Romney Seeks Rebound in New Hampshire

[Terri]

By GLEN JOHNSON
Associated Press
January 4, 2008

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) -- Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney reached into the sports metaphor closet Friday as he sought to give perspective to an Iowa caucus loss that put added pressure on him to win next week's New Hampshire primary.

''This is still a nice, long process here,'' he told about 150 campaign workers who defied frigid temperatures and the 3 a.m. hour to greet his plane as it returned from the Midwest. ''We've had, if you will, the first inning of a game that has, let's say, 50 innings in it.''

The businessman-turned-politician promised to rebound by selling voters on his outsider image and pledge to replace partisan bickering in Washington with government productivity.

More (http://www.gopusa.com/news/2008/january/0104_romney_nh1.shtm l)

[de Seis]

Well, I am a Mitt supporter and he's got millions of his own money that he could go to the end regardless, but after last night, I don't think he has a chance. I was very disappointed in his showing in Iowa - he finished way behind Huckabee in a state he should have won.

Now, even in NH, McCain's nipping at his heels - if he doesn't win decisively there, it's over. And I don't think he will, which leaves me to have to scramble for a new candidate - I'm thinking Thompson just by process of elimination, since he ought do more than okay on Super Tuesday.

[wftright]

Eight months ago, Rudy Giuliani seemed to be the inevitable nominee on the Republican side. If Rudy Giuliani stumbled, then John McCain would become the nominee. No one seemed to have any chance against these two candidates.

Mitt Romney started with a great deal of money from friends who'd seen what he could do in business and believed that he'd do well as president. He decided that he needed to build an organization in the early states and try to build momentum going into the bigger states. Since that time, he's spent that money, built his name recognition, and built some momentum. He didn't just spend 7 million dollars to win Iowa. He spent 7 million dollars to change the perception that the GOP was stuck with either Rudy Giuliani or John McCain. He's been successful in changing that perception.

Does anyone know how many delegates have been awarded so far? The answer is none. Wyoming will award about 12 delegates tomorrow, and Mitt Romney has a chance of getting some of those delegates. New Hampshire will award another 12 delegates on Tuesday, and New Hampshire awards them proportionally to all candidates with more than about 10% of the vote. That means that 30-28-11-10 outcome will result in the top two candidates getting 5 delegates and the next two candidates getting 1 delegate each. "Winning" New Hampshire is nice for getting the headlines, but the primary process is a long fight for a few delegates at a time.

People need to stop letting the media influence them into believing that this or that primary or caucus should determine the outcome. Winning the nomination requires winning many delegates, and we still have plenty of time to vote for whichever candidate seems best to each of us. Please don't be caught in this whole media-generated game about "momentum."

[David L. Woods]

Keep writing. You make far more sense than anyone else I read today.

David L. Woods, dlwoods70@arthlink.n et

[schillerbjr]

The Primary process is a long one, and the GOP
race is far from over!!

[Amawalk John]

The primary season will be over (effectively) on February 5. That's one month from today.

[wftright]

I can see many scenarios where the primary will not be over on February 5. Are you aware of how California awards delegates? For those who aren't, California has 53 congressional districts and 169 delegates to be awarded on February 5. In each district, three delegates go to the overall winner of that district. When all of the votes are counted, another ten delegates will go to the overall winner of the state.

This method of allocation means that California is not one race but instead is 53 races. "Winning" California is meaningless because winning only means 10 delegates. The secret will be in winning a large number of those 53 districts. A candidate with tremendous support in a few districts and moderate support in other districts may win the state but end up winning only 5 or 10 districts. That candidate could end up with 40 of those 169 delegates. Another candidate who loses the state could end up with more delegates than the winner has.

Most states award delegates by Congressional district with the bonus delegates being awarded to the overall winner or even being split proportionally. (New Hampshire is an exception with proportional allocation of all delegates. New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut are winner-take-all states.) Illinois is another delegate-rich state that awards delegates by congressional district. The southern part of the state is more conservative, and Rudy Giuliani isn't guaranteed wins in those districts.

With the delegates from most states distributed to several candidates, we could have two or three viable candidates coming out of February 5. Given how split the party is over the candidates, that scenario may even be likely. Rudy Giuliani is completely unacceptable to many Republicans. John McCain has back-stabbed us enough times to be largely unacceptable. Many Republicans refuse to support a Mormon or anyone from Massachusetts, and Fred Thompson is struggling to keep from becoming a regional candidate. Mike Huckabee looks more and more like someone who should be a television personality and not a president. With this strange set of choices, we could end up spreading the delegates widely among the candidates.

The important thing is not to fall into the trap of believing that we must pick a candidate early. If you believe in a candidate, don't abandon him because he did poorly in one or two states. The eventual president will have to be president of all 50 states. All states should have a voice in selecting the nominee and the president.