Poor fundraising by Obama "Super PAC" prompted new strategy

In early January, President Barack Obama’s campaign manager Jim Messina called David Axelrod, the president’s top strategist, into his Chicago office and started writing on a white board.

On one side of the board, Messina sketched out the amounts of money he expected Republican “Super PACs” and other groups to raise and spend to try to defeat the Democratic president in the Nov. 6 election.

Drawing a line under that cumulative number — roughly $700 million — Messina then highlighted the amount raised by the Republican groups’ Democratic counterparts. It was a measly figure.

“We’ve got to talk about this. This is a problem,” Messina told Axelrod, according to a campaign official.

Roughly a month later, on Feb. 6, the Obama campaign announced it would start supporting Priorities USA Action, the struggling Super PAC formed to help Obama. The move reversed a plan rooted in Obama’s distaste for a Supreme Court decision that allowed such independent groups to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to try to influence elections.

If there were any lingering questions about why Obama’s campaign changed course, they were answered late on Monday.

Priorities USA raised a paltry $59,000 in January, Federal Election Commission filings showed, and that amount came almost entirely from one longtime Obama supporter, John W. Rogers, who donated $50,000.

The disappointing figures were a sharp contrast with the tens of millions of dollars raised by the political action committees, or PACs, that support Republican presidential candidates.

The results reinforced concerns among Obama’s advisers that despite his campaign’s fundraising strength, Republican PACs could help the opposition outspend the president’s re-election efforts.

A campaign spokesman declined to comment about the Priorities USA figures.

 

ENTHUSIASM RISING?

On Feb. 6, Messina announced that Obama campaign and White House officials would start appearing at Priorities USA events, though they would not directly solicit contributions.

But Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, would not participate in the Super PAC events.

The change has made a difference in donor enthusiasm, said Bill Burton, a former White House official who helped found Priorities USA and is a senior strategist for the group.

“Interest and enthusiasm has increased significantly since the announcement,” he said in an email.

Despite the PAC’s financial weakness, the Obama campaign itself is still a fundraising juggernaut, raising $29.1 million in January along with the Democratic National Committee and other allies. It is expected to raise at least as much for the president’s re-election as the $750 million it collected in the 2008 presidential race.

But there are limits to how much the campaign can take in from big donors.

Individual donations to campaigns are limited to $2,500 during the primary season and another $2,500 for the fall general campaign. Because of the 2010 Supreme Court ruling that banned limits on fundraising and spending by independent political groups, Super PACs have no such limit on donations.

Obama opposed that ruling, which erased longstanding limits on corporate and union money in federal elections.

Obama “believes that this is an unhealthy development in our political process, but it is a reality of the rules as they stand,” Axelrod said in an interview.

“This was not a quick decision, but he also feels a responsibility to win this election,” Axelrod added. “There’s a lot hanging on this beyond him.”

Priorities USA had raised just $4.2 million by the end of January, only a fraction of that raised by Restore Our Future, the group supporting Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney, which had raised $36.8 million by the end of last month.

The figures showed Priorities USA had $1.3 million in cash on hand at the end of January and no debt.

The PAC’s incoming contributions in January averaged less than $2,000 a day. Without Rogers’ $50,000 donation on January 17, the group would have pulled in less than $10,000 last month.

Poor fundraising by Obama “Super PAC” prompted new strategy

In early January, President Barack Obama’s campaign manager Jim Messina called David Axelrod, the president’s top strategist, into his Chicago office and started writing on a white board.

On one side of the board, Messina sketched out the amounts of money he expected Republican “Super PACs” and other groups to raise and spend to try to defeat the Democratic president in the Nov. 6 election.

Drawing a line under that cumulative number — roughly $700 million — Messina then highlighted the amount raised by the Republican groups’ Democratic counterparts. It was a measly figure.

“We’ve got to talk about this. This is a problem,” Messina told Axelrod, according to a campaign official.

