Romney says US should not negotiate with Taliban

MYRTLE BEACH: US Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney said on Monday the United States should not negotiate with the Taliban and he criticised the Obama administration for efforts to broker secret talks with the Afghan insurgents.

Romney, who has won the first two Republican contests in the race to pick a nominee to face Democratic President Barack Obama in November, strongly rejected any sort of talks with the Taliban.

“The right course for America is not to negotiate with the Taliban while the Taliban are killing our soldiers,” Romney said during a debate of the five Republican presidential hopefuls ahead of Saturday’s South Carolina primary.

“The right course is to recognize that they are the enemy of the United States.” Romney said Obama had put the United States in a position of “extraordinary weakness” because he had made a decision based on a political calendar on when to pull US troops out of Afghanistan and because he has even publicly announced the date when the United States would completely withdraw from the country. “We don’t negotiate from a position of weakness as we are pulling our troops out,” Romney said. “We should not negotiate with the Taliban. We should defeat the Taliban.”

Senior US officials told Reuters last month that the United States had been involved in 10 months of secret dialogue with the Taliban. Officials had said the talks had reached a critical juncture and a Taliban prisoner transfer was possible from the Guantanamo Bay military prison into Afghan government custody.

Romney says US should not negotiate with Taliban

MYRTLE BEACH: US Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney said on Monday the United States should not negotiate with the Taliban and he criticised the Obama administration for efforts to broker secret talks with the Afghan insurgents.

Romney, who has won the first two Republican contests in the race to pick a nominee to face Democratic President Barack Obama in November, strongly rejected any sort of talks with the Taliban.

“The right course for America is not to negotiate with the Taliban while the Taliban are killing our soldiers,” Romney said during a debate of the five Republican presidential hopefuls ahead of Saturday’s South Carolina primary.

“The right course is to recognize that they are the enemy of the United States.” Romney said Obama had put the United States in a position of “extraordinary weakness” because he had made a decision based on a political calendar on when to pull US troops out of Afghanistan and because he has even publicly announced the date when the United States would completely withdraw from the country. “We don’t negotiate from a position of weakness as we are pulling our troops out,” Romney said. “We should not negotiate with the Taliban. We should defeat the Taliban.”

Senior US officials told Reuters last month that the United States had been involved in 10 months of secret dialogue with the Taliban. Officials had said the talks had reached a critical juncture and a Taliban prisoner transfer was possible from the Guantanamo Bay military prison into Afghan government custody.

Romney Is 2 For 2 In GOP Nominating Contests

Mitt Romney's back-to-back wins give him powerful momentum heading into the next set of GOP contests. Ron Paul came in second in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary followed by Jon Huntsman. A week ago, Romney won the Iowa caucuses.

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Romney's New Hampshire win will make it tough for his GOP opponents in South Carolina and elsewhere.

After wins in New Hampshire and Iowa, stopping Romney's march to the nomination has become harder.

Paul told a crowd of supporters that he was nibbling at the heels of front-runner Mitt Romney.

View the original article here

Romney Wins N.H. Primary; Paul Takes Second Place

Enlarge Win McNamee/Getty Images

Mitt Romney speaks to supporters at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H., after winning the state's primary on Tuesday.

Win McNamee/Getty Images Mitt Romney speaks to supporters at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H., after winning the state's primary on Tuesday.

It's just the first Republican primary. But a convincing win in New Hampshire should give former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney considerable momentum in his quest toward the GOP nomination.

With 95 percent of precincts reporting, Romney had more than 39 percent of the vote. Texas Rep. Ron Paul was solidly in second, with about 23 percent, while former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman had secured third place, with nearly 17 percent of the vote.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum were in a tight battle for fourth place, but each had less than 9.5 percent of the vote.

"If [Romney] wins by 15 percent at the end of the night, it's over," says Chip Felkel, a longtime GOP strategist in South Carolina. "With a significant victory tonight, you'll start to see reality setting in. What's the benefit of finishing second in New Hampshire if you have no chance here in South Carolina?"

Looking For A Boost

Neither Paul nor Huntsman is expected to gain much momentum from his showing heading into South Carolina, which holds its primary Jan. 21, says Jim Guth, a political scientist at Furman University in Greenville, S.C.

