GOP Candidates Making Final Push Ahead Of New Hampshire Primary
CONCORD, N.H. (CBSNewYork) -- Monday marked the last full day of campaigning in New Hampshire. Mitt Romney is still ahead in the polls, but the other Republican presidential candidates were not ready to concede anything in advance of the nation's first primary.
WCBS 880's Peter Haskell With Students From Mamaroneck In New Hampshire
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Romney got a standing ovation from business leaders in Nashua on Monday. The former Massachusetts governor virtually ignored his opponents and slammed President Barack Obama.
"It scares me to think about four more years and the debt we would have," Romney said.
Romney isn't letting anything stand in his way of winning in New Hampshire. He called on supporters Sunday to drown out protesters trying to crash his rally.
"We're happy for you guys to express your views, next time try to do it with a bit more courtesy," Romney said.
His supporters have remained steadfast that Romney is the person who can change America going forward.
"I think Mitt Romney is the guy who will turn the economy around. That's my main concern," Bob Duffy said,
1010 WINS' Al Jones with voters
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Romney has called in the big guns to help him including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has been stumping for the GOP presidential hopeful.
He brought his patented New Jersey-sensibility to New Hampshire and for Christie that meant a strident attack on President Obama.
"He understands that the American people are angry and they're scared and they're worried about the future," Christie said. "So he's decided as the most cynical re-election strategy you could ever think of -- that he doesn't care that you're angry, he just wants you to be angry at someone else."
1010 WINS' Steve Sandberg reports
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CBS 2's Marcia Kramer reports New Jersey's chief executive was like a steamroller in New Hampshire and didn't miss a beat when Occupy Wall Street protesters attacked him and Romney as job killers.
"If she wasn't so blinded the by her Obama-induced anger she'd know that American jobs are coming back when Mitt Romney is the next president of the U.S.," Christie said. "If she wasn't so disoriented by the loss of hope and change she'd understand that Mitt Romney is the hope for America's future."
Romney is heading into Tuesday's primary on top but that isn't stopping his rivals from piling on the attacks.
At the second of two back-to-back debates this weekend, they bashed everything from Romney's record to his electability, resulting in a 10-point drop in one poll.
"If he had such a great record in Massachusetts why couldn't he get re-elected?" Rick Santorum said.
Newt Gingrich painted Romney as a failed career politician saying, "The fact is, you ran in '94 and lost. That's why you weren't serving in the senate with Rick Santorum.
Gingrich then told CBS 2's Kramer on Monday that his negative attacks on Romney haven't been out of necessity, but rather to expose the truth.
"Well, first of all, I'm drawing a very sharp contrast with Governor Romney who is a Massachusetts moderate. My conclusion after Iowa was very simple: you could not engage in unilateral disarmament when 45 percent of all the ads run were attacks on me."
Santorum is making a push for New Hampshire and the first southern primary. He's already rallying supporters in South Carolina, but added he's a bit wary of the need for many to go negative.
"I gotta tell you that this is a bold plan, that attacks exactly what folks here in New Hampshire are looking for," Santorum told Kramer.
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Even though Romney holds a commanding lead in New Hampshire polls show he's dropped eight points since Tuesday leaving the rest of the candidates hoping to gain from his losses.
"They say this state loves an underdog…ladies and gentleman, here is your underdog," Jon Huntsman told supporters at a coffee shop on Sunday.
After spending weeks in New Hampshire, he's jumped to third place behind Ron Paul.
1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reports
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The latest Suffolk University tracking poll has Romney at 35, Paul at 20, Huntsman at 11, Gingrich at 9, Santorum at 8 and Rick Perry at 1 percent. The poll indicates 15 percent of voters remain undecided.
"None of them really impress me as far as their views," voter Ed Loughlin told 1010 WINS' Al Jones. "There are a few decent ones out there who decided not to run."
New Hampshire is expecting a big turnout for Tuesday's vote.
Pundits say the higher the turnout the better it will be for Romney and possibly Huntsman who has urged independents and democrats to vote in the Republican primary, but it's clear that even if Romney triumphs Tuesday he could be in for a much tougher battle once the primaries switch south.
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