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One could draw the conclusion that Mitt Romney’s business acumen and disciplined approach to problem solving is at work even when appraising his rivals. Speaking to the chances of nomination for Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee, Romney began his response in an interview assessing the need for campaign ‘ground support’ and funding. Remarks given on the late start by Thompson and late up tick in the Huckabee campaign gave heavy weighting to raising funds early when they are more plentiful and developing strong support, presumably in early voting states.

Thompson remarked that his words and ideas were what would be the ultimate test and were something money can’t buy. That assumes, not unlike many current and past candidates, the money does not drive the message. Since Thompson is late to the game by necessity or design, it would also be reasonable to conclude he prepared a message like that since he is late and does not have everything in place, which probably includes the campaign warchest.

Other candidates, like John McCain, draw attention to the importance of momentum closer to the elections. If polling is any indication, nationally it has been Giuliani and Thompson followed by McCain and Romney. There is a large margin between the top two and number three and four. Momentum has certainly worked for Romney. He was in single digits early on and still is in some states but nationally he hovers in the mid-teens ahead of McCain in many states and the front runner in half or more of the early states. His large lead in Iowa and New Hampshire could trigger much momentum with back to back wins.

It is certainly too early to determine much with Thompson entering the race only this week. The daily tracking polls have had as much or more movement on the Dems side just after Thompson’s announcement. Caucus and primary elections are drawing closer yet there is still much to observe. A campaign strategist offered this assessment. Every campaign must experience a devastating event some time during a campaign. If he is right, that may be what has to happen before any noticeable difference is reflected in the polls. Maybe it won’t happen before the first election.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Romney Ups Stakes for Volatile GOP Field
By RON FOURNIER – 7 hours ago

BERLIN, N.H. (AP) — Mitt Romney said Friday that presidential rivals Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee need to raise a jaw-dropping $20 million in the next few months to join him in the top tier of the Republican GOP field, raising the stakes in a nomination fight altered by a tumultuous week.

Feeling the heat of his rivals, the former Massachusetts governor dismissed the notion that a late-entering Thompson and an up-and-coming Huckabee were poised to squeeze into the GOP top tier now occupied by Romney and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 8th, 2007 at 1:30 pm and is filed under Public Affairs, wordpress, Politics, campaign, election, GOP, thompson, romney, giuliani. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.