Mitt Romney easily showed strength in New Hampshire. Mitt vs. the dead-enders

HOOKSETT, N.H. – Any remotely sympathetic observer would have to say that Mitt Romney easily cleared the bar on what he needed to do in the New Hampshire primary, and in the process took a big step toward the Republican presidential nomination.

The big variable in the GOP contest, of course, rests in the hands of people who are deeply unsympathetic to Romney and the idea of him leading the party against Barack Obama: How much fight do they really have left?


As the anybody-but-Romney forces vowed to press on to South Carolina and beyond, their fortunes were set back in New Hampshire in ways deeper even than Romney’s 16-point win would suggest.

There are three major factors working to the front-runner’s advantage:

— The community of elected officials and operatives in Washington and party regulars around the country is making it increasingly clear they are ready to unite around someone who is now 2-and-0 in the early states. These influential voices — who include many fund-raisers and other sorts of people who are unwise for politicians to alienate — will greet the kind of scorched-earth tactics necessary to slow Romney’s march with hostility.

— Many conservative activists, while not especially enthusiastic about Romney or his establishment backers, are appalled by the odd turn of campaign rhetoric in the closing days of New Hampshire, with Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman taking aim at Romney’s record running the private equity firm Bain Capital. These people, who include radio commentator Rush Limbaugh, are apoplectic that anti-Romney Republicans are making common cause with anti-business Democrats.

— For now, the anti-Romney vote is deeply splintered among rival candidates, none of whom showed strength in both Iowa or New Hampshire, or who has yet amassed the necessary organization and financial resources to compete credibly beyond South Carolina.

Buoyant about their strong New Hampshire showing, prominent Romney backers for the first time began sounding notes about party unity – a not-so-subtle message to their opponents that they ought to bow to the inevitable.

“I do believe that if we reach a point where the verdict becomes clear it’s important for everybody to unite,” said former Sen. Jim Talent, a close Romney adviser. “I don’t think we’re they’re yet but we’ve taken a major step towards that point.”

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a leading Romney surrogate, echoed Talent.

“It’s a strong message, it’s a compelling result,” said Pawlenty of the Granite State victory. “And I think people are going to have to now start to think about how do we best unite the party.”

Pawlenty, who himself faced a difficult decision this past summer about whether to quit, added: “I don’t presuppose to tell other candidates whether to stay in or get out of the race.”

But other Republicans, seeing no Romney alternative and intensifying attacks on the frontrunner from President Obama’s high command, are being less subtle about their desire to wrap up the primary.

“The focus has got to be on Obama – now,” said Jack Oliver, a prominent Republican fundraiser and close Bush family ally who attended Romney’s victory speech.

To reinforce the idea of their inevitability, Romney officials noted that they would report just under $25 million raised for the fourth quarter — his best money performance to date.

Some ostensibly neutral Republican powers are also coming to Romney’s aid.

American Crossroads, the well-funded third-party group founded by Karl Rove and Mike Duncan, pushed back against the notion put forward by the Obama campaign that Romney is a “25% man.”

“The 25% level of support we’re seeing with Romney is a floor, not a ceiling,” wrote Jonathan Collegio, communications director at Crossroads.

Beyond such nudges, Romney is being aided by the attacks on his record as a buyout specialist and the layoffs that sometimes followed. The assault, led by Gingrich and joined by Huntsman and Rick Perry, has angered Republicans who are either tepid or downright skeptical about Romney.

By questioning free enterprise, as conservatives are characterizing it, Romney’s rivals are doing for him what the one-time moderate has been unable to do for himself: draw sympathy from the right-wing.

Limbaugh spent much of his show Tuesday fulminating against the criticism of Romney’s tenure restructuring companies at Bain.

“Capitalism is under assault here in the Republican Party,” said Limbaugh. “I’m telling you, I don’t care how much you love Newt, that is not good. Capitalism being under assault in the Republican Party is not gonna help us at all. It’s what Michael Moore does.”

Limbaugh even suggested that Gingrich was acting like Ross Perot, whose independent 1992 candidacy gravely damaged then-President George Bush’s re-election prospects.

“He just wanted to deny it to Bush,” said Limbaugh of Perot, adding: “So you might say that Newt now has adopted the Perot stance.”

Limbaugh, a dominant voice in conservative politics and persistent Romney critic, was joined by others in giving cover to the establishment choice – much to the delight of Team Mitt.

“I’m with Rush on this,” quipped Stuart Stevens, Romney’s chief strategist, when asked about the business attacks.

Romney himself sought to use the issue to his advantage.

“In the last few days, we have seen some desperate Republicans join forces with [Obama]. This is such a mistake for our party and for our nation,” he said. “This country already has a leader who divides us with the bitter politics of envy.”

Former Gov. John Sununu went even further.

“If they want to run in the Democratic primary with Obama, go right ahead and do it,” said Sununu. “But don’t sound like Obama and stay in the Republican primary.”

He added: “Under pressure, they’ve collapsed on principle. I’m surprised about Gov. Perry, I’m not surprised at the self-serving nature of Newt Gingrich.”

Neither showed any sign of retreat Tuesday.

On the stump in South Carolina, Perry compared Romney to a vulture for picking on weak companies.

And, in a CNN interview, Gingrich poured it on.

“Those of us who believe in free markets and those of us who believe that, in fact, the whole goal of investment is entrepreneurship and job creation, would find it pretty hard to justify rich people figuring out clever legal ways to loot a company, leaving behind 1,700 families without a job,” said the former speaker.

But Romney isn’t just getting help from Limbaugh — other important conservative voices are coming to his defense.

The Club for Growth, a group that has also been uneasy about Romney, and influential Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who endorsed the former governor in 2008 but has remained on the sidelines this year, also weighed in.

“I think Romney’s going to win here,” DeMint predicted of his home state on a radio show Tuesday. “I think that some of the others that might have had an advantage here have really crossed ways with some Republicans as they’ve criticized free enterprise concepts.”

Just as important as his New Hampshire triumph and the blowback from the Bain attacks, Romney goes into South Carolina with three conservative rivals who have no plans to withdraw before the January 21st vote there.

By effectively tying Gingrich in New Hampshire, Rick Santorum lost some of his Iowa momentum and has less of a case to make now about why conservatives should rally around his candidacy.

And with millions coming into his super PAC that is going on South Carolina TV, Gingrich isn’t going anywhere.

Even as they mostly target Romney, advisers to the two candidates are growing scratchy about the presence of the other in the race.

“A lot of conservative leaders are going to have to choose,” said Santorum strategist John Brabender, downplaying their poor New Hampshire performance by noting that they didn’t spend money on broadcast TV ads here.

“Right idea, wrong candidate,” shot back Gingrich adviser Kevin Kellems.

And then there is Perry, who, in a last-ditch effort to revive his candidacy, is already on the TV airwaves and barnstorming South Carolina.

“The problem on the right has become historic now,” said conservative p.r. man Greg Mueller of the conservative divide. “Not since 1980, Reagan v. Bush, has the conservative movement had a clean shot at the nomination. For three decades now so many conservatives have run and stayed in the race long enough where they block each other out of a chance to emerge like a roller derby match and the centrist, more establishment candidate skates right on through.”

The one bit of good news anybody-but-Romney diehards got Tuesday was that Jon Huntsman’s 17 percent New Hampshire performance appears to be sufficient for him to go on to South Carolina – and potentially take votes which otherwise would go to Romney there.

Romney officials portrayed Huntsman as little more than an irritant – but made clear he was indeed irritating.

“Why is Huntsman in the race?” Sununu growled. “I guess he’s got money to waste.”