Roughly a month later, on Feb. 6, the Obama campaign announced it would start supporting Priorities USA Action, the struggling Super PAC formed to help Obama. The move reversed a plan rooted in Obama’s distaste for a Supreme Court decision that allowed such independent groups to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to try to influence elections.

If there were any lingering questions about why Obama’s campaign changed course, they were answered late on Monday.

Priorities USA raised a paltry $59,000 in January, Federal Election Commission filings showed, and that amount came almost entirely from one longtime Obama supporter, John W. Rogers, who donated $50,000.

The disappointing figures were a sharp contrast with the tens of millions of dollars raised by the political action committees, or PACs, that support Republican presidential candidates.

The results reinforced concerns among Obama’s advisers that despite his campaign’s fundraising strength, Republican PACs could help the opposition outspend the president’s re-election efforts.

A campaign spokesman declined to comment about the Priorities USA figures.

 

ENTHUSIASM RISING?

On Feb. 6, Messina announced that Obama campaign and White House officials would start appearing at Priorities USA events, though they would not directly solicit contributions.

But Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, would not participate in the Super PAC events.

The change has made a difference in donor enthusiasm, said Bill Burton, a former White House official who helped found Priorities USA and is a senior strategist for the group.

“Interest and enthusiasm has increased significantly since the announcement,” he said in an email.

Despite the PAC’s financial weakness, the Obama campaign itself is still a fundraising juggernaut, raising $29.1 million in January along with the Democratic National Committee and other allies. It is expected to raise at least as much for the president’s re-election as the $750 million it collected in the 2008 presidential race.

But there are limits to how much the campaign can take in from big donors.

Individual donations to campaigns are limited to $2,500 during the primary season and another $2,500 for the fall general campaign. Because of the 2010 Supreme Court ruling that banned limits on fundraising and spending by independent political groups, Super PACs have no such limit on donations.

Obama opposed that ruling, which erased longstanding limits on corporate and union money in federal elections.

Obama “believes that this is an unhealthy development in our political process, but it is a reality of the rules as they stand,” Axelrod said in an interview.

“This was not a quick decision, but he also feels a responsibility to win this election,” Axelrod added. “There’s a lot hanging on this beyond him.”

Priorities USA had raised just $4.2 million by the end of January, only a fraction of that raised by Restore Our Future, the group supporting Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney, which had raised $36.8 million by the end of last month.

The figures showed Priorities USA had $1.3 million in cash on hand at the end of January and no debt.

The PAC’s incoming contributions in January averaged less than $2,000 a day. Without Rogers’ $50,000 donation on January 17, the group would have pulled in less than $10,000 last month.

The Year of the Super PAC

An unmistakable dynamic is playing out in the money game among Republican presidential candidates: New “super” political action committees are growing more powerful than the campaigns they support.

For two of the GOP front-runners, their supportive super PACs raised more money and have more cash left in the bank than the candidates’ own campaigns. Helping their efforts are major financial gifts from wealthy business executives, whose contributions can be essential to the groups’ continued operations.

Mitt Romney-leaning Restore Our Future and Newt Gingrich-supportive Winning Our Future raised a combined $17 million last month and spent nearly $24 million during that same period. That financial strength allowed the groups to splash the airwaves in key primary states with millions of dollars in TV ads.

The proliferation of new super PACs continues to underscore how the groups, which can raise and spend unlimited sums, are influencing the race. The groups’ fundraising last month offers a periodic behind-the-scenes glimpse into the identities of the rich supporters who will help elect the next president, along with details on how the millions of dollars they donated have been spent.

Restore Our Future, which had $16 million cash on hand, has been boosted by more than two dozen repeat donors. Winning Our Future, which had $2.4 million in the bank, is largely supported by casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife.

Meanwhile, Romney raised $6.5 million last month and had $7.7 million left over for his presidential bid, while Gingrich’s presidential campaign raised $5.5 million during the same period and had about $1.8 million in cash remaining.

