romney’s competitorsturned their sights on him inthe final hours of the cam-paign, portraying him as aruthless profit-seeker wholaid off workers in the 1980sand ’90s while running theventure capital firm BainCapital.

When he stumbled onMonday in a comment abouthealth insurance – sayingthat he liked being able to firepeople – his opponents glee-fully pounced.

With 92 percent of thevotes tallied, Romney hadcaptured 39 percent. Paul had23 percent, Huntsman 17,Gingrich 9, Santorum 9, andPerry just 1 percent.

In the Concord area, mostcommunities went for Rom-ney – but there were excep-tions. In Boscawen, Paul beatRomney by seven votes. Healso beat him in Pittsfield,Chichester, Epsom, Websterand New Hampton. Hunts-man carried Canterbury, 197-140, over Romney, and beatRomney by a single vote inHenniker.

There was also a Democ-ratic ballot yesterday. Obamahad no serious competition,but the party encouraged vot-ers to participate and send astrong message of support. InConcord, there were actuallymore votes cast for Obama onthe Democratic side thanthere were Republican votesfor Romney.

Even before the polls hadclosed, activists and com-mentators were speculatingon what comes next. Will anyof the candidates fold up theircampaigns after New Hamp-shire? Will the sharp criti-cism of Romney by his oppo-nents escalate – and will hebe able to counter it? WillHuntsman be able to capital-ize on his third-place show-ing?

Last night’s electionmarked the end of a NewHampshire campaign thatdiffered starkly from most ofthose that came before.Because of Romney’s formi-dable campaign apparatus,bank account and familiaritywith New Hampshire, hisopponents were slow to jointhe race. Because so muchcampaigning was done vianationally televised debatesand on the talk shows of FoxTV, New Hampshire votershad less face-to-face interac-tion with the candidates thanin years past. And becausethey calculated that theywould do better in states withmore socially conservativevoters, some candidateschose not to compete serious-ly here.

Even the weather wasstrange: Unless they werehere over Halloween, fewcandidates actually had tocampaign through the leg-endary snows of New Hamp-shire.

Some potential Republicancandidates – Sarah Palin,Donald Trump, Chris Christie– teased the voters formonths but ultimately didn’trun. Some actual candidatesvanished before ElectionDay: Michele Bachmann,Herman Cain and Tim Paw-lenty.

Non-RomneyWhen the field finally coa-

lesced, the race becamelargely a competition amongthe other candidates to pre-sent voters a non-Romneyalternative. And while thereweren’t enormous differenceson the issues, the candidatespresented a broad range ofpersonalities and campaigndramas. Consider:

• Perry drew intenseinterest when he first enteredthe race, but a series of publi-cized gaffes quickly gave vot-ers pause. And he spent scanttime in New Hampshire,making it difficult for votershere to connect with him.After a poor showing in Iowa,it briefly seemed as if Perrymight drop out altogether. Aday later, he was back – andheaded to South Carolina,where he calculated hischances might be greaterthan here. New Hampshirevoters barely paid attentionto him at the polls.

• For months, no one waspaying much attention to San-torum in New Hampshire.His brand of social conser-vatism, after all, was less like-ly to play well here than else-where. But after he came

close to beating Romney inIowa, there was a frenzy ofinterest in his campaign –interest that included heck-lers, an international mediascrum and a testy exchangewith college students aboutgay marriage. In the end,however, it didn’t last; hiscampaign in New Hampshireultimately fell short.

“We knew it would betough,” Santorum told sup-porters last night in Man-chester, but he defended hisdecision to campaign in NewHampshire. “We wanted torespect the process,” he said.

Santorum vowed to contin-ue, assuring the crowd thathis economic messagefocused on manufacturingjobs would resonate in blue-collar swing states like Ohioand his home state of Penn-sylvania.

