Romney Providing Cover For Rudy?

Chuck Todd at MSNBC's First Read raised an interesting thought today:

When Romney was "evolving" from a moderate to conservative, every move he made was chronicled and ridiculed (by McCain’s folks?) to the point where the flip-flop label stuck to him. Giuliani's conservative evolution of late has been just as stark on some recent issues (guns, immigration, and partial-birth abortion), but his foes haven't attacked him directly yet. Did Romney actually provide Rudy cover?

National Journal Rankings: Giuliani First, Romney Third

The new National Journal Rankings have Rudy Giuliani in first place and Romney in third. Romney has been in third place for a few months now, but the news is that McCain has relinquished the top spot. This is obviously just one organization's opinion, but they do get a lot of respect.

The Primary Balancing Act

Every presidential primary season candidates face the challenge of reaching out to the party base without painting themselves into a corner by alienating the independents and centrist voters that are required to win a general election. It's a balancing act that successful candidates must master. I'm curious as to how people think Romney is doing in this regard. Two issues in particular have jumped out at me over the past couple of days as I think about Romney and this "balancing act" are immigration and the right to life.

Immigration: Of the GOP front-runners, Romney clearly has the most conservative position on illegal immigration. It makes sense considering it's an issue that many of the conservatives Romney is trying to court feel pretty passionate about. I wonder how his tough talk on "amnesty" will go over in a general election. Hardline stances on immigration purportedly helped to sink a few Republican election bids in the House this past fall and many heavy weights that have influence in the Republican party advocate a much more moderate stance (President Bush, RNC Chair Mel Martinez, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, etc.). There are areas of the country where Romney's hardline clearly doesn't go over well. Florida for instance. This past weekend during his visit there, Romney avoided talking about the issue as much as possible, but still got bruised in the Florida press over it. Yesterday in Arizona, however, he made an effort to emphasize his position, even suggesting state and local police agencies make "deals with the federal government to have their officers trained in enforcing elements of federal immigration law." It doesn't seem to help that this is another issue he seems to have shifted positions on. Just last year he seemed to support what he now lambasts as "amnesty," telling the Lowell Sun that he didn't "believe in rounding up 11 million people and forcing them at gunpoint from our country. With these 11 million people, let’s have them registered, know who they are. Those who’ve been arrested or convicted of crimes shouldn’t be here; those that are here paying taxes and not taking government benefits should begin a process toward application for citizenship, as they would from their home country." Ultimately, I think this is a tough issue for Romney, because he needs the support of the part of the base that feels most strongly about this issue, and yet his position is destined to alienate many who might support him (for example, there is no way anyone who advocates such a hardline on immigration will pick up anywhere near the 41% of the Hispanic vote that Bush picked up in 2004).

Right to Life: Romney's come a long way this past year in his efforts to reassure social conservatives about his position on right-to-life issues. He touts his opposition to abortion and certain forms of stem-cell research at nearly every campaign stop and has brought well-known pro-life advocates like James Bopp onto his campaign. Certainly, this is something that most concede he must do if he wants to burnish his credentials as the "real" conservative in the race and remain competitive in the GOP primaries next year. This past weekend, however, he seemed to push back against social conservatives just a little as he spoke out against the government intervention in the Terri Schiavo case a couple of years ago. Even though this position places him safely with most of the American public, it hurts him among the pro-life base he is currently reaching out to. Many pro-life blogs were quick to denounce his position and Schiavo's brother promptly endorsed Sam Brownback. Add to this Romney's balancing act on stem cell research (opposing somatic cell nuclear transfer (i.e. "therapeutic cloning"), but generally supporting the use of frozen embryos from IVF clinics that would otherwise be discarded. These deviations, again, put him in the mainstream of popular opinion, but they could potentially hurt him in his push for the nomination. He's gone out of his way to brand himself as being with social conservatives on all of these issues, to be contrasted with deviants like McCain and Giuliani.

While the balancing act is a challenge for most politicians, I think it is a particularly difficult one for Romney in this election because he doesn't seem well-positioned to garner the more independent-leaning conservatives who appear to be flocking to Giuliani and McCain at this point. He NEEDS the social conservative voters who are disenchanted with Giuliani and McCain's more moderate positions on a host of issues. Part of me feels like Romney almost has to put off worrying about how he will cast himself as a general election candidate and just focus on the primaries. It may cause a few problems for him image-wise in a general election campaign, but I think he'd prefer to have to deal with those sorts of problems than be watching from the sidelines.

