Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

 

Mit Rommney Wins First, Ron Paul Second in New Hampshire Republican Primary

By Editor of Al-Jazeera, CCUN, January 11, 2012

Ron Paul made it again winning the second position in the New Hampshire Republican primary elections. He won 24% of the votes while Romney won 38%.

Pundits of the Zionist media in the US ignored Ron Paul dismissing him as unelectable, focusing on other candidates whose major credential is loyalty to Israel and its wars around the world.

The Zionist media pundits have already chosen Romney as the "unstoppable as the GOP nominee." from just the two races of Iowa and New Hampshire. They will keep repeating this propaganda primary after primary to influence Republican voters to vote for the "electable" candidates.

All of this of course is because Ron Paul has identified America's problems as a result of policing the world, in continuous wars, causing the financial collapse and the unprecedented national debt of $15 trillion.

Zionists want to keep squeezing the U.S. to the last dollar in Israeli wars to subjugate Arabs and Muslims to the global Zionist Empire and its regional bully of the Middle East, the Apartheid state of Israel.

If Ron Paul is elected as the Republican presidential candidate, he will be a real alternative for the American people, not only for the Obama administration, but also for the Republican and Democratic establishments, which are tightly controlled by Israelis and and their Zionist supporters and Israel-firsters in the U.S.

Are Republican voters going to elect Ron Paul against the establishment candidate, Romney, and all the Zionist propaganda machine with him?

It's hard to imagine!

Who knows, this could be the American Spring! 

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Paul hopes to ride momentum to GOP convention

By Dana Bash and Deirdre Walsh, CNN

updated 5:33 AM EST, Thu January 12, 2012 Rep.

Manchester, New Hampshire (CNN) --

Fresh off his strong second-place showing in New Hampshire, Ron Paul's campaign charted a path Wednesday to try to keep his momentum going, perhaps all the way to the Republican National Convention this summer.

The first step is spending big money in South Carolina, where the campaign turns next.

Jesse Benton, Paul's campaign chairman, told CNN the campaign plans to spend about $1 million in South Carolina, which is a significant amount in a state where television advertising isn't all that expensive.

Benton said in addition to television and radio ads, they have also started their direct-mail operation in the state.

Paul expects his strong showing in New Hampshire to fuel more fundraising for his campaign, he told CNN in an exclusive interview as he was learning of his second-place finish.

Paul: People accepting my message Ron Paul campaign chair on 2nd place Paul: We're nibbling at Romney's heels Ron Paul: In his own words

"I bet you will see a lot of enthusiasm which will give me encouragement. And when the supporters get enthusiastic they usually go ahead and start another money bomb," Paul said, referring to a short online burst of fundraising.

Paul's aides admitted his organization in Iowa and New Hampshire far exceeded the campaign organization in South Carolina and beyond. But they also hope his impressive finish in both of the first two contests will spur grassroots growth.

Paul finished a solid third in last week's Iowa caucuses.

Earlier this week, Paul told CNN he would not focus on Florida, which follows 10 days after South Carolina, because of the high cost of competing there.

"It tells you we are realistic," Paul said. "I think at this stage we shouldn't be acting like the government and spend money we don't have."

Another reason: The winner of Florida's primary takes all 50 of the state's delegates, unlike other states this time around, which dole out delegates proportional to the candidates' votes.

But Benton said after Paul's strong finish in New Hampshire, the campaign might reconsider that decision. He suggested the Florida GOP may change its winner-take-all rules.

But Florida Republican Party spokesman Brian Hughes said the party has no plans to reconsider the state's delegate allocation.

"We are committed to our rules -- winner-take-all for our 50 delegates," Hughes said.

Paul's campaign said it plans on competing hard in smaller, upcoming caucus states like Nevada, Louisiana and Maine.

Even if Mitt Romney is unstoppable as the GOP nominee after back-to-back wins in Iowa and New Hampshire, Paul and his aides made clear he intends to keep his campaign going, perhaps all the way to the convention. The more delegates he can rack up, the more leverage he would have to integrate key messages of his libertarian, anti-interventionist movement into the Republican Party platform.

"That sounds like a lot of fun," Paul told CNN's John King USA recently, calling it a potential "way for me to promote the things I believe in, and that is a political action."

"So yes, if we have something to say, who knows, they might even have something in the platform that says, maybe we ought to look at the Federal Reserve and maybe we ought to reconsider and not (go) to war unless we have a declaration of war, which is very, very popular with the American people," Paul said.

As for running as a third-party candidate, as some of his supporters are pushing, Paul maintains he's solidly in the Republican race and has no plans for a third-party run.

"We're running a tight race and we'll see what happens," he told CNN Tuesday night.

