"There is consensus among scholars and pundits that the New Hampshire primary, because of the timing and the vast media attention, can have a great impact and may even make or break or revive a candidate. Controlling for other factors statistically, a win in New Hampshire increases a candidate's share of the final primary count in all states by 27 percentage points."
The New Hampshire Pimary is significant in a few ways, one of the reasons being that New Hampshire allows non-declared party members to vote in the primary. So for instance the voter does not have to join one party or the other to before they vote. Changing a party affiliation must be done several weeks prior to the election; new voters can, however, register at the polling place.
Mitt Romeny placed first place with Ron Paul in second. If it was not for the 34 vote difference between Romeny and Santorum, Romeny would have been the first canidate in American history to win the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary since the beginnging in the presidential nominating process in 1976.
"Tonight we celebrate, tomorrow we go back to work,” Romney told supporters in after the results were revealed on Tuesday night.