George Will on Romney

In the Washington Post today, George Will argues in behalf of all three GOP frontrunners, quoting an old axiom: "The perfect is the enemy of the good. In politics this means that insisting on perfection in a candidate interferes with selecting a satisfactory one."

In defense of Mitt Romney, Will writes:

At CPAC, Romney gave the most polished speech, touching all the conservative movement's erogenous zones, pointedly denouncing the "McCain-Kennedy" immigration bill and promising to seek repeal of the McCain-Feingold law regulating campaign speech. Romney, however, is criticized by many conservatives for what they consider multiple conversions of convenience -- on abortion, stem cell research, gay rights, gun control. But if Romney is now locked into positions that these conservatives like, why do they care so much about whether political calculation or moral epiphany moved him there?

All three candidates aside, I say there's no one I like to hear talk about "erogenous zones" more than George Will.

Get Your Romney Campaign Strategy Here

I've been meaning to write a post about this all day, but kept putting it off. Romney's campaign appears to have suffered another "leak" of some sort. The Politico had an interesting article yesterday that discussed Romney's campaign strategy for the next few months. A number of the points it makes, however, seem somewhat obvious. Briefly, he plans to:

• "Game the system. Romney intends to take advantage of the various and complicated rules governing the primaries." (e.g., target specific districts in California's new "winner-take-all by congressional district" system

• "Feel the burn. While Romney expects to raise significant amounts of money, his "burn rate," or expenses, will be high.... Romney says he'll spend his money wisely."
  

• "Make clear both explicitly and implicitly the differences between himself, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, whether on issues or on lifestyle.... Romney intends to exploit what he perceives as two of McCain's great vulnerabilities in the Republican primaries: the McCain-Feingold law, which restricts campaign contributions, and the McCain-Kennedy bill, which would change immigration laws and allow for a guest-worker program. And while Romney disagrees explicitly with Giuliani on issues such as abortion, gun control and gay rights, he implicitly draws distinctions between Giuliani's rather turbulent personal life -- he has been married three times -- and Romney's own marriage of nearly 38 years."

• "Make a splash. Romney intends to make a big effort at the splashiest event on the primary calendar: the straw poll in Ames, Iowa, on Aug. 11. The straw poll is the "American Idol" of political events".... Failure at Ames can end candidacies, because campaign contributions can dry up for those who do not do well.

• "Encourage the media to look into the background of his opponents."

• "Minimize his own negatives. Romney is vulnerable to accusations of being a flip-flopper -- he admits he was not pro-life until just a few years ago, and he joined the National Rifle Association just last August -- but his biggest negative, according to the polls, is his Mormon religion."

• "Mend a fence. Romney formally announced for president last month in Dearborn, Mich., at the Henry Ford Museum. Aside from being an inventor and a highly successful businessman, however, Ford was a notorious anti-Semite."

• "Be funny, even if he has to borrow the jokes."

Both Ankle Biting Pundits and the NRO have reviews of the strategy and dispense their own campaign advice. Even if some of the plans are pretty expected, I wonder how good it is for Romney to have some of his detailed plans circulating about.

Romney News Round Up

Here are a few interesting articles related to Mitt Romney's campaign that I've run across over the past few days:

Mitt Romney

• A Mormon President? I Don't Think So (Boston Globe): The Globe asks the question "Can a Mormon be elected president in 2008?" and answers it "No." Ostensibly because "most Americans would view [Mormon doctrines and practices] as strange."
  

• Who's The Real Mitt Romney (CBN): The Christian Broadcasting Network looks into Romney's candidacy with an extended piece that can be seen via this link.
  

• Romney Resurrects A Passe Strategy (Boston Globe): The Globe looks into Romney's "leaked" strategy targeting France. "Romney's campaign still sees political gain in whipping up anger toward France. It's similar to Romney's decision last year to refuse State Police protection for Iran's moderate former president, who was speaking at Harvard, as a protest against Iran's current hard-line president. The common thread is that Romney seems to believe that presidential voters will respond only to the gesture, not the facts behind it."

