After one and a half hours of sleep, Iowa caucus winner Mitt Romney made the rounds on morning TV shows touting his victory and defending himself against the attacks to come.
Romney told Fox & Friends that close second place winner Rick Santorum did “a heroic job,” but argued that Santorum's efforts have been exclusively focused on Iowa while Romney holds strong across the nation.
“Rick has focused his effort, I think in a wise way, entirely in Iowa,” Romney told ABC’s Good Morning America. “I’ve been campaigning in other states. Putting together the kind of organization that I believe will get me the 1,150 delegates I need.”
Third-place winner Ron Paul has done “a heck of a job,” Romney said on CNN’s American Morning. Paul captured 48 percent of the vote among 17-to-29 year-old caucusgoers. Romney said there was a “natural tendency” among young voters to identify with the candidate’s views, especially his stance on international relations.
But, the former Massachusetts governor said, he’d be the one to give young voters what they want: jobs.
“The number one issue I hear from young people on campuses these days [is] who can give me a good job when I graduate?” he said. “There’s no question there. I'm the guy who has the experience in the private sector to know how to get this economy going, again, and create jobs for young people and people across the age spectrum.”
Romney will next face his opponents in the New Hampshire primary, where Newt Gingrich has already begun running attack ads to counter him.
“You know, I've got broad shoulders,” Romney told the CBS Early Show. “I know that when you get in a campaign, there's a big target on you. It's obviously, a small target compared to what is going to come from the Democratic National Committee and Barack Obama. They have already begun attacking me. I'm not too worried about that.”
Romney is confident he will win New Hampshire and told CBS he may begin campaigning in South Carolina—to win over evangelical voters—before New Hampshire holds its primary. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is expected to endorse Romney; Romney said he was pleased because McCain is "Mr. New Hampshire."
Sarah Boxer contributed
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