Republican nominee Mitt Romney attacked by rivals

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Leading Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney faced barrage of onslaught from his rivals on the eve of the crucial New Hampshire primary, which he has been leading by considerable margin against his rivals.

Romney's remark on firing people was the immediate catalyst for this frontal attack against him. "I want individuals to have their own insurance. That means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep you healthy. It also means that if you don't like what they do, you can fire them. I like being able to fire people who provide services to me," he said.

Romney was quoted as saying. Launching a frontal attack on Romney, Jon Huntsman said: "I will always put my country first. It seems that Governor Romney believes in putting politics first. Governor Romney enjoys firing people. I enjoy creating jobs."

Huntsman is running in third position in latest opinion polls. Ron Paul, the Congressman from Texas, is running a distant second after Romney. Even Newt Gingrich, who so far has had maintained a positive campaign, too attacked Romney; who on Monday faced one of the toughest day of his campaign so far.

Gingrich's campaign released a video and website dedicated to what it said exposing Romney's record of raising taxes while Governor of Massachusetts. "Massachusetts Moderate Mitt Romney claims he governed as a conservative. His record of raising taxes and fees despite his pledge not to do so shows this claim is just more pious baloney," said Newt 2012 Communications Director Joe DeSantis.

"Once again, Mitt Romney is campaigning on a pledge not to raise taxes. Why should we believe him this time?" Romney, however, said his statement has been taken out of context. He argued that he was referring to being able to hold service providers accountable as an employer. He stressed he was referring to people being able to get rid of health care providers or insurance companies that don’t perform well.

Meanwhile, a small town in New Hampshire, which has picked up Republican presidential candidates since 1960, tied between Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, as the results of the first primary votes came in shortly after mid-night. Huntsman and Romney both received two votes each, while Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives and Texas Congressman, Ron Paul, got one vote out of the total of nine registered voters.

President Barack Obama, who is the only Democratic candidate in the primary, received three votes. The first primary vote of New Hampshire is held at Duxville Notch, an unincorporated village, with a population of approximately 75. Meanwhile, latest opinion polls put Romney way ahead of his other rivals, but Huntsman was fast gaining ground.