US election 2012: New Hampshire winners and losers

MIXED

Jon Huntsman

Last week, as he sat in fourth place in New Hampshire polls, on seven per
cent, Mr Huntsman would probably have been happy with third place. However,
his mini-surge in the past few days had raised high hopes that he might
finish second in the state on which he has staked his entire campaign for
the nomination. Having skipped Iowa completely, he realistically needed a
top-two finish to give him a significant boost heading into the next few
primaries. As a relative moderate on some social issues and global warming,
South Carolina is not Huntsman territory, and he is currently stuck below
three per cent in polls there. He should do better after that in Florida,
where his campaign is based. But polls indicate that he is doing even worse
there – sitting at just 1.5 per cent of support, according to
RealClearPolitics. Plagued by money problems as well, the former US
ambassador to China faces a difficult path.

LOSERS

Rick Perry

The Governor of Texas, who appears to have finished last with just one per
cent, was the evening’s biggest loser. His campaign is now on life-support.
Over the past week, having finished fifth in the Iowa caucus, Mr Perry
indicated he would pull out of the race, announced he had changed his mind
via a tweeted photo of himself in Lycra running shorts making a ‘thumbs-up’
gesture, and then endured his worst debate since his infamous “Oops”
performance last year. His earthy Texan conservatism was never likely to win
over a majority of Republicans in the northeastern state of New Hampshire.
But he has suffered worse-than-expected result verging on humiliation here.
He has insisted that he will go on to South Carolina, where he certainly
stands to perform better. Even if he makes it there, it is becoming less and
less likely that he will make it much further.

Rick Santorum

The phenomenon known as Santorumentum appears to be over. The former
Pennsylvania senator, who emerged as the eleventh-hour conservative
alternative to “moderate Mitt” in Iowa, allowed expectations to get rather
out of hand after his astonishing near-tie there with Mr Romney. The most
socially Right-wing candidate in the field, he found campaigning in this
more liberal northeastern state tougher going. Voters at campaign stops
around the state put him under pressure for his zero-tolerance stances on
abortion and gay rights. He appeared to have been knocked into fifth place
by Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker, ending up on 10 per cent of
support. South Carolina will be more fruitful territory for the 53-year-old,
but tonight he has been brought back down to earth.

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