TORN between reality and their political dreams, leading conservatives are defending Mitt Romney against attacks on his work in the private sector even as they search for a more palatable candidate amid a growing sense that his nomination looks certain.

THE Republican presidential candidates who are not Mitt Romney brought along modest hopes on their smiling, hand-shaking visits to New Hampshire’s polling places yesterday — just let me come in third place or so, most said, and survive to challenge the front-runner again in South Carolina and Florida.

REPUBLICAN presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum looked past each other to run down President Barack Obama’s economic policies, as they jockeyed for support in New Hampshire and reached out to voters in conservative bellwether South Carolina.

A SQUEAKER of an Iowa victory in hand, Mitt Romney headed last night into the New Hampshire primary — in his own political backyard — insisting that staying power sets him apart from runners-up Rick Santorum and Ron Paul and the rest of the Republican presidential field.

THE volatile Republican presidential race in Iowa will come down to which way an enormous chunk of undecided voters breaks in the coming days.