Paul may have the same ceiling of support in South Carolina that he has seen in Iowa and New Hampshire, Guth suggests. "Paul has his avid supporters but will have about the same percentage here he's had elsewhere," he says.

And Huntsman, who skipped Iowa and placed all his hopes on New Hampshire, will not gain enough momentum from a third-place showing there to overcome concerns that South Carolina conservatives have about him, Guth says.

"Huntsman is a little too far to the left for any group of South Carolina Republicans," he says.

A Strong Finish

In the past, New Hampshire Republicans have sometimes given their primary support to insurgent candidates. But it appears that a sizable share of late-deciding voters decided to back Romney.

"The campaign just worked like clockwork," says Dante Scala, a political scientist at the University of New Hampshire. "Mitt Romney and his campaign never let this campaign get especially interesting. They really had this state buttoned down."

Attacks on Romney came too late in the race to make much difference, says Linda Fowler, a government professor at Dartmouth College. Instead, he was able to "stay above the fray," she says, while other candidates pummeled each other in hopes of becoming the "non-Mitt."

Enlarge Charles Dharapak/AP

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney appeared outside a polling station at Webster School in Manchester Tuesday as people across New Hampshire voted in the state's primary.

Charles Dharapak/AP Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney appeared outside a polling station at Webster School in Manchester Tuesday as people across New Hampshire voted in the state's primary.

"Romney's been very lucky in this contest that there hasn't been a non-Mitt," Fowler says. "There have been multiple non-Mitts."

The Caravan Heads South

Looking ahead, Romney's greatest concern has been that ardent conservatives would rally behind a single champion who would then stand as his main rival.

That hasn't happened yet. And results in New Hampshire suggest that it may not happen soon, says Charlie Arlinghaus, who directs a free-market think tank in Concord, N.H.

"Romney will get a big boost going into South Carolina," he says, "and the only way to stop him would be for the right to unite behind one of two candidates [Gingrich and Santorum] who did very poorly in New Hampshire."

Some observers were already wondering how Gingrich or Santorum could build on disappointing showings in New Hampshire.

Santorum at this point lacks the organizational strength or campaign cash to threaten in South Carolina, says Felkel.

Santorum Stalls

After finishing in a near tie with Romney in Iowa last week, Santorum has been unable to unite conservatives behind him. Instead, he will still have to battle for their support with Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has been campaigning in South Carolina this past week.

Santorum "may not have the support, beyond a disorganized group of social conservatives, to mount any kind of challenge," Felkel said. "And with Perry and Gingrich still in the race, he doesn't have the votes."

Listen to NPR's live coverage of the New Hampshire primary:

Conservatives say they'll still make a stand against Romney in South Carolina. But unless they unite behind a single candidate, it may be difficult for anyone to challenge him seriously there.

Romney Country

New Hampshire has long been considered favorable territory for Romney.

"He did really well with a lot of types of voters," says Dean Spiliotes, founder of the political blog NHPoliticalCapital.com. "You get a sense of the size and power of his campaign compared to the other organizations when you see it on the ground here."

Romney poured considerable money and effort into New Hampshire. He was sideswiped in recent days by a multimillion-dollar ad campaign created by a Gingrich-affiliated superPAC criticizing Romney for his tenure as head of private equity firm Bain Capital.

Those attacks failed to derail Romney in the state, but it's certain they will be revisited in South Carolina, Fowler says.

Exit polling of New Hampshire voters showed that 56 percent of them did not consider campaign advertising an important factor in deciding their votes. By contrast, just over half — 52 percent – said debates between the candidates were a very important factor in deciding their vote, while an additional 31 percent said they were somewhat important.

"Yes, there are some open questions about South Carolina, such as whether the Gingrich superPAC ads can eat away at Romney's lead," says John Sides, a political scientist at George Washington University. "But it seems hard to imagine that Romney can, technically, win Iowa and, certainly, win New Hampshire and somehow still lose the nomination."

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Romney's New Hampshire win will make it tough for his GOP opponents in South Carolina and elsewhere.

After wins in New Hampshire and Iowa, stopping Romney's march to the nomination has become harder.

Paul told a crowd of supporters that he was nibbling at the heels of front-runner Mitt Romney.

