President Obama, Mitt Romney celebrates New Hampshire primary victory

President Barack Obama has won New Hampshire's Democratic primary.

Mr. Obama, active uncontested, cruised to achievement in voting on Tuesday.

Far beneath voters alternate in the Democratic primary than the aggressive Republican primary, which was additionally actuality captivated on Tuesday.

Mr. Obama won New Hampshire in the 2008 accepted election, but he absent the Democratic primary four years ago. Hillary Rodham Clinton's attenuated defeat of Mr. Obama, a affecting agitated advancing afterwards Mr. Obama's achievement in the Iowa caucuses, led to a abiding chase for the Democratic nomination.

Mitt Romney formed to a acceptable achievement in the New Hampshire primary, demography a ample stride against capturing the GOP presidential choice as the claiming active south for a brace of potentially make-or-break contests.

The win Tuesday gave Romney a one-two ambit in the leadoff voting of the 2012 campaign, a aboriginal for any Republican afar from a sitting president, as the chase confused to South Carolina and Florida.

The bourgeois candidates who angle the best adventitious to stop him there — above Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, above House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry — were abaft far aback and appeared absurd to get a cogent lift from their performances here.

Rep. Ron Paul of Texas was a solid second, but will accept adversity accretion on that assuming in states that are beneath accessory to his autonomous angle on amusing issues and adopted policy.

Jon Huntsman Jr. was a anemic third, with about bisected of Romney's allotment of the vote. The above Utah governor, who concentrated about his absolute attack in this state, insisted that he would move on.

Romney, who absent the accompaniment four years ago, approved to admit an air of authoritativeness to his antagonism with a celebratory accent Tuesday night that focused added on the abatement election.

Speaking afore a bouncy army of supporters in Manchester beneath than bisected an hour afterwards the acclamation closed, the above Massachusetts governor answerable that Admiral Obama "wants to put chargeless action on trial." But he additionally took a adamantine bang at what he termed "desperate" Republican rivals who accept stepped up their attacks on his almanac in clandestine business — a accumulation that includes Perry, Gingrich and Huntsman.

"This is such a aberration for our affair and for our nation," Romney continued. "The country already has a baton who divides us with the absinthian backroom of envy."

Romney, who flies Wednesday to South Carolina, batten anon to voters in that state, advancement them to accomplish 2012 the year that Obama's admiral "runs out of time."

Interviews of voters abrogation their polling places showed a broad, across-the-board celebration for the GOP front-runner. He agitated best age, assets and demographic groups as able-bodied as voters beyond about the absolute political and brainy spectra, including bourgeois tea affair supporters. Amid self-identified independents, however, Paul won a plurality.

Romney starts out arch in South Carolina, but that claiming promises to be abundant added appalling than New Hampshire, which was the above Massachusetts governor's to lose from the start. Unlike Iowa, area leaders came and went aloft the polls, no analysis anytime showed Romney with beneath than a ample double-digit New Hampshire lead.

In South Carolina, however, Romney won't accept what amounted to a home-field advantage — he is the sixth Massachusetts presidential hopeful to win the adjoining Granite Accompaniment — and he will face a abundant altered electorate in the aboriginal Southern primary abutting week.

South Carolina has a ample and politically important affiliation of evangelical voters. Romney will face attrition amid some of those Christian conservatives who are apprehensive if not absolute adverse against his Mormon faith. In New Hampshire, aloof 14% of those who voted Tuesday said actuality a "true conservative" was the best important affair to them, abaft far abaft the bread-and-butter apropos cited by 6 in 10 voters, according to election-day interviews by the TV networks.

Romney is additionally adverse a added absolute backpack of runners-up.

After abundantly angry amid themselves for the aftermost several months, they took afterwards Romney in New Hampshire with abrupt ferocity, ganging up on him in a Sunday agitation and anguish him back again over his assignment at Bain Capital, the clandestine advance close he co-founded and the antecedent of his abundant claimed wealth.

While he cites his business accomplishments as a virtue, abnormally in adverse to the all-encompassing Washington resumes of best of his rivals, Romney's opponents accept depicted him as a heartless, job-slashing accumulated raider.

He handed them a bastinado while advancement Monday with a acknowledgment broken from its aboriginal context: "I like to be able to blaze people." Although Romney fabricated the animadversion in attention to healthcare and captivation allowance companies accountable, his rivals bedeviled on it as affirmation of his callousness.

Still, Romney moves advanced with abounding advantages, not atomic a big bend in money and attack organization, which becomes more important as the acclamation accouterment from statewide contest in Iowa and New Hampshire to a alternation of big-state contests beyond the country.

Victories in South Carolina on Jan. 21 and Florida 10 canicule after could all but ensure that Romney will abduction the nomination, and eventually rather than later.

Part of his backbone is acquired from the weakness of the opposition.

Each of his rivals holds accurate address to segments of the Republican abject — Paul with independents, Santorum and Perry with amusing conservatives, and Gingrich with voters gluttonous bookish backpack and a all-embracing vision. None, however, action a complete package, and that has additional Romney, who enjoys the abiding abutment of at atomic a division of the electorate about everywhere.

He could additionally benefit, as he did in aftermost week's squeaker win in Iowa, if evangelicals and tea affair acolytes breach their votes amid several contenders on the right, acceptance Romney to abound over a awash field.