• Romneys Highlight Their "Family Values (Hearst Newspapers): "Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday showcased his "family values" before an influential audience of conservative Republicans by pointedly introducing his wife of 37 years just hours after thrice-married Rudolph Giuliani made a pitch for support from the same audience."

• To Romney Strategist, Questions On Faith Fair Game (Boston Globe): "It's appropriate for the public to ask questions about Mitt Romney's Mormon faith as he pursues his presidential campaign, a top Romney campaign strategist said yesterday."

• What Romney Could Do For Mormons (Providence Journal): Regent University President Charles Dunn writes "Can Romney do for Mormons what Kennedy did for Catholics? To do so, Romney must negate America's anti-Mormon prejudice, especially among evangelical Christians. Some parallels suggest that he could."

• Romney Picks Up Jason Roe (Politico): "The Politico has learned that [Capitol Hill veteran Jason] Roe will head north to become Romney's deputy campaign manager, assisting Beth Myers, the manager, in day-to-day operations there.... Roe has been Rep. Tom Feeney's Chief of Staff since 2003, but has considerable campaign experience.
  

• Mitt Romney Starts So. Florida Ads In Spanish (CBS4): Romney's running Spanish ads in Florida targeting Cuban-American voters. The full text of his ad is on his website.
  

Republican Competitors

• Giuliani Doesn't Worry Romney Campaign (Standard Examiner): "Republican Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign says it is unfazed by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s recent surge in the polls and insists there is plenty of time to catch up with such better–known rivals."

• CPAC Embraces Steele, Gingrich (Washington Times): The Washington Times writes that Steele and Gingrich were CPAC's biggest stars (while barely mentioning Romney).
  

• As Others Look Vulnerable, Brownback Gets A Look (Kansas City Star): Is Brownback "the most interesting and foolishly overlooked candidate in the crowded presidential field"?

• Master of Disaster (Newsweek): Newsweek has an in depth piece this week on Giuliani and his candidacy.

Miscellaneous

• An Open Letter To CPAC (American Mind): A who's who of conservative bloggers call for a Coulter boycott in the wake of her recent controversial remarks.

Romney Distances Himself From Coulter's Remarks

Mitt Romney joined Rudy Giuliani and John McCain in distancing himself from controversial remarks that Ann Coulter made on Friday at CPAC. Romney's spokesman Kevin Madden said: “It was an offensive remark. Governor Romney believes all people should be treated with dignity and respect.”

Romney Wins CPAC Straw Poll

After a well-received speech at CPAC on Friday, Mitt Romney won the CPAC straw poll. It's important to note that these straw polls are not scientific and should clearly be taken with a grain of salt (especially considering the emphasis Romney put on getting out the vote), but, that said, I think it's a pretty remarkable achievement for Romney, who has had a string of pretty bad weeks on the campaign trail. What a difference a weekend makes. The final results from the CPAC straw poll (out of a total of 1,705 voters) were:

1. Mitt Romney - 21%
2. Rudy Giuliani - 17%
3. Sam Brownback - 15%
4. New Gingrich - 14%
   
5. John McCain - 12%
   

The press Romney has received in conservative circles since his speech has to be pretty gratifying for his camp and definitely gives him some momentum heading into March (I'm sure he's enjoying some of his headlines in the MSM as well).

In spite of losing to Romney, I think Giuliani's showing is still surprisingly strong considering the audience he was addressing. Brownback and Gingrich both fared as well as one would have expected, as did McCain (which is precisely why he didn't make time to attend). What I found surprising is Duncan Hunter's disappearance. This is an audience one would have expected him to pull a lot of support from. I have a feeling Romney might have stolen some of his thunder.

LA Times: Romney Lead Among Insiders

The LA Times reports today that Mitt Romney has the lead among Republican insiders based on a poll it did last month of Democratic and Republican national committee members:

Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Mitt Romney have emerged as the leading presidential favorites among party insiders, according to a new Los Angeles Times Poll, which found deep partisan divisions over the country's direction and top issues in the 2008 campaign....

"The DNC and RNC members are not just delegates" to the national nominating conventions, said Charlie Cook, a nonpartisan campaign analyst in Washington. "They are key organizers and opinion leaders. They can help build or kill a groundswell, make a candidate's challenge in a state easier or much harder. They matter a lot"....