View the original article here

Romney Concedes 'Uphill Climb' In South Carolina

WASHINGTON January 11, 2012, 07:29 am ET

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Gov. Mitt Romney is conceding he's got "an uphill climb" in South Carolina, where he finished fourth in 2008, despite season-opening victories in Iowa and New Hampshire.

But Romney tells CBS's "This Morning" he's confident about South Carolina, saying "I know we're going to push forward."

Romney voiced regret that his fellow Republicans have made his record as a venture capitalist an issue, but said it isn't gaining any traction. He said, "They tried the same line here in New Hampshire and it fell extremely flat."

Romney said he has a record of starting businesses and creating tens of thousands of jobs. And he said that if elected, he wouldn't hesitate to apply his business experience in an all-out campaign to shrink the size of the federal government.

In an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America," he said, ""I don't know if we can win South Carolina,"

With respect to Bain Capital, Romney told ABC he feels that people want someone with business experience in the Oval Office. "It's working for my benefit," he said.

Asked about comments Vice President Joe Biden made suggesting that venture capitalists care more about making money than employees left behind in business reorganizations, he noted that Biden and President Barack Obama oversaw the federal rescue of General Motors and Chrysler and that plants were closed down in the process, as well as automobile dealerships.

Speaking about his own company, Romney said, "Every time we had a reduction in employment it was designed to make the business more successful and to grow it."

Romney's New Hampshire win will make it tough for his GOP opponents in South Carolina and elsewhere.

Romney's back-to-back wins give him big momentum for the next contests. He won in Iowa last week.

The campaign has raised the money to go the distance through one primary state after another.

View the original article here

TV News Shows Saw Romney Victory Coming, But Couldn't Quite Say It

An event like tonight's New Hampshire primary provides a nearly perfect opportunity to capture the dance of the seven veils.

That is, at 7 p.m. EST, on TV, there was a veil ever so slightly sheathing the results in New Hampshire.

The political press felt confident — dead certain, actually — that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney would win the primary in the neighboring state by a comfortable margin. Most polls closed statewide by 7 p.m. — but as a smattering would not close until 8 p.m., no one reported the final verdicts, despite having a strong sense from exit polls.

On MSNBC, Rachel Maddow led coverage as she acknowledged that the overwhelming number of the votes had been cast, but directing traffic as though they had not. Her largely liberal panel dwelled heavily, at times almost hopefully, on the possibility that a Nevada billionaire who was spending $5 million on ads against Romney on Newt Gingrich's behalf could further bankroll the anti-Romney effort.

Over on Fox, Shepard Smith impishly got to the point a few minutes past 7 p.m., asking Carl Cameron: "Is Mitt Romney running away with this thing?"

 

Fox soon turned its eye over to Gingrich himself. As The New York Times' David Carr tweeted: "Fox News goes deep on Newt's personal life, the good, the bad, the marital do-overs." That of course, is former House Speaker (and formerly a paid Fox News analyst) Newt Gingrich.

As the minutes clicked down, TV anchors increasingly shed inhibitions.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer stood before giant digital screens as the seconds dwindled to the single digits — and Romney was declared the projected winner the moment the last polls closed.

CNN later showed footage of members of Jon Huntsman's family milling about his war room. The Republican candidate and former Utah governor smiled, seeing himself on TV — and Blitzer seized the opportunity to point out that he was tuned to CNN, in a case of classic symbiosis.

Over on MSNBC, Chris Matthews underscored Romney's one-two punch in Iowa and New Hampshire: "Winning two — the first two — it's going to be very hard for people to come back from."

It was past 8 p.m. EST. The dance was over. The veil had fallen away.

View the original article here

Romney Enters Danger Zone In Weeks Ahead

Enlarge Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

Mitt Romney greets supporters in Manchester, N.H., after winning the New Hampshire primary.

Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images Mitt Romney greets supporters in Manchester, N.H., after winning the New Hampshire primary.

Mitt Romney came away from the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary Tuesday night with a comfortable win, and an uncomfortable reality.

His chief detractor, GOP rival Newt Gingrich, who in recent days has launched a savage campaign to undermine Romney's successful-businessman-makes-best-president narrative, is just getting warmed up.

In South Carolina, where the next primary is scheduled for Jan. 21, a superPAC supporting Gingrich — flush with $5 million from casino magnate Sheldon Adelson — will begin airing a film that depicts Romney as "more ruthless than Wall Street" during his years as head of a lucrative private equity business that bought, sold and closed businesses.

