Primary

Jon Huntsman appears to be the momentum candidate in New Hampshire ahead of today’s Republican presidential primary vote. Tracking polls conducted in the race show him moving up, he put in his best debate showing of the race thus far on Sunday, he's up on television and he even won the endorsement of the Boston Globe in recent days. The fight for second behind former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney now appears to be between Huntsman and Texas Rep. Ron Paul. So, Huntsman now seems set to overperform the (admittedly low) expectations for him in New Hampshire. But can he turn a second or third place finish? No, according to most seasoned Republican operatives who have spent considerable time working in Palmetto State politics.“Any candidate with an unexpectedly strong showing in New Hampshire gets a spike in public attention which tends to provide some boost in South Carolina,” said Jon Lerner, who is pollster and media consultant for Romney-supporting South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. “However, Jon Huntsman’s profile as the most liberal candidate in the field really limits his growth potential and makes him very unlikely to gain any meaningful traction.”

So who will win New Hampshire? We'll see.

Huntsman on the Rise

Recently in New Hampshire the GOP primary has created a lot of buzz around Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Santorum. However recent polls have had former Utah Senator John Huntsman on the rise in polls in places in New Hampshire. Huntsman is considered to be the most liberal of the Republican voters is likely getting more votes in New Hampshire because the populous is generally more liberal. Huntsman who has never been favored in many polls is starting to get more attention which could make the race ahead a little more interesting.

High Stakes New Hampshire Race

Tonight the results from the New Hampshire Primary will be revealed. The turnout has been steady and so far Romney has a win and a tie. He beat Ron Paul 5 - 4 in Hart's location and tied with Huntsman in Dixville Notch. In the Democratic primary Obama received all the votes in both locations (Harts and Dixville Notch). Late polls have shown Huntsman and Paul running neck-and-neck for second place. Since Iowa, Gingrich has been pounding against Romney. He doesn't think Romney is the right guy to go up against Obama. Perry sided with Gingrich in attacking Romney's business record. As of now, Romney tops most national polling and is ahead in the latest surveys in South Carolina and Florida, the next two states to hold contests following New Hampshire. On Monday in one off his speeches he had a slip up. He said, "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me,". "You know, if someone doesn't give me the good service I need, I want to say, 'You know, I'm going to go get someone else to provide that service to me.' " The first seven words of that sentence -- "I like being able to fire people," dangled like low-hanging fruit, and some of Romney's rivals pounced.

Romney & New Hampshire primary

Although Huntsman's rise in the polls has given Romney some competition, Romney still has a good shot at winning the New Hampshire primary. However, will a win by a large margin in New Hampshire be enough to secure support in South Carolina? This morning's polls regarding the New Hampshire primary show Romney leading with 37 percent. Ron Paul is backed by 18 percent of likely voters and Mr. Huntsman is backed by 16 percent. For Mr. Romney, the size of his margin over his rivals could be an important point as he heads into South Carolina, a conservative state that he lost to Senator John McCain four years ago. A big victory in New Hampshire could provide Mr. Romney with bragging rights and a renewed sense of inevitability after his small victory in Iowa.

Even as voters are lining up in New Hampshire, the focus of the political struggle is shifting to South Carolina. A new ad by Gingrich attacks Mr. Romney’s anti-abortion credentials, saying that he “governed pro abortion” during his time leading Massachusetts. Tracking polls on Monday had suggested that Mr. Romney’s lead over his rivals had been narrowing, having dropped by 10 percentage points during the prior five days. Mr. Romney’s rivals are guessing that even a victory for him with a large margin in New Hampshire can be overcome in South Carolina, where conservative and religious voters may not be as receptive to a former governor from Massachusetts.

Result of the Iowa Caucus

It was a close race between Romney and Santorum in the Iowa caucuses this week. However, Romney pulled through by a mere 8 votes. They were tied at about 25% for the majority of the caucuses, but it just wasn't enough for Santorum. Ron Paul also had a good run receiving 21.3% of the votes. Bachmann, with only 5% of the votes, ended up dropping out of the presidential race completely after the lack of support from voters. Huntsman didn't take the Iowa caucuses too seriously and ended up with only 0.6% of the votes. Apparently Buddy Roemer is still in the race, but it doesn't look very hopeful for him considering he only received 31 votes total in the caucuses. All except for Bachmann will be continuing to New Hampshire for another primary. Perry said he is going to head back to Texas to do some "reevaluating" after receiving about 10% of the votes in Iowa. He may raise more votes in New Hampshire if he plays his "reevaluating" cards right. Ten days can change a lot, so we'll see who is able to pull through then and who will end up falling through the cracks.

Iowa Caucuses--Rick Santorum?

In a GOP Nomination race which has seen so many swings between candidates, the Iowa Caucus appears to be just another turn in the road. As of about 9 PM, albeit with most of the precincts yet to report, Rick Santorum was leading the Iowa Caucus, with 24.2% of the vote, with Ron Paul (23.7%) and Mitt Romney (22.3%) trailing closely behind him. Santorum, who has invested a large amount of time in Iowa over the last few weeks and months, is the latest rise in the series of potential nominees who have seen a sudden jump to the top, including Rick Perry, Herman Cain, and Newt Gingrich, all along with Mitt Romney, who has consistently held his spot as either the narrow front-runner or a close second. If Santorum is able to continue to do well in Iowa and finish first or a close second or third, he would undoubtedly receive a large jump in the polls, where he sits at a small 6% of the national GOP vote right now according to Gallup. His performance over the rest of the night is certainly something all interested in the GOP nomination should follow.

Still Up in the Air

The GOP race for the presidency may have been interesting so far, but now that we have rolled around to the new year, the polls are fluctuating, the candidates much more fierce, and the public opinion much more particular in their demands for the potential president-to-be. It is definitely not clear who is "winning" or "losing" anymore. This is evident in Gingrich, who only a short while ago claimed that he "would be the nominee". But in more recent reviews, Gingrich has claimed that he does not think he will win. The situation is similar with Romney, who although may possess the face of a president, may not possess the qualities. Everything is up in the air, and everyone is waiting for something major to cause a shift in this constant state of waiting and stop-and-go polls within the campaigns. And with the Iowa caucus just ahead, the entire game can change instantly and drastically not just for the candidates but for the people too.