6-Feb-2012 - Romney Hoping for Repeat Performance in Nevada

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It was Mr. Romney’s second decisive first-place finish in less than a week, following his victory on Tuesday in Florida. Nevada has only a single-digit percentage of the delegates needed to win the Republican buy NFL Jerseys nomination, making it more of a symbolic win than a practical one. But it gave Mr. Romney an important opportunity to make a more assertive case that the party is finally coming together behind him. And it gave him the advantage in his attempt to dispatch with his chief rival in the Republican contest, Newt Gingrich. The results further deflated the once-vital challenge posed by Mr. Gingrich, who is seeking to make his way through an expected rough few weeks of political weather in which Mr. Romney is expected to do well, before what he hopes will be strong enough showings in the 10 states that vote on March 6, “Super Tuesday,” to revive his chances. Far from competing with Mr. Romney here on Saturday, early result showed that he was running neck and neck with Representative Ron Paul for a claim on second place. And if anything, it appeared possible late Saturday that Mr. Romney would have a higher percentage of caucus support than Mr. Gingrich, Mr. Paul and Mr. Santorum combined. Nevada is almost considered home turf for Mr. Romney, who is Mormon. The state has a large share of Mormons, roughly one quarter of Republican caucusgoers, according to entrance polls. And it shares a border with Utah, where Mr. Romney won credit for saving the troubled 2002 Winter Olympics. But Nevada’s results may say little about the political terrain nationally, since far fewer caucusgoers are believed to have turned out than the number of Republicans who did so in Iowa last month. There were some encouraging signs for Mr. Romney in polls of Nevadans entering caucus sites on Saturday. NFL jersey supply More than 4 in 10 of the caucusgoers surveyed Saturday said the quality that mattered most to them in a candidate was his ability to beat President Obama in the fall, and three-quarters of them said they backed Mr. Romney. The poll was conducted by Edison Research for the national election pool of television networks and The Associated Press. The top issue on the minds of caucusgoers on Saturday was the economy, and nearly two-thirds of those who listed it as their leading concern voted for Mr. Romney, who is running on the argument that his experience as a businessman makes him the best candidate to bring jobs back more quickly. He was supported by almost half of those who said the federal deficit was their biggest concern. Mr. Paul was supported by a quarter of them. (Mr. Gingrich drew support from a fifth of them.) Mr. Paul began building his organization in Nevada early. But he made it clear on Saturday that he is more focused on drawing attention to his issues of limited government, limited deficits and a restrained military than on winning. Before there was any indication of how he would fare in that race for second place, he addressed a boisterous NHL jerseys supply crowd of supporters on Saturday in Minnesota, which holds its primary Tuesday, with a trademark speech. “Something pretty big is happening in this country,” he told the crowd, portraying the support he did have here as a vote for “less government, less war and a free market economy.” Three-quarters of those who attended the caucuses on Saturday said they supported the Tea Party, and half of them supported Mr. Romney, according to the entrance polls. He got about 40 percent of those who “strongly” support the Tea Party movement. Mr. Romney’s strong finish in Nevada came four days after a commanding finish in the Florida primary, would strengthen his hand among the ranks of Republicans who remained skeptical of his candidacy and his conservative foundation. And his cause was helped, at least symbolically, by the fact that Nevada has the highest percentage of Tea Party supporters of any of the states that have held nominating contests so far this year.

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