The aggressive attacks, not unusual for the early weeks of primary season, have delighted Democrats, shaken the former Massachusetts governor's operation, and continue to alarm a swath of conservatives anxious for their party to coalesce around the man they see as their best shot against President Obama.

Whether the harsh criticism will make Romney — who last week eked out an eight-vote win in the Iowa caucuses — a better candidate in the long run, as some suggest, or permanently handicap him if he is the nominee, as Democrats hope, remains an open question.

As does how long Gingrich, the former House speaker who finished fourth in Iowa and was in position to finish no better than fourth in New Hampshire, can sustain his onslaught.

Attacks Rattle Party

The attacks on Bain Capital's activities under Romney's leadership have been so pointed, and taken on such a life beyond Gingrich, that the private equity industry's lobbying group put out a press release defending its business practices.

Influential conservative groups and publications have scolded Gingrich and other candidates for the sin of acting like Democrats when they criticize Romney's stewardship of a firm that made money even when it closed businesses. (A Wall Street Journal analysis of 77 businesses Bain Capital invested in with Romney at the helm from 1984 to 1999 found that 22 percent eventually filed for bankruptcy, or closed within eight years after Bain first invested in them, "sometimes with substantial job losses.")

"We'd hope that supporters of the free market would recognize what Gingrich's attacks are: craven political assaults on capitalism and economic freedom," Barney Kellar of the conservative, free-market Club for Growth, told NPR on Tuesday. "Ultimately Republicans and then the American people will render their judgment through the ballot box."

But with Gingrich continuing to amp up his criticism about Romney's tenure as head of the private-equity firm, other conservative heavyweights weighed in.

The editors at the National Review accused Gingrich — and fellow Republican candidates Jon Huntsman and Rick Perry — of engaging in a "perverse contest to be the Republican presidential candidate to say the most asinine thing about Mitt Romney's tenure at Bain Capital."

And the Karl Rove-affiliated superPAC American Crossroads issued a statement strongly supportive of Romney, noting that Gingrich's attacks have resulted in a "major downward impact" on his own support. (A quick follow-up email from spokesman Jonathan Collegio, however, asserted Crossroads "is, and remains neutral" in the GOP primary.)

Investment Class

Interested to hear what those in the investment field have been making of Gingrich's fusillade, NPR turned to David Kotok, co-founder and chief investment officer of Cumberland Advisors, a Florida-based investment advisory firm.

"Romney's business prowess has been turned on him in a very nasty way, but that's the nature of our political system," Kotok says. "The attack on Romney is by a desperate candidate."

It's not that Kotok doesn't believe there's a debate to be had going forward about the special tax circumstances under which Romney and Bain Capital made its millions.

"Romney was involved in an activity that gets a 15 percent carried interest tax break," Kotok says, explaining that the special tax treatment allowed a 15 percent tax rate on certain transactions that Bain was involved in.

"While you were out there working and paying higher taxes, Mr. Workingman, Mr. Schoolteacher," Kotok says, "his enterprise was getting a tax break. Do you think that's right?"

That's a topic worthy of debate, he says, because it involves tax policy, and not how many jobs somebody may or may not have created years ago. Romney's claim that he helped create 100,000 jobs during his tenure at Bain has been the subject of much debate and scrutiny.

"Can Romney describe himself as a job creator?" Kotok said. "I don't know. But he has business capital investment experience. He's been governor. And his personal life seems to be very clear, in order and above reproach. No question about any of that."

But Whom To Trust?

Democrats like Chris Lehane, a veteran of the Clinton White House, however, say that questions about Romney's job creation claims while he was a corporate buyout specialist are indeed legitimate.

It's all about trust, Lehane says, repeating a theme that Democrats are increasingly attaching to Romney.

"In presidential campaigns, candidates get positive and negative storylines," says Lehane, now a California-based strategist. "If the race is competitive, the storylines play themselves out as it relates to who wins the public trust argument."

"Specifically," he says, "who do you trust to make the right economic decisions that will impact you, your family and the country?"

