History of Winners of the Republican New Hampshire Primary (ContributorNetwork)

The New Hampshire Primary first became the famous first in the nation contest with the 1952 contest. The Republican contest has selected eight nominees and four presidents since that year through the 2008 contest.

The results were, according to the Primary New Hampshire Site:

1952 - General Dwight Eisenhower

General Eisenhower won this contest with 50.4 percent of the vote against Robert Taft who took 38.7 percent. Eisenhower, who did no campaigning in the state, thanks to his being commanding general of NATO at the time, went on to win the nomination and the election.

1960 - Vice President Richard Nixon

Nixon took the contest with an overwhelming 89.3 percent of the vote. Nelson Rockefeller, then governor of New York, took 3.8 percent of the vote. Nixon went on to win the nomination but was defeated by then Senator John F. Kennedy narrowly in the general election.

1964 - Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge

Ambassador Lodge, then representing the United States in South Vietnam, was a surprise write in victor with 35.5 percent of the vote. Senator Barry Goldwater, Governor Nelson Rockefeller, and former Vice President Richard Nixon followed with 22.3 percent, 21 percent, and 16.8 percent of the vote respectively. Goldwater went on to win the nomination but was handily defeated by President Lyndon Johnson in the general election.

1968 - Nixon

Nixon won the primary decisively with 77.6 percent of the vote with Rockefeller winning 10.8 percent. Nixon went on to be the nominee and won the general election narrowly against then Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

1976 - President Gerald Ford

President Ford fought off a stiff challenge against then former Gov. Ronald Reagan, taking 49.4 percent of the vote against Reagan's 48 percent. Ford went on to be the nominee, but lost narrowly against Jimmy Carter.

1980 - Former California Gov. Ronald Reagan

Reagan won this time around with 49.6 percent of the vote. George W. Bush, Senator Howard Baker, and Rep. John Anderson followed with 22.7 percent, 12.1 percent, and 9.8 percent respectively. Reagan went on to win the nomination and the general election.

1988 - Vice President George H. W. Bush

Bush won the primary this time around with 37.8 percent. Senator Bob Dole, Rep, Jack Kemp, and Pete DuPont followed with 38.6 percent, 12.7 percent, and 10.7 percent respectively. Bush went on to win the nomination and the general election against Mass Gov. Michael Dukakis.

1992 - Bush

Bush fought off a stiff challenge from Pat Buchanan, taking 53.2 percent of the vote against Buchanan's 36.5 percent of the vote. Bush won the nomination but was defeated for reelection at the hands of then Gov. Bill Clinton.

1996 - Patrick Buchanan

Buchanan won the primary this time around with 27.3 percent of the vote. He was followed by Dole, Lamar Alexander, and Steve Forbes with 26.2 percent, 22.6 percent, and 12.2 percent of the vote respectively. Dole went on to win the nomination but was beaten by President Clinton in the general election.

2000 - Senator John McCain

McCain shocked then Gov. George W. Bush by winning with 49 percent of the vote. Bush took 30.2 percent. Bush went on to win the nomination and the general election against then Vice President Al Gore.

2008 - McCain

McCain won the contest the second time around with 37.1 percent of the vote. Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee followed with 31.6 percent and 11.2 percent. McCain won the nomination but lost against then Senator Barack Obama.

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Republican Presidential Primary Fundraiser Winners and Losers (ContributorNetwork)

Few lines are as memorable as "Show me the money!" from "Jerry Maguire." Presidential politics requires more than experience, it also requires a lot of money. First quarter fundraising numbers are due from presidential candidates by July 15, but most of the candidates have released their numbers early.

It is easy to get lost in the top line numbers; however, we need to examine the results carefully in order to determine the winners and losers.

Winners

Mitt Romney. The obvious winner of the Q1 money cycle is Romney. The Romney campaign disclosed that they brought in $18.5 million this cycle clearly exceeding his competitors. The only drawback for Romney is that his haul was not a large as it was in 2007 and many people expected larger numbers from him.

Jon Huntsman. Huntsman is attempting to position himself as a moderate alternative to Romney and as an ambassador to China he has not been able to dedicate himself to fundraising like other candidates. He had a very respectable $4.1 million. The Huntsman campaign has clearly stated they were going to skip the Iowa caucuses and this fundraising total will make him competitive in the New Hampshire primary.

Barack Obama. Wait -- wasn't this article about the Republicans? The July 15 deadline applies to the Democrats as well. Obama and the Democratic National Committee had set a target to raise $60 million and they expected to eclipse that mark. Obama is likely to skip public financing and his staff has hinted at spending as much as $1 billion on his re-election campaign.

Losers

Tim Pawlenty. Pawlenty's campaign indicated that it raised $4.2 million. Unlike Huntsman, Pawlenty was one of the first to announce his candidacy and has been raising money longer than the other candidates. These results are disappointing as he is fighting off a challenge from Bachmann in Iowa and will need to compete in both Iowa and New Hampshire. Pawlenty will need to boost his fundraising if he hopes to compete in both states.

Michele Bachmann. Bachmann is known for her grassroots fundraising efforts; however, her Q1 numbers are not expected to be impressive as she announced her candidacy late in the cycle. Her campaign has indicated that they are going to wait until the July 15 deadline, and it is unlikely that they are doing so because they are ecstatic about their numbers. More than likely the campaign is working on a strategy to prevent this disclosure from stopping her momentum from the New Hampshire debate.

The Rest of the Field. The rest of the field provided numbers that were expected and have not changed the race. Newt Gingrich's campaign raised $2.5 million, but is in debt and Ron Paul disclosed $4.5 million to fund his vanity contest. The rest of the candidates will be spending the next few weeks spinning their low numbers (if press talks to them at all).

Based on the first debate and the Q1 results there is no doubt now that Mitt Romney is the front runner. Republican donations are coming in at a slower pace than in 2007. Before we give Obama a second term we need to ensure that we understand the differences between the 2008 and 2012 elections. The 2008 election was an open election with a small number of serious candidates. The upcoming election is against an incumbent and the Republicans have at least three strong candidates and two (Palin, Perry) that have not ruled out a run. It is not unusual for the incumbent party to outpace the challengers. This year it appears that the gap is larger as the Republican money is sitting on the sidelines waiting for the field to sort itself out; however, it is likely that once a challenger is chosen the Republican candidate will not hurt for resources.

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