Friday, February 02, 2007

Endorsement Round Up

In spite of becoming the number one target of Republicans eyeing the White House this past week, Mitt Romney continues to rack up impressive endorsements. Being in the bullseye for an up-and-coming candidate carries with it its dangers though. Several pundits have recently made parallels with former California governor Pete Wilson's failed run in 1996, so Romney may want to take note. Wilson was the candidate Clinton feared most in that election, and the Republican field took him down as each candidate tried to position himself for the primaries.

How does Romney avoid that? I'm not entirely sure. He certainly needs to stay on message and be quick in responding to attacks (as he was with the Youtube incident this month), but reeling off impressive endorsements can't hurt either. Here's how the endorsement battle is shaping up this week:
  • Romney announced yesterday that former Missouri Senator Jim Talent will chair his Domestic Policy Task Force.
  • In Florida, while Romney continues to "snap up former staffers of Gov. Jeb Bush's," (see here) John McCain announced the support of three Cuban-American members of Congress from Florida, Representatives Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
  • McCain announced Wednesday that a majority of the House Republicans in South Carolina's state legislature are supporing him.
  • Today, the AP is reporting that McCain and Romney are touting several endorsements in each other's backyards, McCain in New Hampshire and Romney in Arizona. Not to be outdone, Romney spent the day in New Hampshire yesterday trying to keep pace with McCain in the state.
  • Mitt Romney announced today that three Congressmen from Kentucky, Representatives Hal Rogers, Ron Lewis and Ed Whitfield, have signed onto his campaign.

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2 Comments:

Blogger Kyle Hampton said...

The Bopp announcement and today’s endorsement by former senator Jim Talent could be a turning point for Romney in convincing conservatives. The New York Times said this in its political blog today:

"The endorsement could help Mr. Romney convince conservatives that his conversion to an anti-abortion position in recent years is genuine. Mr. Romney says he changed his mind about abortion as a result of the stem cell debate, and Mr. Talent’s opposition to embryonic stem cell research contributed to his loss to now-Senator Claire McCaskill."

Apparently Talent is a “true-believer”, although that didn’t help him win re-election. Romney continues to pick up endorsements from influential people, in spite of media skepticism as outlined earlier on this blog.

2:02 PM  
Blogger Marc said...

I certainly think it bodes well for Romney. He's doing everything he can. I'm not sure I'd sum up the skepticism of him as only "media" though... it's a skepticism shared by other GOP candidates and many in the base. As you suggest though, the fact that Romney is signing on the likes of Talent and Bopp suggests that he may be winning over some of those skeptics.

3:08 PM  

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