Among Republicans, Romney had the most backing among party insiders, with 20% support, followed by Giuliani with 14%, McCain with 10% and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia — who has said he might enter the race in the fall — with 8%....

In a potentially worrisome sign for McCain, just over 1 in 10 RNC members said they would not support him if he won the party's nomination in his second attempt. "It shows just how much resistance there is within the Republican establishment to McCain and how open the party is to candidates who either aren't very conservative, like Giuliani, or only recently minted conservatives, like Romney," [Charlie] Cook said. "McCain has worked pretty hard since 2000 to be a team player, but these numbers would suggest that there is still a problem for him."

MSM on Romney at CPAC

Here's a sampling of MSM coverage of Romney's speech yesterday:

• Romancing the Conservatives (Washington Times): "Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney yesterday delivered a faultlessly tailored appeal to more than 1,000 grass-roots conservative activists hungry for a renewed commitment to limited government."
  

• Romney and Giuliani Make Pitch to Conservatives (NY Times): "Mr. Giuliani arrived to a rousing reception, as people stood up and held cameras and cell-phones to captures a photograph of the moment. But the room grew increasingly silent and restless as Mr. Giuliani’s speech stretched to 40 minutes. By contrast, Mr. Romney arrived to a much more subdued reception but left to a rousing roar of applause."
  

• Romney, Giuliani Court Conservative Base (AP): "Seizing on issues conservatives detest, Romney assailed campaign finance reform and immigration proposals that include a guest-worker program. In a jab at his rival, he referred to the former as McCain-Feingold, for the Arizona senator and Russell Feingold, D-Wis., and the latter as McCain-Kennedy, including the liberal icon Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass. At the same time, he swiped at Giuliani's moderate social stances without naming him. As governor, Romney said, 'I stood at the center of the battlefield on every major social issue. I fought to preserve our traditional values and protect the sanctity of human life.'"
  

• But Did Ginger Rogers Wear Flip-Flops (Washington Post): "The governor began his discussion, sensibly, with economic policy, where his conservative credentials are not questioned. But he didn't quite have his message ready for a bumper sticker. "If I am elected president, I am going to cap non-defense discretionary spending at inflation minus 1 percent!" he vowed. It was time for the social issues, and Romney wasn't holding back. "I stood at the center of the battlefield on every major social issue," said the man who once vowed to best Ted Kennedy in support of gay rights. "I fought to preserve our traditional values and to protect the sanctity of human life. . . . This isn't the time for us to shrink from conservative principles," Romney said before he departed. Indeed, for Romney, it is the time to adopt them.

Spartanburg Straw Poll Results Certified

The Spartanburg straw poll results were certified this earlier this evening. McCain pulled out a surprise S.C. victory. The final numbers were:

1. John McCain - 164
   
2. Rudy Giuliani - 162
   
3. Duncan Hunter - 158
   
4. Sam Brownback - 85
   
5. Mitt Romney - 80
6. Mike Huckabee - 21

Conservative Unease

I'm not sure what to make of the continuing conservative unease about Mitt Romney's candidacy. Especially since none of the three leading candidates seems to be inspiring the conservative base. Consider, for instance:

• Bob Novak wrote yesterday of "a void on the right."
  

• The Politico reports on "a mood of gloom" at CPAC, and cites the dissatisfaction of grass-roots organizers like Citizens United President David Bossie (“I’m disenchanted, I’m disenfranchised, I’m just dissed") and the Eagle Forum's Phyllis Schlafly (the three GOP front-runners are "all equally unacceptable").
  

• The New York Daily News is reporting that "Some[CPAC] attendees were handing out "Rudy McRomney" stickers with a red line through the middle - signifying conservative unease with Giuliani, Romney and Sen. John McCain."
  

• The Washington Times is reporting that 2008 Hopeful James Gilmore will break Reagan's 11th commandment and "become the first Republican presidential contender to say publicly that the three top-ranked party candidates are phony conservatives."

Everyone seems to agree that this unrest leaves the door wide-open for a candidate with less baggage, but no one seems to know just who that might be. Newt Gingrich is the only name that keeps coming up, but he's said he won't announce his intentions until September, leaving something of a vacuum until then.