The super PACs, as well as other groups supporting other candidates and the individual campaigns, were required to disclose how much they raised and the identities of their donors in reports filed with the Federal Election Commission by midnight Monday. Those reports provided a snapshot of fundraising for President Barack Obama’s early campaign and for Republican candidates as they battled during important primary elections in January.

During the month, GOP candidates Gingrich and Rick Santorum had briefly surged ahead of Romney but trailed the former Massachusetts governor in fundraising. Since then, Santorum has climbed remarkably in polls while Gingrich’s support has eroded just as stunningly following the former House speaker’s disappointing showing in Florida’s primary.

Restore Our Future has been a boon for Romney, who has benefited greatly from the group’s TV ads attacking Gingrich in particular. Such ads were purchased thanks to the financial help of repeat donors, including Marriott International Chairman J.W. Marriott Jr., who has given the super PAC $750,000 to date.

The super PAC also reported new donors, including Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman. Romney mentored Whitman, recently an unsuccessful candidate for California governor, during the 1980s at Boston-based Bain & Co., the private equity firm Romney headed. Whitman’s $100,000 check to Restore Our Future came days after she joined Romney at a celebration of his victory in the New Hampshire primary.

Restore Our Future counted on continued support from at least 30 repeat donors who, along with new contributors, gave a combined $6.6 million in January, according to a review of the reports by The Associated Press.

Meanwhile, Winning Our Future’s $11 million in contributions during the same period came almost exclusively from Adelson, a friend of Gingrich’s and a staunch supporter of Israel. Adelson and his wife, Miriam, each gave $5 million to the super PAC in January — a move that helped keep Gingrich’s struggling campaign alive.

Other GOP-leaning super PACs reported major contributions.

Endorse Liberty, the group supporting Texas Rep. Ron Paul, reported roughly $2.4 million in donations, including $1.7 from the billionaire founder of PayPal, Peter Thiel of San Francisco. Thiel, who runs a hedge fund, is a libertarian who has supported Republican causes and candidates and also has donated to California’s marijuana legalization ballot measure.

Obama’s campaign on Friday reported raising a combined $29.1 million in January among the campaign, the Democratic National Committee and other joint fundraising committees. The major super PAC backing Obama, Priorities USA Action, raised only $58,000 last month — mostly from a $50,000 contribution by Chicago businessman John Rogers — underscoring why Obama encouraged his supporters recently to give to the super PAC.

The reports likely will rekindle criticism of the groups, which were made possible under a 2010 Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case. The super PACs must legally remain independent from the candidates they support, but many are staffed with former campaign aides who have intimate knowledge of the campaigns’ strategies.

Late Friday, the Supreme Court put on hold a Montana case that bore striking similarities. Two justices said the newest case provides an opportunity for the court to reconsider whether millionaires and billionaires should be allowed to continue pouring millions of dollars into the presidential election.

A remarkable success by Santorum – a devastating night for Team Romney

Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum claimed a remarkable trifecta of wins and massive surge of momentum by sweeping Mitt Romney in all three contests in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri.

Santorum’s victories are all the more remarkable considering Romney’s advantage in financing and organization. Tuesday’s results included losses in two states – Colorado and Minnesota – that he won in his unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign. Minnesota also became the first state where Romney did not end up in first or second place despite having the support of former presidential candidate and State Governor Tim Pawlenty.

The stunning results by Santorum have raised fresh doubts about whether establishment favourite and perceived frontrunner Romney, can in fact win a General election or even the nomination itself after struggling to get support from the party’s conservative base.

Santorum has now finished first in four of the first eight primaries and caucuses, after his narrow victory over Romney in Iowa’s caucuses on January 3.

The former senator said his campaign was already bringing in more donations, an important consideration for a candidate who trails far behind Romney in the fund-raising race.

