Pros and Cons for Romney in New Hampshire MANCHESTER, N.H. - Mitt Romney's presidential campaign here has been years in the making. Now Mr. Romney, the former governor of the neighboring state of Massachusetts, is just hours away from finding out if his second courtship of New Hampshire's famously fickle voters will be reciprocated. And more than that, the results from New Hampshire's primary will help determine if Mr. Romney finally becomes the face of the Republican Party as it attempts to prevent President Obama from winning a second term in the White House. Polls will close at 7 p.m. in most places and at 8 p.m. in a few. Mr. Romney has maintained a huge lead here for months, but that support has slipped in recent days as his rivals began campaigning in earnest across the state. A tracking poll released on Monday showed him having lost 10 percentage points compared with one taken five days earlier. But despite that trend downward, Mr. Romney still begins Primary Day with expectations working against him. If he doesn't win New Hampshire by a significant margin, donors and rivals are sure to question the depth of his support as he tries to move forward. Here are a few of Mr. Romney's pluses and minuses to think about before returns start rolling in: Deep Roots. Mr. Romney has owned a summer home on the banks of Lake Winnipesaukee for years, and he lived in New Hampshire part-time as he prepared to run again. He spent plenty of time here in 2008 for his previous presidential run, and news about his work as governor in Massachusetts routinely bled over into New Hampshire. In a state where voters jealously guard their ability to know candidates personally, no other Republican hopeful can claim a relationship with voters that goes as deep. Splintered Conservatives: In 2008, John McCain faced three conservative challengers in New Hampshire (one of them being Mr. Romney). Now, it is Mr. Romney who has been given the gift of an even more divided field of rivals. Polls on Monday showed Ron Paul, Jon M. Huntsman Jr., Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum all clumped together, well behind Mr. Romney (with Mr. Paul leading that pack). That none has seriously broken out to challenge Mr. Romney is to his advantage. The Resource Edge. In Iowa, Mr. Romney's campaign liked to brag about how little it had spent. But in New Hampshire and beyond, the financial edge for Mr. Romney is critical. His campaign has the money to blanket the airwaves with positive ads (leaving the negative attacks to a "super PAC" working on his behalf). And the money helps institutionalize an organization that his rivals can't match. Anti-Obama Message. Because of his lead, Mr. Romney has the luxury of being able to focus most of his rhetoric on President Obama. That sells well in New Hampshire, a state that Mr. Obama won in 2008 but appears to have soured on him somewhat. In his official announcement speech in Stratham, N.H., last June, Mr. Romney declared that "Barack Obama has failed America." He hasn't strayed far from that message. Strong Surrogates. The value of endorsements is often overstated. But Mr. Romney's cadre of high-level backers has been put to good use in New Hampshire over the last several days. Tim Pawlenty, his former rival, has been here. Chris Christie, the tough-talking governor of New Jersey, and John Sununu, the former New Hampshire governor, have both hammered Mr. Romney's rivals. Nikki Haley, the governor of South Carolina, and Kelly Ayotte, the New Hampshire senator, have appealed to voters. No other Republican candidate has anywhere near that lineup. A Downward Trend: It may be nothing more than the natural tightening that happens in the last 48 hours of any election (and especially in New Hampshire). But the perception that Mr. Romney is losing steam at the last moment could cost him support among voters here - and in South Carolina, where he heads next. About 10 percent of potential voters said they were undecided on Monday. If they haven't decided to vote for the well-known Mr. Romney, it's hard to imagine them doing so on Tuesday. Jobs and Bain. The Democrats have been doing it for months, but Mr. Romney's Republican rivals this weekend finally embraced the idea of attacking his record at Bain Capital. And they did so with gusto, accusing Bain of "looting" other companies, firing workers indiscriminately and adding to job losses. Mr. Romney's unfortunate comment that he liked "firing people" was taken out of context by his rivals, but contributed to his problems just hours before the voting begins. The Past Catches Up. The familiarity that New Hampshire voters, in particular, have with Mr. Romney cuts both ways. It is harder for Mr. Romney to reinvent himself here since people know his record. Many here remember his tenure as governor and his Senate campaign against Edward M. Kennedy in Massachusetts. That has the potential to make the flip-flopper label a bit easier to stick. Ron Paul. If there is one state motto that fits Mr. Paul's campaign it is New Hampshire's: Live Free or Die. And Mr. Paul's campaign appeals in particular to independent voters here, who are allowed to vote in the Republican primary. That robs Mr. Romney of a source of support that he might otherwise have gotten had Mr. Paul not been in the race. So far, polls suggest that Mr. Paul's support has not been able to rise above about 20 percent. But if that number increases on Tuesday, it probably comes out of Mr. Romney's column first. The 1 Percent Problem: In 2012, Mr. Romney has not tapped into his fortune to run for president, perhaps aware of the dissonance that would have at a time of economic uncertainty and struggle. But he nonetheless is a very rich man asking for votes from people who have far, far less. That was crystallized on Sunday when he said he knew what it was like to worry about getting a "pink slip." The comment drew derision from rivals and Democrats and highlighted the wealth divide that he must still confront as he tries to connect with voters here and elsewhere. On Monday, he had a similar dust-up after saying that he liked "firing people," in a discussion about getting rid of a health insurance company or other service provider that he didn't think was serving him well. The quote was taken out of context by his rivals, but again, it highlighted his difference from average people, who are more likely to be the ones getting fired than doing the firing.