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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

McCain backs Romney

Bachmann drops out after finishing sixth

Bachmann
Todd Spangler Detroit Free Press

WASHINGTON – Having eked out a win by eight votes over Rick Santorum in Iowa, Mitt Romney returned to New Hampshire on Wednesday facing high expectations in Tuesday’s Republican presidential primary and a full-page ad from Newt Gingrich in the state’s biggest newspaper attacking him as a “timid Massachusetts moderate.”

Other major developments in the GOP nominating contest Wednesday:

• U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, who finished sixth in Iowa, dropped out of the race.

• Romney picked up the endorsement of U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the party’s presidential nominee in 2008.

• The ad by former House Speaker Gingrich, who finished a distant fourth in Iowa, attacked Romney while describing Gingrich as a “bold Reagan conservative.”

• Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who finished fifth in Iowa, said he was skipping New Hampshire’s primary next week and would focus on South Carolina’s Jan. 21 primary.

Romney faces high expectations in the Granite State, where he doesn’t have the luxury of lowered expectations, as he did in Iowa until the final days. Romney owns a vacation home in New Hampshire and was governor in neighboring Massachusetts. Polls show him with a sizable lead on the field in New Hampshire.

McCain, who won the New Hampshire primary in 2008, could help Romney, who is certain to face withering attacks as he tries to maintain his momentum.

“I am here for one reason,” McCain said, taking the stage with Romney, “that we make Mitt Romney the next president.”

“He’s well set up for a strong showing,” said Dante Scala, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire, noting that McCain won New Hampshire with 37 percent of the vote in 2008 and 48 percent of the vote in 2000. “They’re hoping to hit a mark somewhere in between the two McCain performances,” he said.

Most recent polls have shown Romney with support from more than 40 percent of likely New Hampshire primary voters. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas – who came in a strong third in Iowa – has consistently polled a distant second in New Hampshire.

As long as Romney’s margin over his closest competitor is in double digits, he can claim a big win. With anything less, opponents could see weakness and resolve to stay in.

At this point, it’s difficult to see who will rise up to challenge Romney in New Hampshire.

Santorum, who surprised most pundits by going from also-ran in many polls to front-runner in Iowa in the final days before the caucuses, expects a sizable bounce in New Hampshire and elsewhere. The question Wednesday was not whether he would gain support – as a social conservative, he could pick up many of Bachmann’s backers – but how much that will be worth in the more socially moderate, libertarian-leaning Northeast and whether he has the resources and organization to capitalize on it.

Meanwhile, Gingrich – who was a front-runner in the Iowa race until recently – showed no sign of backing off. After calling Romney a liar and criticizing the attacks that a pro-Romney political action committee made against him in Iowa, Gingrich took out a full-page ad in the Manchester Union Leader.

“He can’t even break out in his own party,” Gingrich said. “Gov. Romney, in the end, has a very limited appeal in a conservative party.”