He sees a cautionary tale in what happened to Meg Whitman, the former eBay CEO who was the Republicans' unsuccessful candidate for governor in California in 2010. Whitman, now head of Hewlett-Packard, ran on her economic and job-creating credentials but was sunk when her critics (including Lehane) hit her for firing workers while she took bonuses, for sending jobs offshore, and for mistreating a longtime maid.

"She lost the public trust issue, and her candidacy collapsed," he said.

Democratic commentator Karen Finney notes that Obama became a stronger candidate in 2008 because of his intense battle with then-Sen. Hillary Clinton for the nomination.

Romney has that chance, she says, but so far has continued to stumble.

He was dinged after he told a campaign audience that he, too, had worried in the past about getting a pink slip. (Perry later joked that Romney's worry was whether he'd have enough pink slips to pass out.) And he gave Democrats fits of delight when, in explaining his opposition to the health care overhaul, he said, "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me."

Romney heads to South Carolina Wednesday, where the ground is much less friendly, and where Gingrich and the rest of the field are waiting. It's expected to be Perry's last stand, and maybe the end for another candidate or two.

That's dangerous. Especially for a front-runner who now has to figure out, and quickly, how to resell what had been his strongest selling point.

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Romney's New Hampshire win will make it tough for his GOP opponents in South Carolina and elsewhere.

After wins in New Hampshire and Iowa, stopping Romney's march to the nomination has become harder.

Paul told a crowd of supporters that he was nibbling at the heels of front-runner Mitt Romney.

View the original article here

Romney On Glide Path As Campaign Heads South

Enlarge Charles Dharapak/AP

Mitt Romney reaches for his wife Ann as his sons, Josh, Ben, Craig, Tagg and Matt (left to right) look on during the Romney for President New Hampshire primary night rally at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H., on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

Charles Dharapak/AP Mitt Romney reaches for his wife Ann as his sons, Josh, Ben, Craig, Tagg and Matt (left to right) look on during the Romney for President New Hampshire primary night rally at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H., on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

In politics, success breeds success. That's why Mitt Romney is looking strong as attention turns to the next Republican primary in South Carolina.

Any expectations that Romney's fortunes might fade were overturned Tuesday in New Hampshire. The former Massachusetts governor won a solid plurality with some 39 percent of the vote – more than 15 percentage points ahead of his nearest rival, Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

Perhaps as importantly, the order of the finish in New Hampshire left no other candidate clearly positioned to stand as Romney's chief competitor in South Carolina on Jan. 21.

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who had based his candidacy on a strong performance in New Hampshire, finished third. And the disappointing showings for Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum – they essentially tied for fourth – means that the former House speaker and the former Pennsylvania senator will each continue to struggle to establish himself as the leading conservative alternative to Romney.

"Romney will get a big boost going into South Carolina and the only way to stop him would be for the right to unite behind one of two candidates who did very poorly in New Hampshire," says Charlie Arlinghaus, who directs a free-market think tank in Concord, N.H.

"If Romney wins the first three contests, it's over," he says, and Romney won a closely contested Iowa caucuses — by eight votes over Santorum — before romping in New Hampshire. "Nobody else will have the resources to compete."

Don't Start Counting Chickens

With only two states having voted, it would be premature to say the nomination is assuredly Romney's. The electorate in South Carolina looks different from the more moderate and independent-minded voters of New Hampshire.

"Because New Hampshire is such a political anomaly and unrepresentative of the GOP base, it is not only possible but is likely that conservatives will continue to form a consensus and unite to present a viable challenge to the establishment candidate," says John Stemberger, chairman of the Florida Family Action PAC, a social-conservative group.

How South Carolina votes will indicate Republican preferences throughout the South in general, says Gary Bauer, a prominent social conservative and former presidential candidate.

"Clearly, Romney's victory in New Hampshire was impressive and he's building momentum, but I think South Carolina really is the key state," says Bauer, who endorsed Santorum there on Sunday.

"It is still more than possible that South Carolina ends up being a race between Romney and Santorum," Bauer says. "If Santorum can pull it off, the field narrows a little and they go into Florida and I think anything can happen."

Who's The Alternative?

But the other candidates considered most conservative in the race – Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry – are hardly conceding the "anti-Romney" vote to Santorum. Santorum was unable to build in New Hampshire on his strong showing in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses.

