Romney Goes Dark in FL, SC
According to Marc Ambinder, Mitt Romney’s campaign has gone dark in Florida and South Carolina, which is leading to a number of interesting questions. Here’s what Ambinder is reporting:
Up on television in Florida and South Carolina through yesterday, Mitt Romney is not running any television ads in those states now, according to a Republican with knowledge of the traffic purchases in the state.
Romney’s campaign hasn’t booked any television time in those states, either.
And it’s probably for a good reason: Romney needs to focus all of his resources in Michigan.
But opponents will wonder: is Romney hedging his bets? Does he not want to spend money in South Carolina and Florida unless he wins Michigan and has a reason to stay in the race?
That isn’t the only bad news for Mitt. According to this Gallup Poll, Mitt doesn’t break double digits:
Among Republicans, Huckabee has jumped from 16% of the vote in December 2007 to 25% as of this polling. Coupled with the loss of support for former front-runner Rudy Giuliani, Huckabee is now the leader among Republicans nationally, with a 5-point lead over Giuliani and 6-point lead over John McCain (who has gained 5 points since December). Mitt Romney, after failing to win in Iowa, is now in fifth place nationally with just 9% of the vote, which is his lowest percentage since early October.
What’s worse is that this polling was done before Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary. If you combine these bits of information, it isn’t a stretch to think that Mitt isn’t in this for the long haul. His campaign might end Tuesday in Michigan.
Of course, there’s alot that can still happen between this evening and Tuesday night so we can’t write Mitt out yet. What we can say is that it’s sounding like Mitt thinks he’s nearing the end of the road.
Actually, I have another idea that’s worth looking at. John Kerry, who served in Vietnam, is up for re-election this year. Mitt’s a proven vote-getter in Massachusetts. I’d be perfectly willing to support Mitt in that situation.
Technorati Tags: Mitt Romney, Florida, South Carolina, Michigan Primary, Polling, Massachusetts, John Kerry, Election 2008
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog