Romney’s rivals intensify their attacks

Republican candidates are scrutinizing Romney's record at Bain Capital, the private equity firm he co-founded and ran for 14 years.

What happened

Mitt Romney took a major step toward securing the Republican Party’s nomination for president this week, as he overcame increasingly hostile attacks by his rival candidates to win the New Hampshire primary. With his 16-point victory over second-place finisher Ron Paul, Romney became the first nonincumbent Republican candidate to win both the Iowa and New Hampshire contests. His victory sets up the South Carolina primary, on Jan. 21, as a pivotal contest. Another Romney win would effectively end the race, while rivals Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, and Newt Gingrich all hope to give new life to their campaigns in a state more friendly to Southerners and Christian conservatives. Super PACs supporting Gingrich and Perry plan to spend about $5 million on ads attacking Romney as an unprincipled moderate and corporate raider whose greed cost thousands of middle-class people their jobs. “This will be the last stand for some candidates,” said Republican strategist Adam Temple, “and they will go down fighting.”

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