After Mitt Romney's strong win in New Hampshire, Republicans turn their attention to South Carolina.

Mitt Romney, fresh from a strong victory in New Hampshire, turned his attention Wednesday to the southern state of South Carolina where he is perceived as too moderate and faces a fierce battle, courier-journal.com reported.

A rougher tone and a tougher ideological terrain await the former Massachusetts governor in the state where evangelicals make up the base of the Republican Party. His rivals are banking on that to stop him in his tracks, while Romney is looking to force them from the race with a four-state winning streak that cuts through South Carolina on Jan. 21 and Florida 10 days later.

He posted a double-digit win Tuesday night in New Hampshire after winning by just eight votes the week before in Iowa. His victory was expected; Romney is the former governor of the neighboring state of Massachusetts, has a vacation home in New Hampshire and is a frequent visitor to the state.

He conceded Wednesday that he has an uphill climb in South Carolina, where he finished fourth in 2008. In an interview on a morning television news show he said, “I don’t know if we can win South Carolina.”

Still, Tuesday night’s victory in New Hampshire went a long way toward making him his party’s choice to run against President Barack Obama in November.

Romney garnered 39 percent of the vote, a 16-percentage point advantage over his closest challenger, Texas congressman Ron Paul. A win in South Carolina primary and then Florida could make Romney all but unstoppable.

Because of his appeal to independent voters, Romney could be the toughest potential rival for Obama, whose popularity has fallen because of the slow U.S. recovery from the Great Recession. Exit polls showed the economy was the biggest issue in New Hampshire, as it has been nationwide.

Romney emerged from that race on Tuesday night with no clear rival to challenge him as front-runner.

Paul finished second with 23 percent, with 95 percent of precincts reported. It was his second strong showing after finishing third in Iowa, the first nominating contest. But Paul remains a longshot for the nomination. While he has a loyal core of supporters drawn to his libertarian, small-government message, his calls for military cuts, withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and legalizing drugs puts him at odds with the Republican mainstream.