As he has before, Romney had seemed on track to win the nomination after big wins in Nevada and Florida last week. He had been expected to win easily in Colorado and did little campaigning in Minnesota and Missouri.

In Minnesota’s caucuses, Santorum won with 45 percent of the vote. But the state became the first this year in which Romney did not finish first or second. Congressman Ron Paul was in second place with 27 percent and Romney was third at 17 percent.

Santorum trounced Romney by 30 percentage points in Missouri, 55 percent to 25 percent. That vote was a non-binding primary, but has symbolic value as a measure of support in a big Midwestern state.

The race was closer in Colorado where Santorum won by 5 percentage points over Romney, 40 percent to 35 percent.

Santorum in his victory speech also appeared more presidential then before, setting up a contrast between himself and President Obama as more of the aloof and arrogant policies from a person out of touch with the American people, or a true conservative alternative who will listen to the voice of the people. Santorum essentially positioned himself as the champion of the American people, economic policy, social values, and defender of the constitution and first amendment in particular. It was a passionate and heartfelt speech that connected with the audience.

“I don’t stand here to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama,” Santorum said. On health care, cap and trade and the Wall Street bailout, he charged, “Mitt Romney has the same positions as Barack Obama.”

Romney addressing his supporters said, “This was a good night for Rick Santorum. I want to congratulate Senator Santorum and wish him the very best. We’ll keep on campaigning down the road, but I expect to become our nominee with your help.”

I asked the question in a recent article about Mitt Romney – What does he stand for? (worldviewtonight.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/romney-florida-an-expected-success-can-he-stand-up-to-the-obama-machine/)

The reason I asked the question was not out of any dislike for Romney, I admire a lot about Governor Romney and his business success in particular. The reason I asked the question was that Team Romney were very effective at attacking President Obama and Newt Gingrich with his powerful advertising spending however; I honestly didn’t know what his vision for America was and where he stood on the key issues of the day.

Team Romney will need to have a very detailed reassessment of their strategy going forward. The tried and tested approach of going negative on his opponents, and touting his business experience combined with large rallies, has left voters and supporters devoid of enthusiasm for his candidacy.

Romney’s speech last night was almost parrot fashion repetition of his talking points from the last week. He is failing to connect with the ordinary voter and too often has appeared rehearsed and uncomfortable when put in personal one to one interviews. Romney will need to throw off the consultant shackles and be more energetic, more personal and more natural on the campaign trail or face certain defeat.

Ironically, despite his poor showing in contests which he barely contested, Santorum’s victories may also be good news for former Speaker Newt Gingrich. Team Romney will now need to develop a strategy to attack Santorum and need Gingrich to stay in the race. The longer Gingrich stays in the race, the longer it will split the conservative vote. Three weeks out of the cross hairs for Gingrich may enable him to lay the ground work for a series of victories himself on Super Tuesday, March 6, 2012.

The Romney strategy was based on spending massive early to knock-out his rivals and claim the nomination early before turning his attention towards President Obama. Last night’s remarkable series of wins by Santorum, now appears to have changed the GOP race into a near certain long drawn out affair, and even if Romney prevails as the nominee, his chances of defeating President Obama in the race for the White House in November have been damaged.

There are three winners from last night’s results. Santorum’s victories give him the momentum he needs going forward and hopefully an injection of much needed financial support. They give President Obama renewed confidence that former Governor Romney is not as strong an opponent as initially believed and the longer the race GOP race on, the more damaged he will become. Finally, it gives Gingrich hope and time to re-organise his campaign and ground work ahead of Super Tuesday to deliver a series of southern victories himself.

A bad night for Romney.

Romney turns his attacks to Santorum over earmarks.

 

Mitt Romney sought to fend off an added challenge in the Republican presidential race, opening a coordinated assault against Rick Santorum to combat the potential for a drawn-out nomination contest.