• Gingrich, who had thefull-throated support of theNew Hampshire UnionLeader, spent a long stretchof the campaign as the candi-date who refused to criticizehis Republican opponents –as unlikely as that sometimesseemed, given his combativepersona when he was speak-er of the House. But aftersupporters of Romney spentbig on anti-Gingrich ads inIowa, he changed his tune.National reporters character-ized Gingrich as a candidateon a suicide mission: eager totake Romney down, even if hecouldn’t win the nominationhimself.

At his election night party,he made clear his campaignwould continue.

“I’m asking each of you notto slow down,” Gingrich toldhis supporters. “The nextcouple of days, make a list ofevery person you know inSouth Carolina, every personyou know in Florida, becausethose are the next two greatcontests.”

• Huntsman ran the mostclassic campaign of all: hold-ing scads of question-and-answer events at town hallsacross the state. He ignoredthe Iowa contest altogether,repeating New Hampshire’sfamous putdown: Iowa pickscorn; New Hampshire pickspresidents. But until the verylast week, Huntsman’s effortsseemed to hardly make a rip-ple. He found his voice overthe weekend, portraying hiswork as ambassador to Chinafor the Obama administrationas patriotic – and Romney’scriticism of it as unseemly.

Last night, Huntman stoodin front of a sign with thewords of his new slogan:Country First. He seemeddelighted with third place.“Ladies and gentlemen, Ithink we’re in the hunt,” hesaid.

• Paul, at 76 by far the old-est candidate of the bunch,found enthusiastic supportamong young voters, many ofwhom liked his anti-war andlibertarian positions.

Elena Martinez, 19, a stu-dent at Saint Anselm College,said she voted for Paul – inpart because he didn’t spendtoo much time talking abouthis faith or his family. “I don’tthink he’s insane like theother people,” she said. “He’stalking about what he wantsto do with the economy andhis actual plans, not how longyou worked for a company orabout your personal familylife. Like, I don’t care. I justwant to know what you’regoing to do to fix the country,and he’s been the one tellingpeople what he wants to do.”

At his election night partyin Manchester, Paul jokedabout his rivals’ critique of hisplatform as “dangerous.”

“They are telling the truth.Because we are dangerous –to the status quo,” Paul saidto loud cheers.

• Romney, whom all theothers were trying to beat,was the very picture of a dis-ciplined establishmentRepublican candidate. Hehad the campaign infrastruc-ture, he had the money andhe rarely wavered from hispro-jobs, anti-Obama mes-sage. In Iowa and again inNew Hampshire, it worked –even as the Tea Party and theOccupy Wall Street move-ments tried to rally publicopinion against the statusquo.

His supporters said theyliked his business experience– and they thought he had thebest chance of success.

Jim MacEachern, a man-ager for a high-tech firm, sup-ported Romney in 2007 andhas been waiting since thenfor the chance to vote for himagain.

“That is not just a Republi-can election,” he said outsidea polling place in Derry.“We’ll have to attract inde-

pendents. The ultimate goalis to beat Barack Obama.”

Finally, excitementWhat did the voters make

of the race? For months, itseemed, there was a distinctlack of enthusiasm for thisyear’s crop of candidates –especially compared with theriveting contests of 2008, inwhich Romney competed withJohn McCain on the Republi-can side and Hillary Clintonand Obama fought it out forthe Democrats.

In the final few weeks,however, when it was sudden-ly easier to bump into Gin-grich on the street or Rom-ney’s many sons in a sand-wich shop, the buzz began togrow. Journalists arrivedfrom across the globe. Bus-loads of college kids came totown. There was little else inthe newspaper or on TV.

Many voters said theywanted a candidate who couldput the economy back onfirmer footing. But they drewdifferent conclusions aboutwho was most likely to do so.

Marie Houde, 66, of Hen-niker, sized up the field anddecided Gingrich was thecountry’s only hope. “He’s gotthe experience, and I don’tcare where he’s been; I onlycare about where he’s going,”she said. “Our country’s indeep doo-doo.”

For Laurie Boxbaum, 54, ofHollis, Romney made themost sense – and this from awoman who counted herselfamong Obama supporters in2008. Now, she says, the coun-try is headed toward “finan-cial disaster.” As for Romney?“I find him just to be an hon-est man,” she said. “A lot ofpeople don’t like him. I do.”

