Obama vs Romney?

Mitt Romney's 16-point victory over Ron Paul in the New Hampshire primary provided a big boost for his candidacy as the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination heads to South Carolina. Romney is the first non-incumbent Republican presidential candidate to win both Iowa and New Hampshire since Iowa assumed the pole position in the party's race to the nomination in 1976.

New Hampshire is a state with only 12 delegates of which Romney picked up 7. The remaining 5 delegates went for Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman. This is still a long way from the 1,144 delegates needed by a candidate to secure the nomination but this state represents the first tangible step in the stuff that counts, delegates.

The next primary now moves south of the Mason-Dixon Line to South Carolina were there will be 25 delegates up for grabs. Polls see Romney leading with Gingrich close behind and Paul coming in third. The actual outcome will now depend on the rallying and lobbying of each prospective candidate’s camping team.

Mitt Romney was born in Detroit on March 12, 1947. His mother, Lenore, gave up an acting career when she met and married his father, George. Mitt’s father came from humble origins and never graduated from college. He apprenticed as a lathe and plaster carpenter and sold aluminium paint before beginning a career that brought him to the head of American Motors and then the governorship of Michigan.

Mitt married his wife, Ann, in 1969. They first met in elementary school when he was a Cub Scout. When they met again years later at a friend’s house, he was smitten. Between them, they have five sons and sixteen grandchildren, who are the center of their lives. Like any family, the Romney’s have faced hardship: Ann was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998, and more recently fought a battle with breast cancer. She credits her husband’s unwavering care and devotion to her for helping her through these ordeals.