Today is the ‘first in the nation’ primary in New Hampshire. TPM will have live coverage of the election Tuesday evening. Here are the 10 things you need to know.
- CBS News national poll shows Romney beating Obama: In a new national CBS News poll of potential match-ups between the Republican candidates with President Obama, Romney is the only candidate to beat Obama 47-45. Ron Paul loses to the president 46-45, and Rick Santorum isn’t far behind, losing 47-43. CBS said that voters were generally sticking with their party and that only independent voters are up for grabs.
- Majority of Republican voters want another candidate to enter the race: The race for the GOP nomination is already well underway, but voters aren’t happy with their choices. Another nugget from the CBS poll: 58% of Republican primary voters want at least one more candidate to enter the race. Just 37% are satisfied with the field.
- Pew Survey shows lack of enthusiasm heading into primary: A Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows just 51% of Republican voters are happy with the Republican field. At this time in 2008, that number was 68%. Romney has the highest favorability with 27%.
- Rep. Xavier Becerra will speak on Romney’s jobs record: Democrats continue to hammer Mitt Romney’s jobs record. This time, on the day of the New Hampshire primary, Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-CA) will hold an event at 2pm in Manchester.
- Will Conservatives defend Romney against Newt’s attacks?: Now that Newt Gingrich has come out swinging against greedy capitalism, will conservatives – who no doubt see Newt’s strategy as dangerous to their general election chances – take sides? The Club for Growth issued a statement Monday saying: “Attacking Governor Romney for participating in free-market capitalism is just beyond the pale for any purported ‘Reagan Conservative.’ Newt Gingrich should stop his attacks on free markets and apologize to Governor Romney for them.”
- Jack Welch thinks Romney is ‘perfect’: On Piers Morgan’s CNN show Monday night, former GE CEO Jack Welch praised Mitt Romney saying he hadn’t seen a better candidate for our economic times in 50 years. His wife, Suzy Welch, said it might be Romney’s perfection that has people wary. Ms. Welch used to work with Romney at Bain.
- Obama campaign trying to turnout New Hampshire voters: Just as in Iowa where 25,000 Democrats came out to the polls to vote for the President, Obama’s reelection campaign is trying to do the same in New Hampshire; test their support and reach voters in what will be a swing state this fall.
- Democrats’ Bain attacks are ahead of schedule: Democrats hadn’t planned to attack Romney’s record at Bain until the general election. But once his opponents started doing it, Democrats jumped on board. Now, they’re crisscrossing the country to attack Romney, reports TPM.
- Candidates campaign in New Hampshire: It’s the candidates’ final chance to win over New Hampshire voters, but on the eve of the primary, they all have pretty light schedules; holding just one or two events Tuesday.
- Rick Perry stays in South Carolina on day of primary: Rick Perry, who is basically sitting out New Hampshire, will be in South Carolina today. He has three events planned for Tuesday. If a recent Public Policy Polling survey holds true, Rick Perry could actually come in dead last in New Hampshire behind former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer.
