Romney wins in New Hampshire
Official results with 95% of all precincts reporting : Mitt Romney wins 39% of the vote in New Hampshire

Check also Why President Obama has failed (added on January 11, 2012 at 14:13).

Article added on January 11, 2012 at 09:25 Swiss time  
After the Iowa caucuses, it was up to the primaries in the small northeastern state of New Hampshire to decide who should become the next Republican presidential candidate. Mitt Romney was the hot favorite. He had been governor in neighboring Massachusetts and owns a house in New Hampshire. The primaries confirmed the polls: Romney wins New Hampshire.

According to the official New Hampshire primary results with 95% of all precincts reporting, Mitt Romney finished first with 39% of the vote, clearly ahead of Ron Paul with 23% and Jon Huntsman with 17%. Both Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum with some 9% each have been reduced to non-entities.

On Tuesday night local time, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney was quick to declare a “historic” victory in New Hampshire: “Tonight we made history”. The presidential candidate added that “Americans know that our future is brighter and better than this troubled times.” He focused on the poor state of the United States' economy: “We know that the future of this country is better than 8% or 9% unemployment. It is better than $15 billion in debt. It is better than the misguided policies and broken promises of the last three years - and the failed leadership of one man.”

Despite the fact that Rick Perry skipped New Hampshire - where he finished with 0.7% of the vote - and his will to show up in South Carolina, his presidential race is pretty much over. The desperate Texas Governor called venture capital and private equity firms such as Mitt Romney's Boston-based Bain Capital “vultures”. He omitted that Bain Capital has created jobs with success stories such as Staples, Domino's and The Sports Authority. We can be pretty sure that Perry's “vulture” claim will be used by Democrats and their Super PACs later in the presidential campaign.

Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch and his third wife, Suzy (née Spring, formerly Suzy Wetlaufer), a former Bain employee, are among the many famous business people supporting Mitt Romney. Business and former business leaders like them will make sure that the undistorted Romney business record will be heard.

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According to the Los Angeles Times, crucial to Mitt Romney's victory “in New Hampshire was a sophisticated and relentless voter contact program that locked in supporters early and turned them out to the polls.” Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton had used micro-targeting in their 2008 campaigns.

In 2012, Team Romney “paired the voter data with several hundred thousand paid and volunteer calls”. According to the identified voter appeal, Mitt Romney's ads in News Hampshire “focused heavily on his four-decade marriage and family values, as well as his business background”. Most importantly, according to the Los Angeles Times, the Romney campaign team managed to attract socially conservative voters with church or Bible interests. In short, the ones considered “a tougher target for a Mormon candidate.”

In the 2008 Republican primary in New Hampshire, Mitt Romney had finished second behind John McCain (with 32.17% against 37.71%). This time, he managed a clear win. Team Romney has high hopes to finish first in the 2012 Republican nomination process. In 2008, he only finished third behind John McCain and the religious-conservative Mike Huckabee, who is not running in 2012.

So far, 2012 looks like Romney's year. Can Huntsman get into the race after his third-place finish in New Hampshire? Like Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman Jr. is a Mormon, a former governor, a former businessman, a centrist with a broad view. In addition, he is a former ambassador and, as Obama's former Ambassador to China, Huntsman is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. Will the 2012 Republican race turn into a fight between Romney and  the younger version of Romney called Huntsman? Both moderate Republicans would have the best chances to beat President Obama in November.

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