Amid signs that Santorum could make a strong showing in tonight’s Minnesota caucuses, Romney’s campaign turned its attention from Newt Gingrich, long seen as its toughest rival, and set its sights on the former Pennsylvania senator who won Iowa’s party caucuses.

In an interview on a local Minnesota radio station, Romney accused Santorum of increasing government spending by allocating federal funds for local projects known as earmarks.

Romney is hoping to fend off a resurgent Rick Santorum today, as Republicans in three states — Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri — take center stage on a presidential contest brimming with political drama. Maine continues its caucus voting through Saturday.

Some analysts predict that Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, could do well enough in Minnesota and Missouri in today’s voting to pull out a win against Romney and his other rivals. Santorum aides say they are under no illusion of winning Colorado, but expressed optimism that he would place a solid second.

It would be a dramatic turnaround for Santorum, who seemed to quickly fade out of contention after his razor-thin victory in the Iowa caucuses.

Romney made an appearance this morning at a snowy recreational-vehicle dealership north of Denver. Last night, he held a raucous rally at a high school gymnasium attended by more than 2,000 supporters.

Gingrich is spending the day in Ohio, a key state in next month’s Super Tuesday balloting, after campaigning here yesterday.

Santorum, hoping to boost his chances here, flew in from Minnesota overnight to hold a caucus-day rally in Colorado Springs. He and Texas Representative Ron Paul have spent the most time in Colorado campaigning. Santorum was scheduled to return to Minnesota later in the day, where some predict he could beat Romney and two other rivals. Santorum is a favorite of evangelicals and tea party activists skeptical of Romney’s conservative credentials.

The scarcity of reliable polling data makes it difficult to predict the outcome of today’s contests, all non-binding. Caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota are merely a prelude to the delegate selection that occur in the coming months, while the primary in Missouri is widely considered an early beauty contest.

Unlike other early voting states, the campaign in Colorado has been a low-key affair, with candidates barely kicking up any snow. No fiery debates. And perhaps more significantly, the airwaves have been mostly devoid of the ads spewing the kind of vitriol that has dominated the campaign thus far.

As a sign of the growing threat from Santorum, however, the Romney campaign in recent days has begun to target Santorum, as well as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Romney is expected to finish strong in Colorado, where he handily won caucuses four years ago. It would be a major upset if he were to lose here. The open question is whether Santorum can keep it close.

A weak showing by Romney in Colorado, a key battleground state in November’s general election, could further raise questions about his ability to generate a devoted following within his party.

Turnout in Colorado is expected to fall between 50,000 and 60,000 far behind the 70,000 that turned out four years ago when Romney beat Senator John McCain of Arizona, the eventual nominee.

Tea party activists in all three states have found themselves torn over supporting a candidate closer to their conservative values or one the establishment sees as more likely to beat President Obama in the fall.

 

Where to next for the GOP campaigns?

The GOP campaign season is about to begin a quiet period in February. This time offers the campaigns and the candidates time to resupply, reassess plans, reallocate staff to the March primary states and work on their messages and images. It is rare in a campaign when you can actually pause and reflect. Each campaign has different challenges that need to be addressed.

Newt Gingrich needs money and organization. He needs a credible explanation of where he can win, and more important, what his message will be. He has ended this era angry, bitter and unfocused. That is not a winning presentation. Among GOP activists, many don’t think he can do anything else, or at least he can’t sustain anything else for very long. But his negatives, always high, are now especially high. An ABC/Washington Post poll says that his unfavourability rating is now 51%, and his favorability rating is at only 29 percent. Gingrich’s attacks chip away at Romney, but they make him even less appealing. One big question that this Insider has about Gingrich is whether he is self-aware — does he realize he has any of these problems? A fellow Republican who served with Newt during the heady days of 1994 used to say about Gingrich, “often in error, never in doubt.”