"Nobody expected Santorum to barnstorm New Hampshire, but he really needed to capitalize on his Iowa 'tie-victory' to set himself up as the true 'anybody but Romney' candidate," says Scott Huffmon, a pollster associated with Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C.

For his part, Gingrich is likely to continue the sort of attacks he launched against Romney in the closing days of the New Hampshire race. After vowing to run a positive campaign, Gingrich is poised to further unleash negative ads and videos.

"South Carolina is known for its rough and tumble politics," says Curtis Loftis, the state treasurer in South Carolina and Romney's campaign director there. "The ads are flying here and none of them are polite."

Establishment Leanings

That's one reason Loftis isn't ready to declare victory for his candidate yet. But he says he's pleased with Romney's position nonetheless.

With reason. Recent polls have suggested that Romney was already opening up a lead in South Carolina even before his big win on Tuesday.

Although there's been a lot of speculation about whether social conservatives will block Romney's path to victory, they haven't been able to unite behind a single alternative.

"Unless the social conservatives want to go out with a whimper, they better pull forces together now in South Carolina," says Bruce Ransom, a political scientist at Clemson University. "It's not clear at this point that will be possible."

Although the state's GOP electorate is sometimes portrayed as "far right wing," it's actually a more complicated mix of fiscal conservatives, retired military and libertarians, says Jim Guth, a political scientist at Furman University in Greenville, S.C.

"It's basically gone for not the more centrist candidate but the more establishment candidate," Guth says. "It looks for a winner as well."

'Slim, But Possible'

Given Romney's many advantages – in terms of fundraising, organizational strength and now momentum – it's difficult to see how anyone else can find a clear path to victory in South Carolina or beyond, says Huffmon, the pollster at Winthrop.

It's possible, he says, that Perry could have a "southern reinvention" and regain the kind of support he enjoyed as the field's front-runner for a brief period last summer. But that may prove unlikely.

"There will still be a number of factions holding out hope that their guy can win, when I don't see how you can stop this thing," says Chip Felkel, a veteran GOP strategist in South Carolina who is not affiliated with any of the current hopefuls.

Huntsman is not expected to be a strong candidate in South Carolina, observers there say. And there may be a ceiling on Paul's support there as well.

"Paul has his avid supporters but will have about the same percentage here he's had elsewhere," says Guth, the Furman professor.

Given the size of Romney's New Hampshire victory, Felkel says, it's going to be harder for other candidates to convince their supporters that they still have a chance – and are worthy of more financial support.

"Is there a possibility that somebody can beat Romney?" Huffmon says. "Slim, but possible."

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Romney's New Hampshire win will make it tough for his GOP opponents in South Carolina and elsewhere.

After wins in New Hampshire and Iowa, stopping Romney's march to the nomination has become harder.

Paul told a crowd of supporters that he was nibbling at the heels of front-runner Mitt Romney.

View the original article here

As New Hampshire Heads To Polls, All Eyes Are On Mitt Romney

Enlarge Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney addresses a rally at McKelvie Intermediate School in Bedford, New Hampshire on Monday.

Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney addresses a rally at McKelvie Intermediate School in Bedford, New Hampshire on Monday.

Some in New Hampshire have already cast their votes this morning. As they do traditionally, voters in Dixville Notch and Hart's Location, both small northern New Hampshire towns, cast their ballots shortly after midnight.

The Washington Post reports on the results:

"Romney tied with former Utah governor Jon Huntsman (R) in Dixville Notch, with each candidate winning a total of two votes out of nine cast. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) took one vote, as did Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). The remaining three voters cast their ballots for President Obama.

"In Hart's Location, Romney took five votes, compared to four votes for Paul. Huntsman took two votes, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) took one and Gingrich took one."

As if we had to remind you, today is the second contest of this primary season and if you look at polls, the state is Mitt Romney's to lose. The former Massachusetts governor has had a sizable lead over his opponents. A University of New Hampshire poll released, yesterday, had Romney taking 41 percent of the vote. Ron Paul followed a distant second with 17 percent.

As CBS News puts it, if Romney manages a win, he becomes the first non-incumbent Republican to win both Iowa and New Hampshire "since the modern presidential nomination process was established in the 1970's."

We'll leave you with some early headlines:

— Time's Swampland says while Romney's New Hampshire win is looking close to certain, "an unexpected nail-biter could dampen the case for his inevitability."