So where does this leave us? Romney's campaign seems to think this dissatisfaction gives him a prime opportunity to win over conservatives on the sincerity of his "conversion." It seems like a logical proposition, the trouble is that Romney doesn't seem to be winning that many people over. The Politico wonders whether Romney is simply a "bad fit" for the Republican party right now, citing the fact that he consistently comes in fourth behind the unannounced Gingrich in national polls, while Giuliani, who critics (myself included) contended couldn't be nominated, is building a sizeable lead among likely GOP primary voters. This in spite of the fact that more and more voters are learning of his liberal social views, something most pundits thought would be Giuliani's death kneel. Early reports are that Giuliani won the Spartanburg, South Carolina straw poll yesterday, indicating that his viability extends beyond the Northeast and West. A lot of conservatives, including George Will and Bob Novak, now say they see Giuliani and a viable primary candidate. Even staunch social conservative Rick Santorum didn't rule out supporting Giuliani (saying that he would NOT endors was McCain).

I think it's too early to draw any strong conclusions from all of this, but it seems as though many voters are signaling their willingness to vote for a candidate who is strong on security and is "electable" over a candidate who is perhaps a better ideological fit.

Romney News Round Up

Here's a smattering of recent news that's relevant to the Mitt Romney campaign:

• Tally In Straw Poll Resumes; McCain Even With Giuliani and Hunter (The State) - Preliminary results from yesterday's Spartanburg straw poll (with 81 of 92 precincts reporting) are: (1) Rudy Giuliani - 158 votes (2) Duncan Hunter - 152 votes (3) McCain - 116 (4) Sam Brownback - 83 votes (5) Mitt Romney - 80 votes (6) Mike Huckabee - 21 votes. The AP reported this morning that McCain had pulled even with Giuliani and Hunter when counting resumed this morning. Low turnout for the straw poll was attributed to bad weather, which could have hurt Romney's turnout. The results make me wonder if it was a mistake for Romney to push the straw poll as hard as he did though. He ran advertising in South Carolina and reportedly had his organizers heavily pushing his candidacy. That sort of emphasis can make otherwise relatively meaningless straw polls like this matter. What's more, it ends up highlighting Giulani's strong showing in the face of only light campaigning in the state on his part.
  

• Les Mitts (Slate) - Slate has another caustic article on Romney. While I personally found Romney's leaked memo strategy to demonize Europe and France a little annoying, I think this article is absolutely terrible and reeks of religious bigotry: "But by far the best part of Romney's strategy is his campaign's primal code for Brand Mormon. As the Globe explains: 'Enmity toward France, where Romney did his Mormon mission during college, is a recurring theme of the document. The European Union, it says at one point, wants to 'drag America down to Europe's standards,' adding: 'That's where Hillary and Dems would take us. Hillary = France.' The plan even envisions 'First, not France' bumper stickers.' According to his campaign, Mormonism is not some new-fangled, outside-the-mainstream religion. It's Romney's lifelong crusade against heathen France."

• McCain in Utah - McCain skipped out on CPAC and held a fundraiser in Utah yesterday at the invitation of Governor Jon Huntsman. The Deseret News reported that McCain raised over $150,000 as of last night and was expected add to that this morning. Why did McCain come to Utah? The Salt Lake Tribune quotes Utah State University professor Peter Galderisi saying "If [McCain] can get support and money in Utah, which obviously has a religious connection to Romney as well as an ideological one, it's like saying 'I'm still a contender. I can play his home turf.'"

• Romney Says Media Are Focused On Him (Boston Globe) - The Globe picked up on comments Romney made in his CBN interview Wednesday which attributed the media scrutiny against him to the media seeing him as the more conservative front-running candidate.

• Regent Students Upset At Romney's Choice As Speaker (Virginia-Pilot) - "Selecting presidential candidate Mitt Romney as its May commencement speaker has riled some of Regent University's students and alumni who say his Mormon faith clashes with the school's bedrock evangelical Christianity. 'What we're against is the fact that Mormonism is on the complete opposite end of the spectrum from Christian values and what we believe,' said Doug Dowdey, a Virginia Beach pastor who said he graduated from Regent's divinity school last year."

