GOP candidates storm the Granite State

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

Workers at Globe Manufacturing in Pittsfield, N.H., listen as former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, a Republican presidential candidate, speaks during a gathering at their workplace.

BRENTWOOD, N.H. -- After Iowa's historic caucus cliffhanger, Mitt Romney's rivals battled to offset his advantages in a state in which he has a vacation home and whose residents watched his tenure as governor from their perch on the periphery of the Massachusetts media market.

After flying from Des Moines, Iowa, Mr. Romney savored his reed-thin victory at a rally where he accepted the endorsement of the GOP's last presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Rick Santorum, whose underdog campaign held the front-runner to a virtual tie Tuesday, basked in a suddenly bright media spotlight as he courted votes along the state's seacoast. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich tried to recover from a disappointing fourth place finish as he was scheduled to speak to a college crowd this evening while Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., acknowledged her slide by abandoning a presidential bid.

And after a day of mixed signals, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who had seemed to be about to follow the same course Tuesday night, said he would press on here, and particularly in South Carolina. Texas Rep. Ron Paul didn't have any appearances scheduled in the state until Friday, but members of his ardent corps of volunteers made their way here after watching his close third-place finish in the Hawkeye caucuses.

Mr. Santorum appeared before hundreds of potential primary voters here at a town hall meeting sponsored by the Rockingham County Republican Party. In a brief speech and an extended question-and-answer session, he contended that President Barack Obama and his administration's health care legislation are "destroying the work ethic with the narcotic of government dependency."

He courted votes and controversy as he veered into a wonkish discourse on the need to deal with the rising costs of entitlements. His cost prescriptions included extending already-scheduled increases in the retirements age and a call to curb benefits for more affluent seniors.

Speaking of the political climate and the expectation that Mr. Romney is a significant favorite here, Mr. Santorum said, "You're the first in the nation primary; you have a huge burden. You fight to be first, you have responsibility that goes with that, the responsibility to lead."

The former senator said that in the wake of his stunning Iowa showing, 50 percent of the funds he has raised so far were donated just yesterday.

Waiting for the Iowa contenders was former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who has been steadily laying the groundwork for the first primary here while his opponents were counting votes half a continent away.

"I'm an underdog, and this state loves underdogs," the former ambassador to China said at a Manchester town meeting Wednesday, where he campaigned with former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge.

"The establishment is going to tee up Mitt Romney and say, 'There's your guy,' " Mr. Huntsman said. "This nation can't afford a status quo president," he continued, arguing that he offered a surer and more fundamental solution to the nation's deficit and manufacturing problems. He also pointed to a difference between himself and the two Iowa leaders as he called for a speedy withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

Mr. Ridge shrugged off the deadlock that gripped the political world Tuesday as he said of the Iowa results, "If you have 25 percent of the registered Republicans voting, and you get 25 percent of that 25 percent, that means you excited about 6 percent of these Republicans."

The two former governors spoke to a crowd of about 150 at the Manchester headquarters of Public Service of New Hampshire, an electric utility.

In a reflection of the task before him and other trailing contenders, a much larger crowd had gathered earlier in the day a few blocks away to witness Mr. Romney's embrace by Mr. McCain, the man who defeated him here four years ago. Mr. McCain joined his former rival at Manchester Central High School for Mr. Romney's first post-Iowa rally.

"New Hampshire is the state that will catapult [Mr. Romney] into victory in a very short time, and that's why I'm here," said Mr. McCain, who revived a left-for-dead campaign here to overtake Mr. Romney and seize the momentum to gain the nomination.

There was some irony in the alliance of former opponents. In an effort to derail Mr. McCain, Mr. Santorum had endorsed Mr. Romney four years ago, a decision he was forced to explain repeatedly as he battled to the wire with the former Massachusetts governor in Iowa. Mr. McCain was able to take his revenge on the former Pennsylvania senator for endorsing Mr. Romney -- by endorsing Mr. Romney.

"My goodness. What a squeaker," Mr. Romney said of the Iowa result. "The question is: Can we do better here? Do you think we can get more than an eight-vote margin in New Hampshire? I certainly hope so."

Polls suggest that that's likely. Surveys in recent weeks have found him with a commanding lead in the state where he finished second in 2008.

After the thunderous applause that greeted him faded, the tone shifted as several audience members peppered him with questions that varied from inquisitive to combative.

The first came from a man who identified himself as an Occupy Boston and Occupy New Hampshire protester. He wanted to know why the former Massachusetts governor considers corporations people and why he wants to help them even though their profits are going up while workers' wagers are declining.

Revisiting an observation that first sparked controversy last summer, he said businesses are people because they are made up of them. And he said a strong business climate encourages companies to invest in the economy and hire workers, helping everyone.

Politics editor James O'Toole: jotoole@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1562.

First published on January 5, 2012 at 12:00 am

Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12005/1201402-176.stm?cmpid=news.xml

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