Romney,s Victory, Many Voters Spent Weeks Wavering

Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire primary Tuesday night with a broad-based coalition of both conservative and moderate voters overwhelmingly motivated by their worries about America’s economic future and wanting above all to beat President Barack Obama in November.


According to exit poll data, more than a third of voters on Tuesday said the quality that mattered most in deciding their vote was the candidate’s ability to defeat Obama. Romney won an overwhelming 62 percent of those voters.
Regardless of how they voted, 56 percent of Tuesday’s voters thought Romney would be most likely to beat Obama in November; the runner-up in that category was Rep. Ron Paul of Texas with only 15 percent and only 11 percent saw former ambassador to China Jon Huntsman as most likely to defeat Obama.


In Concord, the state capital, Emily Phelps, 64, an independent voter, said she had decided to back Mr. Huntsman after the weekend debate, when Mr. Romney criticized him for being President Obama’s ambassador to China. “When he said to Romney, ‘Listen, I did my service for my country and you’re being nasty to me,’ ” Ms. Phelps, a nurse, said, “I thought, it’s about time somebody spoke up to that guy.”


Jeris Connor, who voted for Mr. Paul, said he had been an ardent Obama supporter in 2008 but had quickly become disillusioned. Mr. Connor, a 28-year-old independent, said he had changed his registration from Democrat this year because he liked Mr. Paul’s “message of peace, his wanting to bring the troops home, his strong stance on not flip-flopping and sticking to his guns.”


Mr. Connor will probably vote for Mr. Obama this fall if Mr. Paul is not the Republican nominee — but he will do so grudgingly, he said.


In Bedford, an affluent suburb of Manchester, several voters supporting Mr. Romney cited his experience in the business, and particularly his tenure at the private equity firm Bain Capital.


“It further encouraged me to vote for him,” said Jack McInerney, a Republican who also voted for Mr. Romney in the 2008 primary.


In Laconia, in the politically conservative Lakes Region, Niel Young, a columnist and conservative radio host, said he was still undecided at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, though he was leaning toward Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, who barely campaigned here.


“I’ve been with a lot of them,” Mr. Young, 66, said, wearily ticking off a string of Republican candidates as if they had been disappointing blind dates.


“I started out with Bachmann,” he said, referring to Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who left the race after faring poorly in the Iowa caucuses. “But she didn’t spend enough time in New Hampshire. And then I thought, well, Newt’s on fire, he’ll be all right. And then it was Santorum. And then I was going to go with Perry if all else fails. And all else failed.