• Candidate Ancestry - Romney's not the only candidate that has the press focusing on his ancestry. Various press outlets are reporting that Barack Obama's mother's ancestors purportedly owned slaves. More news, like Romney's polygamous ancestry, that's not relevant to the current presidential campaign. I believe, however, that it bolsters my argument (in the comments) that reports on Romney's polygamous ancestors were not necessarily religious bigotry or a "liberal" hit piece, but rather another example of headline grabbing sensationalistic journalism.
  

The Mud Is Beginning To Fly

So the mud is beginning to fly... and it makes me think that when it gets bad, it's going to get pretty bad. First up, the State is reporting that Mitt Romney is getting attacked via anonymous mailings in South Carolina:

Anonymous mailings critical of GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, on the eve of what has become an all-important Spartanburg straw poll, have raised the specter of a long, nasty battle between now and the 2008 S.C. Republican primary.

One of the pieces was sent via U.S. mail Monday to several Spartanburg County Republicans. The letter, a copy of which was obtained by The State, is a six-page attack on Romney’s record on abortion, gun control, taxes and “conservative values.”

It is postmarked Columbia and headlined “Mitt Romney: Say anything to get elected.”

A second piece was sent via electronic mail from the address “upstaterepublican@gmail.com.” It said it was from “Martin W.” and attacked Romney’s faith.

The e-mail is headlined: “Mitt Romney has a family secret he doesn’t want you to know.”

It says: “Those dark suspicions you hide deep inside yourself about Mormonism are trying to tell you something. Trust your instincts! æ.æ.æ. The light of truth will burn through the smoke and mirrors of Mitt Romney’s movie star looks and crafty words!”

The e-mail includes a copy of a recent Associated Press story about how Romney’s ancestors practiced polygamy.

Next, an erroneous comment that Romney made about Giuliani is getting play too. In his interview with David Brody yesterday, Romney said Giuliani was "pro-gay marriage" (which he is not) prompting various news outlets to report that Romney was "smearing" Giuliani. A source "close to the Giuliani campaign" responded to the allegation by saying "It is sad, but unfortunately not surprising, that Mitt Romney's flailing campaign has chosen to misrepresent Rudy's positions. He can't keep his own positions straight let alone Rudy's."

Is it just me, or does it seem like the dam is starting to break on a vicious campaign cycle?

Latest to be YouTube'd... Giuliani

Mitt's Brody Interview

Mitt Romney sat down with CBN's David Brody yesterday for an interview on the eve of CPAC. Brody hasn't posted the interview in whole as of yet, but instead is posting clips on various issues:

• Should Romney address his Mormonism?

• Romney's position on embryonic stem-cell research
  

• Romney on polygamy
  

• Romney on McCain's Federal Marriage Amendment vote
  

• Romney on Hillary

• Romney on Giuliani
  

• Romney on why he's "going to win"
  

Romney News Round Up

It's been a pretty big news day for events affected Mitt Romney's campaign. On the eve of the Spartanburg straw poll and CPAC, John McCain made a surprising announcement of his intentions to run for president on the Late Show with David Letterman. The quasi-announcement (he's still expected to "officially" announce in April) was certainly an attempt to steal some of the spotlight from Romney, Giuliani, and others this weekend at CPAC (which he himself will not be attending).... will it be enough to get the buzz back into his campaign (which has lost more than 10% points to Giuliani in some polls of late)? Anyhow, here are some McCain, Giuliani, and Romney news clips that caught my eye:

• McCain Says He'll Seek Presidency, Plans To Make It Official In April (Washington Post): McCain made an unexpected announcement of his intentions to run for president last night on the Late Show with David Letterman.

• McCain Fundraiser Set At Utah Home (SL Trib): McCain is venturing into Romney territory ... "Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who has endorsed McCain, invited him to Utah to raise funds. About 60 to 70 Utahns are expected at Simmons' home for the Thursday luncheon."
  

• Religious Attacks Disavowed (SL Trib): "Days before presidential candidate John McCain visits Utah, his campaign says the Arizona senator condemns any attack against his opponent, Mitt Romney, over his Mormon faith." I wonder if he'll live up to this.
  

• Laura Ingraham Radio Show: Apparently Bob Novak is "changing his view that Giuliani can't be nominated by the Republican party."
  

