News from the Campaign Trail

A few campaign tidbits:

• Mitt Romney will be headlining a GOP Banquet in Spartanburg, South Carolina on February 22nd. "It’s a political event for Romney, a chance to build his base, shake hands, recruit team members and smile for the cameras — and there will be lots of those."
  

• John McCain adds to his Florida team, while Romney beefs up his Arizona lineup
  

• As if you haven't already heard, Rudy Giuliani has officially chartered an exploratory committee.
  

• Romney v. Obama the dream election? Columnist Tim Myers seems to think so, "Two good men of strong religious faith - I don't care what - possessing strong backgrounds of achievement, and with a vision for the future of the nation. Then, and finally, Americans would again have a clear choice, and a cogent and collegial campaign for making the decision."
  

• Apparently Mitt Romney "is the first potential 2008 Republican presidential candidate to have a Facebook profile."

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.