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

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.
  

Romney Weekend News Round Up

This was a pretty rich weekend presswise:

"Experience"

Romney Defends Experience (Columbia Tribune): "'I certainly wouldn’t want to compare myself to any other Republican,' Romney said Saturday during the Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Days gathering. 'We all have our own distinct and unique capabilities and experiences. I spent my life in the private sector. In the private sector, I made a habit and a practice to work throughout the world. I made investments like Italy and Germany and negotiated transactions in China and Russia. I helped oversee businesses in Russia and Japan. So I spent my life working in the world of international trade.' Romney also said his experience taking control of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, immediately after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was a prime example of his executive leadership. 'I helped organize the successful and safe gathering of nations,' Romney said, 'and, of course, I served as governor and been on the Homeland Security Advisory Council for the nation' . . . .Romney also noted that being governor prepared him to be the nation’s chief executive. 'Perhaps one of the greatest diplomats and leaders in the world of foreign affairs was Ronald Reagan, who served not in the Senate but in the governor’s chair," he said. "I think you look over the history of America, you’ll find a lot of great presidents have been governors. So I wouldn’t disqualify anyone based on their opportunity to serve as governor.'"

Religion and Social Issues

Romney's Faith May Be Political Issue (Concord Monitor): This article discusses the hurdles Romney's Mormon faith might pose, especially in New Hampshire, a key early state in the primaries. "In New Hampshire, [religious] themes aren't likely to play as loudly as elsewhere. The evangelical community is reportedly growing in the state but still represents a tiny portion of the population. Pinckney, who researched the churchgoing population when he first came to the region, estimates that only about 10 percent of people in the greater Concord area attend church regularly, despite what they may tell pollsters. Evangelicals probably represent fewer than half of them, he said."

Romney's Stem Cell View May Upset The Right (Boston Globe): "Unlike many on the right, Romney supports research on excess embryos created during fertility treatments. Because couples are making embryos to have a baby, he reasons, it is ethical to use the leftovers for research when they would otherwise just be discarded. Romney's position, however, is at odds with the views of many conservative anti abortion activists, who believe that any work on stem cells derived from human embryos is wrong, because it destroys the embryos in the process. Some say Romney's views make him unacceptable to many voters and will complicate his attempt to win the 2008 GOP nomination by appealing to the party's conservative flank."

'08 Presidential Candidates and Campaign

Backers And Money: Romney, Other Hopefuls In Early Fight To Stand Out In '08 Presidential Race (Deseret News): "An early need for a lot of money and even more supporters in the 2008 presidential election is driving White House hopeful Mitt Romney and other contenders to start their campaigns before the first primary date is even set in stone."

Giuliani Fares Well For GOP Moderate (LA Times): "Beyond geography, another dynamic working in Giuliani's favor now is the emerging mix of top-tier Republican candidates. Both of his chief opponents, McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, have their own frictions with social conservatives. And neither has focused on the moderates most likely to gravitate to Giuliani."

Mike Huckabee On This Week With George Stephanopoulos (ABC News): Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee threw some shots at Romney yesterday on ABC's This Week: "I'm not as troubled by a person who has a different faith. I'm troubled by a person who tells me their faith doesn't influence their decisions. Because if a person says to me, 'Here's my faith, but it doesn't influence me at all,' what it says to me is: 'My faith isn't very significant.'"

Romney Drawing Support From Many Of Missouri's Top Republicans (AP): Romney appears to be making serious headway in Missouri: "Missouri's presidential primaries are a full year away, but former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney appears to have some early momentum. Romney, who plans to formally announce his presidential candidacy Tuesday, already is garnering the support of many of Missouri's top Republicans. And he was the headline attraction Saturday night for hundreds of Republicans gathered at their annual Missouri Lincoln Days conference. The catalyst behind Romney's growing Missouri rapport appears to be Matt Blunt, who until he became governor two years ago did not even know Romney. Now Blunt considers Romney both a personal and political friend."

Romney Pushes His Conservative Credentials In Iowa (Quad City Times): It appears Romney still has some headway to make in Iowa: "Iowa GOP activist Chuck Hurley, who serves a president of the Iowa Family Policy Center, said some social conservatives in the state are skeptical of Romney. “I’m guessing that there are some people who have clearly made up their mind that he can’t be trusted, that it’s, you know, pandering,” Hurley said."

Romney, Brownback Address Michigan GOP (AP): "Republicans Mitt Romney, son of a Michigan governor, and Sam Brownback promoted their presidential campaigns Saturday before nearly 3,000 party activists at their state convention." Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty represented John McCain at the event. According to a local TV outlet, things got a little heated: "The tension between the Republican presidential camps -- especially between supporters of Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney-- was clear as nearly 3,000 Republican activists met Saturday for their state convention."

Brownback and Huckabee Aiming at Romney

Sam Brownback: On Fox News Sunday yesterday, Brownback was asked more questions about Mitt Romney than his own personal positions. He continued to trump his "true conservative" status: "I've been standing for life all along, and I'll continue to, and I think other people in this race have not stood for life all along. I've been standing and fighting for marriage as the union of a man and woman bonded together for life. I've fought for those in the Senate, and others have voted differently on those. That's what I'm pointing out." He said Romney would "have to stand on his own record. At times he's stated that he's pro-life, and at times he's stated differently. That's something that's going to be coming out during the campaign, and I think that's clear from the outset."

Mike Huckabee: On Meet the Press yesterday, Huckabee seemed to take a subtle jab at Romney when discussing his pro-life status "I always am going to err on the side of life, Tim. I believe life is precious. But I think the issue for many of us who are in the pro-life camp—and I have been since, you know, I was a teenager. This is not something that I’ve been all over the board on, it’s consistent."