• A Convertible Candidate (the Politico): "If the conservative press could pick the Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney might have had the nomination locked up last year. By spring 2006, he had appeared on the covers of The Weekly Standard, National Review and The American Spectator with such laudatory headlines as "Matinee Mitt" and "Romney Rocks". . . . But there are signs that Romney's honeymoon with conservative pundits may be coming to an end. The candidate received an early warning in January when he went to address the National Review Institute's Conservative Summit, which ought to have been friendly territory."

• Yesterday, Romney also issued a couple of press releases announcing his Latin American Policy Advisory Group and his Arizona Leadership Team.
  

• The National Review Online had an interesting discussion on Sam Brownback vis-a-vis Romney. Kathryn Jean Lopez wondered whether Brownback was actually running for McCain's VP. She noted an email from Brownback's campaign that lashed out at Romney: "[Romney's] staff unjustly maligned Senator Brownback's record on life issues, and then Senator McCain's record on life issues, Governor Romney continued this tactic by untruthfully characterizing the record of President Bush on life issues. It is disturbing that Governor Romney has seen fit to respond to legitimate questions about his own record by falsely attempting to reinvent everyone else in the race (and President Bush) in his own image...." Lopez said "The shame of this is I think Romney may be the most liable to lead on the social issues — if his cloning and marriage fights in Massachusetts are any indication. On the chance he might be a true-blue latter-day lifer it strikes me as unwise for Brownback... to tear him down so directly and consistently." National Review Editor Rich Lowry responded that "Seems to me it's imperative for Brownback to try tear down Romney's pro-life credentials. He has to do it if he's going to try to be the sole authentic social conservative in the race. I think the way it's going to go, working our way roughly from the right, is that Brownback is going to try to tear down Romney's pro-life credentials, and Romney is going to try to tear down (he hopes) McCain's, and McCain is going to try to tear down Giuliani's (which shouldn't be hard because they're basically non-existent, at least post-1989). Welcome to the presidential pro-life credentials food chain!"

Big Weekend for Romney

I think this week is an important one for Mitt Romney for a couple of reasons. First, March 1st there is a straw poll in Spartanburg, South Carolina that will be a revealing indicator on where Romney stands in this key primary state (it will also be very interesting to see how Giuliani fares). After several somewhat rough weeks in the press, a strong showing could help quiet the unrest. Second, the CPAC Conference in DC this weekend will give Romney the opportunity to gauge his support among some key GOP conservatives as he appears alongside the current Republican frontrunners. Romney, in my mind, needs to make a strong showing at both events. After running ads in a number of key primary states last week, he's upped the ante and if he doesn't see some bounce from it, people are going to start asking why.

It's apparent that there is still a lot of suspicion about Romney among social conservatives. This last weekend at a meeting of the Council for National Policy, prominent conservatives, including James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, and Grover Norquist, pushed hard to enlist South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford as a candidate because "There is no outstanding conservative, and they are all looking for that." Romney also has a lot of social conservatives who are actively attacking him (especially in the Northeast).

In spite of these hurdles, however, Romney has an enormous amount going for him. He has been a prodigious fundraiser and some liberals see him as a the candidate to beat (some might argue the other GOP candidates do too). I think these next couple of months will be telling though... starting, of course, with this weekend.

Internal Campaign Document

I've been a little removed from the blogosphere these past few days and have several posts on the backburner, but there's a pretty interesting article in the Globe I thought I should throw a link up to quickly. The paper received a leaked copy of an internal Romney campaign document that outlines his overall strategy, what he views Giuliani and McCain's strengths and weaknesses are and what he thinks his own strengths and weaknesses are. I'm still a little perplexed over how this was leaked. It's certainly not something the Romney camp wants out there. Any Romney-watcher should find this Globe article interesting though (I'll admit I laughed at it's last line). Like Giuliani's leaked dossier a couple months ago, this kind of document gives you a rarely seen peak into the internal workings of campaign machines.

Romney Relishes Obama-Clinton Spat

While visiting New Hampshire today, Mitt Romney said he was enjoying the Clinton v. Obama grudge-match. "It's great, isn't it? I love to see it when it happens on the other side."

Meanwhile, Romney obeyed Reagan's 11th Commandment with respect to his main Republican rivals, describing them as "friends" and saying "I respect them. I'm sure we'll disagree on issues from time to time, but I doubt you'll see the rancor that apparently may exist elsewhere."

I have serious doubts about whether the Republican primaries will stay very amicable, especially in the South, but we can hope.