GOP race shifts South as rivals hope to block Romney from a rare sweep of early primaries

January 11, 2012, 8:26 AM EST

By BRIAN BAKST Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) --

Mitt Romney says he's ready for an uphill climb in South Carolina after coasting through New Hampshire. As the Republican presidential contest moves south, his rivals are sharpening their attacks and hoping to win over tea partyers and religious conservatives who feel uncomfortable with the front-runner.

Still, Romney continued to project a confident style Wednesday that must be wearing on his five opponents. He dismissed much of their criticism as stemming from desperation. And he said that while several can raise enough campaign money to keep the nomination fight going, "I expect them to fall by the wayside eventually for lack of voters."

Despite the rougher tone and tougher ideological terrain ahead, the former Massachusetts governor is looking to force his opponents from the race by achieving a four-state streak with victories in South Carolina on Jan. 21 and Florida 10 days later. He posted a double-digit win Tuesday night in New Hampshire after a squeaker the week before in Iowa - making him the first non-incumbent Republican in a generation to pull off the back-to-back feat.

"Tonight we celebrate. Tomorrow we go back to work," Romney told a raucous victory party in Manchester, N.H., probably mindful of the minefields that South Carolina held for him four years ago when he failed to win over Republicans skeptical of his Mormon faith and reversals on some social issues. "We are asking the good people of South Carolina to join the citizens of New Hampshire."

All the candidates planned to campaign in the state Wednesday. Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, ex-Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman were flying in from New Hampshire. They'll join Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who didn't invest much time in New Hampshire while putting his post-Iowa focus on South Carolina.

Several of Romney's rivals have made clear they will seek to undercut the chief rationale of his candidacy: that his experience in private business makes him the strongest Republican to take on President Barack Obama on the economy in the fall. Perry, for one, is accusing Romney of "vulture capitalism" that led to job losses in economically distressed South Carolina.

Romney said his opponents sound like Democrats attacking the free enterprise system and encouraging jealousy toward the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.

"It's a very envy-oriented attack," he said Wednesday on NBC's "Today" show.

Romney said the criticism of his past dealings actually works to his benefit by highlighting the business acumen that will help him set the nation's economy right and shrink the federal government.

TV ads already are filling the airwaves, including negative spots like a new one from Gingrich assailing Romney for switching his position on an issue that resonates strongly with evangelicals who make up the base of the GOP here.

"He governed pro-abortion," the Gingrich ad says. "Massachusetts moderate Mitt Romney: He can't be trusted."

About $3.5 million already has been spent on TV ads in South Carolina, the bulk of it by Perry and a supportive super PAC. But that doesn't count the $3.4 million a pro-Gingrich group has pledged to spend to go after Romney, or the $2.3 million a pro-Romney group plans to spend in the coming days. Santorum and a super PAC friendly to him also are pouring money into the state, as is an outside group working on Huntsman's behalf.

Expect a flood of more hard-hitting commercials - primarily aimed at the front-runner - in a state known for brass-knuckled Republican politics.

Romney, for his part, is dismissing the attacks, most notably the ones over his time at Bain Capital.

"President Obama wants to put free enterprise on trial. In the last few days, we have seen some desperate Republicans join forces with him," Romney said in his victory speech, chastising his critics while acting as though he is already the nominee. "This is such a mistake for our party and for our nation."

"The country already has a leader who divides us with the bitter politics of envy," Romney added.

For all of Romney's challenges, the presence of a cluster of socially conservative candidates fighting to be his chief alternative could work in his favor by splitting the vote on the party's right flank. Santorum, Gingrich, Perry and others split the faith-focused vote in Iowa. South Carolina also has a large contingent of evangelical voters, some of whom remain suspicious of Romney.

"I don't know if we can win South Carolina, I was fourth there last time I ran," Romney said Wednesday on ABC's "Good Morning America. "I know it's an uphill battle."

But Romney noted that he carried the conservative and tea party vote in South Carolina.

Unlike New Hampshire, South Carolina could end up being the last stop for some candidates.

Perry, for one, has had back-to-back dismal showings, and is dismissing the earlier contests as inconsequential as he looks to right his struggling campaign in South Carolina.

"They kind of start separating the wheat from the chaff, if you will," Perry told a cafe crowd Tuesday. "But South Carolina picks presidents."

Gingrich, the former Georgia lawmaker, is also playing on his regional ties.

"The ideal South Carolina fight would be a Georgia conservative versus a Massachusetts moderate," he said, echoing a theme central to his fierce ads.

Santorum and Huntsman also have vowed to press on in the face of Romney's latest victory. Santorum wants to claim the conservative mantle; Huntsman eschews ideological labels and is selling himself as someone who can heal a polarized nation.

"Third place is a ticket to ride, ladies and gentleman," Huntsman boomed from the lectern after finishing third in New Hampshire. "Hello, South Carolina."

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Associated Press writers Shannon McCaffrey and Beth Fouhy in New Hampshire and Connie Cass in Washington contributed to this report.

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