Tagged: NH Primary

Field producer Kevin Flynn snapped this photo of a button being worn by supporters at Rick Santorum's camp tonight. With nearly half of the precincts reporting, Santorum is in fifth place with 10% of the vote.

The ballroom here at the Radisson hotel has yet to get really crowded, but Newt supporters in attendance remain enthusiastic. One supporter, Glenn Fiscus,  is unsurprised with Newt's poor showing in New Hampshire saying, "Romney did a hatchet job on him in Iowa," referring to the attack ads run by a pro-Romney group in that state. When asked how he liked Newt's chances going forward, Fiscus nods knowingly and says, "We'll see in South Carolina." A pro-Newt group in South Carolina has spent $3.2 million on a negative ad campaign in South Carolina.

Huntsman supporters are making full use of the bar in the Black Brimmer and it looks like a predominantly young crowd. Huntsman is holding a comfortable third place position with 17 percent of the vote with nearly half of the precincts reporting. 

Participating in the NH Primary was not something Sean Michael O'Dwyer planned on doing. American-born, reared in Ireland, O'Dwyer heard Rick Santorum's (moral) victory speech in Iowa and was moved.

"When he was talking about looking at his grandfather's large hands," O'Dwyer recalled Santorum's story of going to his grandfather's wake, "he could have been talking about my father...He didn't work in the mines, but my father worked the land and he had these large hands."

Congressman Ron Paul got up to speak at 8:59PM.  The crowd was enthusiastic and let loose many cheers in reaction to Congressman Paul's speech.

The lights have dimmed at the Ron Paul camp, which mean the speeches will begin in about ten minutes.  Three speakers are slated to go up before Congressman Paul.

NHPR's Jon Greenberg is ready to cover the event.

A group of Huntsman supporters have broken into spontaneous chanting. They are holding up the new red signs yelling "Country First". 

Amid occasional chants of "President Paul," the crowd milling around the Ron Paul election night party is upbeat, though some faces are glum.  The news of some networks calling second place for Ron Paul has not spread through the whole crowd, but those that have heard are not surprised.  Many admit that they were hoping for first but expecting second.