George Rickley, 65, of Con-cord, figured Huntsman wasmost practical. “He’s not awholly owned property. I thinkhe’s looking for bipartisansolutions to very complicatedproblems.”

Not everyone, however,seemed certain their votewould make a difference.

Norman Lariviere, 71, ofWeare, chose Paul in partbecause of his emphasis oncutting government spending.“I don’t know if he’s got achance or not,” he acknowl-edged. “I don’t know if I wast-ed my vote or not.”

This morning, the cam-paign has moved on to SouthCarolina. New Hampshirevoters are getting back to reallife, the Legislature will againtake center stage in Concord,and snow is in the forecast fortomorrow.

“It’s nice that all of theattention is focused here,”said Fred Pilch, 84, of Hopkin-ton, “but by at least Thursdayit’ll all be over, and they’ll for-get about us.”

(Felice Belman can bereached at 369-3370 or fbelman@cmonitor.com. Staffwriters Molly A.K. Connors,Ben Leubsdorf, Sarah Paler-mo and Maddie Hanna con-tributed to this report. Stu-dents from American Universi-ty who contributed to voters’voices coverage were DouglasBell, Hannah Blatt, HeatherCaygle, Stefanie Dazio,Joshua Lapidus, Hayley Miller,Amanda Muscavage, ElauraRifkin, Kelli Sakalousky, DavidSchultz, Meagan Shamberger,Allison Terry and ForrestYoung.)

PRIMARY 2012 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2012 A5CONCORD MONITOR

Black

Black

This is not a Panther OPI Integrator.HiRes_Ads:CM_Ads:980859.EPS

JAN. 21South Carolina (primary)

JAN. 31Florida (primary)

FEB. 4Nevada (caucus)

FEB. 4–11Maine (caucus)

FEB. 7Colorado (caucus)Minnesota (caucus)Missouri (primary)*

FEB. 28Arizona (primary)Michigan (primary)

MARCH 3Washington (caucus)

MARCH 6Alaska (caucus)Georgia (primary)Idaho (caucus)Massachusetts (primary)North Dakota (caucus)Ohio (primary)Oklahoma (primary)Tennessee (primary)Vermont (primary)Virginia (primary)

MARCH 6-10Wyoming (caucus)

MARCH 10Kansas (caucus)U.S. Virgin Islands (caucus)

MARCH 13Alabama (primary)Hawaii (caucus)Mississippi (primary)

MARCH 17Missouri (GOP caucus)*

MARCH 20Illinois (primary)

MARCH 24Louisiana (primary)

APRIL 3District of Columbia (primary)Maryland (primary)Wisconsin (primary)Texas (primary)

APRIL 24Connecticut (primary)Delaware (primary)New York (primary)Pennsylvania (primary)Rhode Island (primary)

MAY 8Indiana (primary)North Carolina (primary)West Virginia (primary)

MAY 15Nebraska (primary)Oregon (primary)

MAY 22Arkansas (primary)Kentucky (primary)

JUNE 5California (primary)Montana (primary)New Jersey (primary)New Mexico (primary)South Dakota (primary)

JUNE 26Utah (primary)*Missouri will hold a primary on Feb. 7, which will not count for delegates toward the 2012 GOP convention. The Missouri Republican Party will hold a caucus on March 17, which will determine the delegates sent to the convention.

Source: 2012presidentialelectionnews.com

Primarycalendar

CHARLOTTE THIBAULT / Monitor staff

compete over the next 10days. Starting today, a groupsupporting Newt Gingrich willbegin a $3.4 million onslaughtof television and radio adspainting Romney as a ruth-less capitalist who slashedjobs at companies he investedin while running Bain Capital,a private equity firm. The adsare backed by a $5 milliondonation from billionaire casi-no owner and friend SheldonAdelson to Gingrich’s Win-ning Our Future Super PAC, anew fundraising apparatusthat can take in unlimitedcash.

