MANCHESTER, N.H. (Jan. 10, 2012) — Mitt Romney became the first non-incumbent presidential nominee to win both the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries since 1976. WATD’s Matt Porter was on hand last night to witness the celebration.
At about 8 o’clock last night, expectation turned to elation as Mitt Romney staked a claim to victory in New Hampshire. Supporters went wild.
“Fantastic. It was amazing. The things he said were what I believe in.” (Judy Theodora, Alton Bay, N.H.)
But, some people were left out of the party. Donna Siewert had a special invitation from campaign operations director Will Ritter to attend the celebration. As an apology, she and her husband got the invitation after being turned away from a dinner in Tilton.
When she got to the door, staff said only she could come in despite the letter inviting both of them. She said the experience changed her mind about Romney.
“If you can’t run something like this, like an event, how are you going to run the United States.” (Donna Siewert, Hill, N.H.)
Mitt Romney’s campaign refused to respond to the couple’s complaint.
But to make up for the 400 supporters left out, Romney made a repeat appearance in the university gym. The overflow room was twice as big as the ballroom where the celebration started.
In Manchester — Matt Porter, WATD News.
(Matt Porter, a graduate student in broadcast and digital journalism atSyracuse University, is covering the New Hampshire primary for WATD Radio.)
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