The newest polls in the Republican presidential race are out following the Tuesday Iowa caucus vote that Mitt Romney won by a narrow eight vote margin. The polls show Romney leading in New Hampshire but Iowa has given Rick Santorum and Ron Paul a small bump.
According to a 7 News/Suffolk University tracking poll released on Thursday, the former Massachusetts governor continues to lead in the Granite State, the site of the first primary vote. He comes in first with the support of 41 percent after polling 43 percent the day before.
Texas Congressman Ron Paul was second in the poll with 18 percent support, up from 14 percent a day earlier. Santorum had 8 percent in the new poll — an increase from 6 percent the day prior. Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman each had the support of 7 percent of likely voters and 17 percent of Republicans are undecided.
Santorum said yesterday, according to Reuters, that he doesn’t expect to win New Hampshire but believes he can make up ground on Romney.
“Obviously Mitt Romney is at 40 percent in the polls, the chances in five days to make up a 35 or 40 point lead is going to be pretty limited but we expect to make a run and to move up in those polls and to show that we’re the candidate with the momentum and we’ll carry that into South Carolina,” Santorum said. “New Hampshire can make a huge statement here. New Hampshire can choose the conservative alternative (to Romney) and that’s really what this is about.”
Senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, endorsed Romney yesterday and told New Hampshire voters that the state is an expectations game and Romney needs to win by a large margin to carry into South Carolina and Florida.
“What you need to do, I’m asking you, is to make sure that you send him to South Carolina which such momentum that it cannot be stopped,” McCain said. [related]
A second New Hampshire poll, conducted by the Union Leader newspaper, shows Romney at 47 with Paul at 17 percent, Huntsman 13, Santorum 10 and Gingrich 9.
Santorum, who got the biggest exposure from essentially tying Romney in Iowa, told the newspaper he thinks he can make up ground because of his frequent visits to New Hampshire.
“We feel very good,” he said. “I feel like we have laid the groundwork, we have paid attention to New Hampshire and we have done our homework.
“If we can finish third, that’s a damn good place to be, and I think we have a chance of finishing second,” he said. “If we have a similar bump in the next poll, we’re ahead” of all but Romney.
“We feel we can lead the (non-Romney) pack or finish second in that pack. An overall third place would be remarkable, candidly. Six days ago we were at 4 percent in the polls. If we can finish with 15, that’s not quite the meteoric rise we had in Iowa, but we had a little bit longer to do it there.”
