Odds And Ends, The GOP
LAS VEGAS -- While the Dems duke it out in the Silver State, the Republicans are blanketing South Carolina, looking for an edge in Saturday's critical primary. Florida, too, remains center stage for the GOP contest.
Mitt Romney
Romney, who has largely passed on S.C. to campaign more heavily in Nevada, has a new ad up in Florida today called "Chairs" ... "If you send the same people back to Washington just to sit in different chairs, nothing will happen."
Romney, fresh off his Michigan win, was also endorsed today by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "You might not know it, but there's also a Republican caucus in Nevada on Saturday," the paper writes. " ... Nevada Republicans on Saturday should examine their choices through precisely such a filter. Each GOP candidate can make -- and has made -- a reasonable case that he's best suited to ensure the party again embraces the ideas and concepts that made this nation a beacon of freedom and economic opportunity. But in our opinion, the viable candidate most likely to lead Republicans in such a direction is Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts."
Interesting to note that Romney would try to leverage a Saturday win in NV when none of his rivals are campaigning here. Would be weak at best. Would also resemble Hillary Clinton's team's decision to send out a statement celebrating HRC's "win" in Michigan ...
John McCain
The Charleston Post And Courier and the Rock Hill Herald have both endorsed John McCain.
"McCain has alienated his party's conservative base with stands on issues such as immigration, torture of suspected terrorists and campaign financing. In each case, he not only supported stances that were unpopular with many Republicans but also played a leading role in promoting policies that were opposed by fellow GOP lawmakers," writes the Herald. "But while some regard McCain's maverick stands as traitorous, others see them as evidence of an inquisitive mind, a willingness to stand on principle, a desire to find consensus amid contentiousness and a compelling need to put his country's interests ahead of partisan concerns".
Rudy Giuliani
Giuliani is up in Florida (shocking!) with a new spot called "Quotes" ... In it the mayor gets props from Grover Norquist, George Will, Steve Forbes and Pat Toomey. The message to potentially doubting Florida voters is that this guy is conservative.
(JENNIFER SKALKA)
Maybe 'The Hotline' isn't aware of the fact that Nevada has way more delegates than SC. Go Mitt!
Sorry Cory, that doesn't change the fact that Mitt is out there by himself with no competition. If he doesn't win NV by at least 20 points, it should and will be considered an embarrassment for Romney. Oh, and if a Republican cannot compete in the South, he will be useless against Hillary or Obama.
Well, there is the slight difference between winning without campaigning because your main opponents aren't even on the ballot (Hillary in Michigan) and choosing to campaign among voters your opponents think aren't important enough to woo (Romney in Nevada).