Well, this was expected but here goes anyway...
Nevada caucuses: Mitt Romney cruises to easy victory:
Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney has coasted to victory in the latest of the party presidential contests, the Nevada caucuses, and increased the gap to his rivals.
CNN and other television networks projected that Romney had won the state after the caucuses closed.
Nevada brings his tally to three, on top of New Hampshire and Florida. Rivals Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have one each: South Carolina and Iowa.
Romney, in a victory speech in Las Vegas, recalled that he had won the state in his failed bid for the Republican nomination in 2008. "This is not the first time you have given me your vote of confidence and this time I am going to take it all the way to the White House," he said.
Looking ahead to the White House election in which Nevada will be a swing state, Romney devoted part of his speech to the state's economic troubles. "Mr President, America has had enough of your kind of help," Romney said.
He made no mention of Gingrich or his other rivals and concentrated instead on Obama.
Romney's vote was magnified by the large Mormon population in Nevada who turned out in large numbers to support their co-religionist. A survey of caucus-goers showed about 25% were Mormons.
Romney's support was magnified by the large Mormon population in Nevada who turned out in large numbers to support their co-religionist. A survey of caucus-goers showed about 25% were Mormons.
One of his rivals, Ron Paul, speaking as the results were coming in, acknowledged the impact. "Everybody recognises the Mormon vote is significant," he said.
Romney was helped too, as was Paul, by having had full-time staff and volunteers working in the state for months, important in caucuses. Gingrich and Santorum only began organising over the last few weeks.
The candidates are fighting for the Republican nomination to take on Barack Obama for the White House in November. The winner needs to secure 1,144 delegates to the Republican convention in August.
Nevada has 28 delegates, distributed among the candidates based on share of the vote. Although Romney takes the biggest share, Paul and Gingrich will receive a significant portion.
Ominously for Obama, for whom Nevada is a swing state in November, four out of 10 of those surveyed going into the caucuses said their priority was to force him from office. They also cited the economy as their number one issue.
Nevada is one of the states worst-hit by recession, with high unemployment and collapse in the housing market.
Romney's main rival, Gingrich, held a meeting on Friday with about 60 financial backers in Las Vegas to discuss a long-term strategy, working out the feasiblity of taking a large bloc of delegates to take to the Republican convention in Tampa, Florida.
One of the key questions is whether the Las Vegas billionaire, Sheldon Adelson, who has helped bankroll the Gingrich campaign so far and who attended the strategy meeting, is prepared to keep funding him month after month.
Although Romney has established himself as favourite, there is still a route available to Gingrich if he can take big states such as Ohio, Georgia and Texas in March and April and sweep up the remaining southern states.
Paul and Santorum did not stay in Nevada to watch the results come in. Paul spent the day campaigning in Minnesota while Santorum did the same in Colorado, both of which vote on Tuesday.The Maine caucuses began on Saturday and are due to be completed next Saturday.
Romney also spent the day campaigning in Colorado before returning to Nevada for his election night speech.
He is planning to take Sunday off, a sign of confidence about the upcoming contests, and also recognition of the futility of trying to compete with the Super Bowl.
Although Santorum came in fourth, he indicated he is not planning to quit soon, claiming he is hopeful of a decent result in Colorado and Minnesota. Before Nevada, Romney had 87 delegates; followed by Gingrich on 26; Santorum on 14; and Paul with four.
The Nevada caucuses were open only to the state's 470,000 registeredRepublicans. They were marred by rows over voting, with some being turned away because of misinformation about ballot locations and others confused by the process.
Romney won the state in the 2008 Republican race, taking 51.1% to Paul's 13.75% and John McCain's 12.7%.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/04/mitt-romney-nevada-primary-caucuses
My prediction threads:
Wii U will sell under 40m units (made on 14th September 2012)
PS Vita will sell under 20m units (made on 30th September 2012)
Wii U will sell under 7m in 2013 - I was right