Recent primary cycles inSouth Carolina have been col-ored by rancor and smear tac-tics. In 2000, George W. Bushwon South Carolina, erasing a19-point trouncing by Sen.John McCain in New Hamp-shire, after an unidentifiedgroup used so-called pushpolls that described McCain’swife, Cindy, as a drug addictand said the couple’s adopteddaughter, Bridget, was a blackchild fathered by McCain outof wedlock.

In 2008, Bill Clinton wasaccused of injecting race intothe Democratic contestbetween his wife, Hillary Clin-ton, and Barack Obama.

Chip Felkel, a Republicanstrategist in South Carolinawho consulted on both ofBush’s presidential cam-paigns, said the primary therewill likely escalate tensionsthat were simmering towardthe end of the New Hamp-shire campaign. It remains tobe seen, however, if attacks onRomney might backfire.

“If you’re not careful, thatcan come off as a lot of sourgrapes,” Felkel said.

Criticism of Romney’sbusiness background as itrelates to job losses may res-onate more in South Carolinathan it did here. South Caroli-na’s unemployment rate is 9.9percent – the first time it hasdropped below 10 percentsince April – while NewHampshire’s unemploymentrate for November was 5.2percent.

With Romney now the firstnon-incumbent Republican towin in both Iowa and NewHampshire since 1976, Felkelsaid the “inevitability factor”may start to kick in for SouthCarolina voters. Romney hasbeen about 10 points ahead inthe most recent South Caroli-na polls, followed by Rick San-torum and Gingrich in a deadheat for second place.

“In a lot of people’s minds,they’re just going to go withthe guy that seems to havebeen vetted in Iowa and NewHampshire,” Felkel said.

Jim Dyke, an unalignedRepublican strategist at theSouth Carolina firm JDAFrontline, said the state com-bines the political rigors ofsmaller early voting stateslike Iowa and New Hamp-shire with challenges of run-ning in a larger state likeFlorida. South Carolina’s Jan.21 primary is followed byFlorida on Jan. 31 and theNevada caucuses Feb. 4.

“You’ve got aggressivetelevision markets, you’ve gotan organizational task, andyou’ve got to engage at thesame time in retail politics,”he said. “In cycles past, thiswas sort of the end of the line,but I suspect . . . one or two(candidates) might try to stayin (afterward) with hopes ofcatching fire down the line.”

Dyke said “everybody feelslike the ‘conservative alterna-tive’ could emerge fromSouth Carolina.”

Echoing that sentiment,Sullivan of the Perry cam-paign said yesterday, “Therace to be the conservativealternative to Mitt Romney iswide open, and certainly wethink South Carolina willhave something to say aboutthat.”

South Carolina is friendlyterritory for socially conserv-ative Republicans, and Felkelsaid Santorum – the formerPennsylvania senator knownfor his ardent opposition togay marriage and abortion –could stand to benefit themost from the change inpolitical scenery.

“He hasn’t been the sub-ject of a lot of people gangingup on him,” Felkel said. “Hehas the opportunity to createhis own narrative.”

Dyke said it will no longerbe enough to champion astrong second- or third-placefinish, as Texas CongressmanRon Paul and former Utahgovernor Jon Huntsmansought to do in New Hamp-shire last night. In South Car-olina, someone other thanRomney must take first place,he said, or risk irrelevance.

“It’s harder to proclaimyou’ve become the real chal-lenger to Romney becauseyou came in second,” Dykesaid.

(Matthew Spolar can bereached at 369-3309 ormspolar@cmonitor.com.)

AHEAD Continued from A1

“You’ve gotaggressive

television markets,you’ve got an

organizationaltask, and you’vegot to engage atthe same time inretail politics. Incycles past, thiswas sort of theend of the line,

but I suspect . . .one or two

(candidates)might try to stayin (afterward).”Jim Dyke, unalignedRepublican strategist

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PRIMARY Continued from A1

President Obama’s ambas-sador to China, Huntsmanfound a new campaign slogan– “Country First” – and a newenergy on the trail.

