New Hampshire Primary – What to Watch for Tonight – 1/10/12

Voters in New Hampshire are already headed to the polls this morning, and Mitt Romney appears to be virtually assured of victory – barring some kind of huge shocker. Jon Huntsman has appeared to have some late momentum in the polls, and the potential is there for the outcome to be closer than most expect. Ron Paul also has fairly strong numbers, although Romney goes into today with a nearly 20-point lead in the 3-day average of polls from New Hampshire. Rick Santorum appeared to get some momentum out of Iowa last week, but by the weekend, his numbers leveled off and did not seem to be advancing. It will be interesting to see if Santorum outperforms his polling average of around 11%.

Politico has an article this morning that lists 5 things to watch for in New Hampshire today:

1. Mitt Romney’s Number – will he finish at 38% or above (that was McCain’s winning number in 2008).

2. Will Ron Paul fade at the end?

3. Who will finish fourth? Santorum or Gingrich.

4. Will the polling be accurate?

5. Will the Union-Leader endorsement of Gingrich make any difference?