Right On The Right

Update: Here's my liveblogging coverage of tonight's results. Let's roll!

Attack Dog: The Obama camp is smelling victory and Hillary is breaking out the attack dog. It's both gratifying and painful to watch the Clinton Campaign fall apart like this. Painful because I'd prefer if it was the Republicans breaking her down...

Great News for Mitt Romney? There's a lot of speculation that Mitt Romney may be in for a surprisingly good showing tonight. The big story on Romney has to do with independents, and the fact that they're voting for Obama. Good for Mitt now, but bad in the General Election?

ROTR Radio Update: Tonight's radio show, which will once again kick off at 5:30 PM Eastern on BlogTalkRadio, will feature Rick Moran of Right Wing Nut House. Rick is a Fredhead but he has recent pieces about Hillary and Barack that are of interest, plus, I want his take on Mitt's chances tonight against Maverick.

Prediction Time: Mitt +1, Obama +10: Read about my predictions in my new prediction post. I'm adding other folks' predictions too, as I find them. I'm bucking the conventional wisdom and going for Mitt (yes, I'm a bit biased).

Miss My Mid-Day Live Event? I talked about Mitt Romney's chances a bit, and kind of liveblogged what they were saying on FOX News about his campaign today. You can always watch the replay of the live event now.

Consider this the super-thread for my New Hampshire coverage. I may write more posts, but chances are this one will be hovering at the top, with links to anything notable. I may liveblog multiple times today, but expect things to really kick off at 5:30 PM Eastern for my Primary Day Radio Show. I'll be discussing all the major issue.

I have to say, this is an incredibly impressive final please from The Romney Campaign. I have been all over the place this election, giving pretty positive coverage to Romney throughout the race, and recently backing Fred. I shutter at the idea of Huckabee, Maverick, or Giuliani winning the nomination, and while I would like Thompson to pull this out, it's simple looking grim. Mitt Romney is the future of America, if only he'll be embraced. His message:

What's the big news out of New Hampshire the day after Mitt was disappointed in Iowa by an upset from Mike Huckabee? Romney is once again leading, apparently getting a minor bounce from his number two showing despite the media spin. Huckabee, Romney, McCain, Paul, and Giuliani are all going to be on the ground for the next four days (ignoring Wyoming), so this situation is fluid. Obama's win and Paul's tough campaigning might help Romney by pulling independents from McCain. Will Huckabee's win give him any traction? Here's the most recent poll which shows Romney ahead:

MANCHESTER, NH – With the New Hampshire Presidential Primaries just four days away, Mitt Romney has taken back the lead from John McCain in the Republican Primary, while Hillary Clinton maintains her lead over Iowa Caucus Democratic winner Barack Obama, according to a 7NEWS/Suffolk University poll released today.

In the Republican Primary, Romney (29 percent) led McCain (25 percent), while Iowa Caucus Republican winner Mike Huckabee (13 percent) continued to gain ground. Candidates remaining static were Rudy Giuliani (9 percent), Ron Paul (8 percent), Fred Thompson (2 percent) and Duncan Hunter (1 percent). Twelve percent were undecided.

Twelve percent are undecided, which is a big number. Mitt Romney is hoping they break his way, and obviously Maverick is trying to make his campaign all about the Granite State. I personally think Mitt could survive as long as he wins Michigan and kicks the national machine into gear, but a win would make the process a hell of a lot easier. More on Thompson later...

Mitt Romney's showing in the Hawkeye Cauci was disappointing at best, and some pundits are already calling New Hampshire for McCain. I think that's incredibly premature. Romney is running ads against McCain hitting him on opposing the Bush Tax Cuts and on issues like McCain-Feingold. Opposing free speech and opposing fiscal Conservatism doesn't go over well in the Granite State. He's going for the gold in New Hampshire:

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Mitt Romney, rallying hearty supporters who stayed up until 3:30 in the morning to greet him, said he would claim victory here Tuesday.

"We wanted the gold, we got the silver," Romney said of the nine-point loss in Iowa, still using Olympic medal analogies after changing time zones and arriving to an equally cold airplane hangar. "But in New Hampshire we're getting the gold!"

One of the major lessons learned from Iowa, Romney said, echoing his aides post-loss spin, is that the country wants change.

Saying "Washington" repeatedly, Romney, his voice fading, argued before about 100 backers that the capital was broken and could not be fixed by somebody from there.

He clearly had John McCain in mind — citing the need for "new voices and new faces" in Washington — but never mentioned his rival's name.

Of his failure in Iowa, Romney borrowed one of rival Rudy Giuliani's preferred metaphors, saying the caucuses amounted to "the first inning of a game that has, let's say, has 50 innings in it."

The new Romney camp buzzphrase is a good one: 50-inning ballgame. If Romney could pull out a win in Iowa, he has a good chance to win Michigan, compete in South Carolina, and compete on Super Tuesday. He has the money and the organization to compete nationally. He can still win it all.

Final Update: The suspect is in custody and the issue appears to be resolved.
Update4: Change the last update to "All hostages have been released, they think." The situation is on-going.
Update3: All hostages have been released. Now the issue is bringing down the assailant.
Update2: Unconfirmed Reports that both hostages have been released
Update: Negotiators have made contact with the assailant, according to someone on the ground via MSNBC