Both were on display lastnight as supporters chanted“Join the Hunt” and “CountryFirst” while Huntsmanshared the stage with hiswife, Mary Kaye, his threeadult daughters, his son-in-law and his parents, Karenand Jon Sr.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Ilove this state,” Huntsmansaid to cheers. “We haveworked hard and diligently.We have pounded the pave-ment. We have shaken hands.We have had conversations.We have won people over, per-son by person. This is the oldway to get politics done inNew Hampshire, and my con-fidence in the system isreborn because of the peopleof New Hampshire.”

Huntsman, 51, the Man-darin-speaking former gover-nor of Utah, resigned as theU.S. ambassador to China lastyear and returned to the Unit-ed States to seek the Republi-can nomination to face his oldboss, Obama, in November’sgeneral election.

He officially entered therace in June. But he stalled inlow single digits in nationalpolls and had trouble raisingmoney, loaning millions of hisown dollars to the campaignto keep it going.

Huntsman decided to stakeeverything on the New Hamp-shire primary – in the fall, thecampaign closed its nationalheadquarters in Orlando, Fla.,and set up shop on Elm Streetin Manchester.

He campaigned hererelentlessly, keeping up abusy schedule of town halls,meet-and-greets and houseparties across the state.Huntsman blitzed across NewHampshire in the campaign’slast week, from the Monad-nock region to the North

Country, from the Upper Val-ley to the Seacoast.

And, first in a televiseddebate Sunday and then atcampaign stops later that dayand Monday, Huntsmanbegan to attack Romneydirectly and with more vigorthan he had before.

At issue: Romney’s criti-cism of Huntsman’s work inChina under a Democraticpresident and Romney’scomment Monday that helikes “being able to fire peo-ple who provide services tome.” Romney, in answer to aquestion, was talking aboutgiving consumers the abilityto fire health insurers whoprovide poor service, butsome of his opponents seizedon the quote, includingHuntsman.

“It’s become abundantly

clear over the last couple ofdays what differentiates Gov.Romney and me,” Huntsmantold reporters Monday in Con-cord. “I will always put mycountry first. It seems thatGov. Romney believes inputting politics first. Gov.Romney enjoys firing people.I enjoy creating jobs.”

A visibly invigoratedHuntsman began drawinglarger crowds to his events,especially in southern NewHampshire. And larger packsof news media began follow-

ing him on the trail, augment-ing the small band of just daysbefore.

“We love New Hampshirevoters. We’ve given this stateour heart and soul,” Hunts-man said yesterday as he vis-ited Manchester’s Ward 1polling place, Webster Ele-mentary School, surroundedby a crush of reporters, televi-sion cameras and cheeringsupporters. “All of this – I lovethe voters of this state.”

Huntsman is a fiscal con-servative but more moderate

than the rest of the Republi-can field on some socialissues, supporting civil unionsfor same-sex couples, forexample. But he told Monitoreditors in a December inter-view, “don’t mistake a moder-ate temperament, a personwho believes in actually sit-ting all . . . points of viewaround a table and making adecision based on that, with amoderate record.”

Don Graff, 49, came out toHuntsman’s party last nightin Manchester. The Bedford

Republican said he voted forHuntsman because he likedhis foreign-policy experienceand generally agreed withhim on the issues.

“Obviously, if he came infirst or second, that would bebetter,” Graff said. “But, con-sidering it wasn’t too long agothat he was way back in thepack, I think it’s a veryrespectable showing.”

(Ben Leubsdorf can bereached at 369-3307 or bleubsdorf@cmonitor.com)

PRIMARY 2012A4 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2012 CONCORD MONITOR

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Former Utah governor and Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman takes the stage with his wife, MaryKaye, and family last night in Manchester to announce he will continue his campaign into South Carolina.

HUNTSMAN Continued from A1

Jon Huntsmancampaigned here

relentlessly, keeping up a busyschedule of townhalls, meet-and-greets and houseparties across thestate. Huntsman

blitzed acrossNew Hampshirein the campaign’slast week, fromthe Monadnock

region to theNorth Country,from the Upper

Valley to the Seacoast.

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