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Perry: real conservative still needed

Published by Tim McNulty on .

Rick Perry, tonight's 1 percenter (note: I stole that from Twitter), released a statement tonight saying the race is still on to find a "conservative alternative" to Romney.

Here it is:

LEESVILLE, S.C. - Gov. Rick Perry tonight issued the following statement:

"Tonight's results in New Hampshire show the race for 'conservative alternative' to Mitt Romney remains wide open. I skipped New Hampshire and aimed my campaign right at conservative South Carolina, where we've been campaigning hard and receiving an enthusiastic welcome. I believe being the only non-establishment outsider in the race, the proven fiscal and social conservative and proven job creator will win the day in South Carolina.

"South Carolina is the next stop. I have a head start here, and it's friendly territory for a Texas governor and veteran with solid outsider credentials, the nation's best record of job creation, and solid fiscal, social and Tea Party conservatism."

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Full Romney remarks

Published by Tim McNulty on .

Mitt Romney wanted to sound every bit the GOP's standard bearer against Barack Obama tonight, as if the primary campaign was all wrapped up: his speech, in full below, mentions the Democrat repeatedly but none of his Republican challengers.

Read it yourself:

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Why Romney call came so early: NYT

Published by Tim McNulty on .

Why the early calls tonight? Simpatico early returns & exit polling, says NYT's Nate Silver:

One reason that news outlets called the race for Mitt Romney so quickly may be that there is strong agreement between the actual results so far, the exit polls and the pre-election polls.

Based on votes counted so far, Mr. Romney has 35 percent of the vote, Ron Paul 24 percent and Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. 18 percent.

The exit polls? Almost exactly the same numbers: Mr. Romney 36 percent, Mr. Paul 23 percent, Mr. Huntsman 18 percent.

The pre-election polls, meanwhile, pointed to a finish of Romney 39, Paul 19, Huntsman 17, according to our projections. It looks like Mr. Paul may beat those numbers by 3 to 5 points and Mr. Romney may lag behind them by about the same margin, but that's a pretty good result for the pollsters compared to how New Hampshire surveys have fared in past primaries.

- Nate Silver

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Paul, Huntsman 2nd, 3rd

Published by Tim McNulty on .

As of 8:15 pm, the networks are calling Ron Paul in 2nd place and Jon Huntsman in 3rd. Only question now is if Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum are fourth.

Santorum's speech should be pretty interesting.

UPDATE 8:45PM With 25% of the results in, Gingrich leads Santorum for fourth place by 70 votes.

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Romney aims for rare trifecta

Published by Tim McNulty on .

HOOKSETT, N.H. -- Mitt Romney is aiming for a trifecta in South Carolina after becoming the first non-incumbent to win the GOP's presidential contests in New Hampshire and Iowa.

There had been little doubt that he would win the first primary here, in a state in his backyard and one in which he's unofficially campaigned non-stop since a disappointing loss hobbled his presidential bid four years ago. But but the size of his winning margin here, seen as a test of whether he would go limping or charging into the next primaries in South Carolina and Florida, reaffirmed his status as the front runner in the race.

Exit polls and early returns suggested that Rep. Ron Paul wold finish second; a surging Jon Huntsman third. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Sen. Rick Santorum were farther back in a battle for fourth.

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