— After, Newt Gingrich began criticizing Romney's business record, Slate asks if his biggest asset is also the "bain of his existence."

— NPR's Scott Horsley looked at Romney's record at Bain Capital on Morning Edition.

— And The Wall Street Journal has a bit more on what it calls Romney's ill-timed "You can fire them" comment from yesterday.

— The margine of victory matters, reports the Boston Herald: "... The margin could determine whether it's a John Kerry victory — one that makes him virtually unstoppable heading South — or a Paul Tsongas victory, where the second-place finisher (in Tsongas' case, Bill Clinton) gets the real momentum."

— Politico looks beyond News Hampshire and predicts a long primary fight.

— CNN reports some polls in the state close as late as 8 p.m. ET.

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Gingrich Takes On Romney In N.H.

Newt Gingrich may have placed fourth in Iowa, but he has come out swinging in New Hampshire. Thursday, he took on Mitt Romney, had even harsher words for President Obama — and toned it down a bit on Rick Santorum.

Copyright © 2012 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

And I'm Robert Siegel.

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich campaigned in northern New Hampshire today. Under a light snow, the former House speaker stopped in a number of picturesque towns. His message - that he is the only Republican who can beat President Obama. Gingrich called former Governor Mitt Romney a Massachusetts moderate, but saved his harshest rhetoric for the president.

NPR's Brian Naylor reports from Littleton, New Hampshire.

BRIAN NAYLOR, BYLINE: Former Speaker Gingrich's first stop was a former railroad station turned senior center in Plymouth. As an audience of a few dozen townspeople listened politely, and for the most part silently, Gingrich blasted President Obama.

Yesterday, the president named Richard Cordray to the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as well as appointing three members to the National Labor Relations Board. They were recess appointments, though Congress technically isn't in recess.

The former speaker called the move a politically motivated violation of the balance of powers.

NEWT GINGRICH: This president has proven a total willingness to violate the law and to impose an imperial presidency in trying to reshape the country. And he's done it for a clear reason. He's paying off his union allies. I mean, it has nothing to do with good government and everything to do with trying to buy his re-election.

NAYLOR: Taking on Mr. Obama is a no-risk move for Gingrich. But he continued his criticism of the man who polls show with a commanding lead among New Hampshire primary voters, Mitt Romney. He said Romney governed Massachusetts as a moderate; appointing liberal judges, and pushing the statewide health insurance plan known as RomneyCare. By contrast, Gingrich referred to himself as a Reagan conservative.

GINGRICH: There's a very big difference in our two sets of values. I don't believe a Massachusetts moderate is in a very good position to debate Barack Obama. And I think it would be very hard for him to win the general election, because I think it just blurs everything.

NAYLOR: Gingrich said he was not engaging in negative campaigning, but was simply contrasting his and Romney's records. But his campaign also introduced a new TV ad to run in the state, in which Gingrich calls Romney's economic plan quote, "virtually identical to Obama's failed policy," adding, quote, "timid won't create jobs."

Gingrich also was dismissive, if a bit gentler, on former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, who finished just eight votes behind Romney in Tuesday's Iowa caucuses.

GINGRICH: If you think of us as partners, he would clearly - in historical experience - have been the junior partner. And he's not a bad person. I want to be clear about this.

NAYLOR: After listening to his speech, Littleton resident Marilyn Ryback says she supports Gingrich but is realistic about his prospects here.

MARILYN RYBACK: I don't give him much hope in New Hampshire, unfortunately. But it doesn't mean I don't think he'll win eventually. But New Hampshire is kind of hard because of Mitt Romney and, you know, being his home town and everything.

NAYLOR: John Patton, who has a software company in Hanover, says he doesn't go along with the prevailing sentiment that Romney is more electable.

JOHN PATTON: I do not agree. In fact, I think Romney will have a tough time contrasting himself with Obama. He seems like Obama-light. So I don't - although I will vote for him if he's the nominee.

NAYLOR: Gingrich, who finished fourth in Iowa, is keeping expectations about his chances in New Hampshire low, calling this one of Romney's three best states. He predicted, though, Romney's support will melt rapidly when the campaign heads south later this month, into states Gingrich expects to be his strongest.

Brian Naylor, NPR News, Littleton, New Hampshire.

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