Mitt Romney is not challenged by a deficient organization, and I assume his money machine is stronger than it was two months ago. He looks like a winner. He needs to secure key endorsements of elected officials to add to the air of inevitability that is helping propel his campaign. Romney’s biggest challenge is less tangible. People think he is boring at a time when they are looking for some passion. It is hard to create synthetic passion. But he must do something about his intensity deficit. He still leaves the GOP rank-and-file yearning for more. He needs a better conceived and better delivered stump speech. He needs a sharper economic message. He is our front-runner, but his position is fragile and he will lose some primaries in the South in March. If he underperforms in February’s Colorado or Missouri voting it will add to the worry that he is an underperformer.

Rick Santorum needs everything — money,organization and a credible rationale for his candidacy. Despite himself, he has developed some goodwill in the party but no reasonable path to becoming our nominee. So why is he in the race? He adds very little. But he still controls some of his own post-campaign reputation. He needs to decide what he wants that to be.

Ron Paul is doing fine, I guess. The whole notion of winning or losing doesn’t really apply to his campaign. So more of the same is okay with him and his followers.

This is an awkward time for the GOP campaign, but perhaps the worst is over. I assume March 6 will produce our nominee for certain. President Obama will probably never have a better contrast with the GOP than he does right now. In a few weeks, we will have a de facto nominee, and the Republican delegation in Congress will have a plan for the rest of the year that won’t include self-inflicted wounds and offering a flattering image of Obama.

 

Romney hits back against Santorum’s healthcare claims

Mitt Romney’s front-running campaign on Monday criticized trailing rival Rick Santorum for false remarks about Romney’s health care plan in Massachusetts, showing concern the conservative Santorum might be poised for a strong showing in this week’s Republican presidential contests.

The GOP hopefuls face caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado on Tuesday, along with a nonbinding primary in Missouri. On Saturday, Maine wraps up its caucuses, followed by a break until a February 22 debate on CNN and February 28 primaries in Arizona and Michigan.

Romney strengthened his leading status in the GOP presidential race with a strong victory Saturday in the Nevada caucuses. It was his second straight triumph and third overall in the five contests so far, bolstering the perception he may be unstoppable in his second bid for the Republican nomination.

Santorum is competing with Newt Gingrich for conservative support to try to halt Romney’s momentum. He has campaigned hard in Minnesota and in Missouri, a state where Gingrich failed to get on the ballot.

A major element of Santorum’s campaign has been right-wing abhorrence of federal health care reform under President Barack Obama.

In particular, the former Pennsylvania senator accuses Romney of having backed a plan in Massachusetts similar to the federal program that Romney now pledges to repeal if elected president.

The Romney campaign issued a statement Monday that took on the constant attack line by Santorum, citing media articles and “fact-check” reports that labeled some of Santorum’s claims as false.

It cited reports on FactCheck.org and PolitiFact.com in recent weeks that rated as “not true” or “mostly false” the statements by Santorum that the Massachusetts health care law passed while Romney was governor created a government-run system.

The two websites also took issue with Santorum’s claims that the Massachusetts plan under Romney increased premiums and waiting times for patients, and that Romney advocated the Massachusetts model for the entire country.

Such attention by Romney to the last-place finisher in Nevada indicated that Santorum’s campaign may be generating support among conservative and evangelical Republicans in Minnesota and Missouri.

In the Nevada caucuses, Romney won with 50% support, while former House Speaker Gingrich had 21%, Rep. Ron Paul had 19% and Santorum had 10%, according to certified final results released Monday.

Romney’s strong showing has Gingrich now firmly lodged in second place, plotting a Southern revival.

Gingrich appeared on two Sunday talk shows to describe a survival strategy aimed at Super Tuesday on March 6, when more than 400 delegates will be at stake.

The 10 contests that day include primaries in Georgia, Gingrich’s home state, and neighboring Tennessee — Southern states that border South Carolina, where Gingrich has scored his only victory so far.

“Our goal is to get to Super Tuesday, where we’re in much more favorable territory,” Gingrich said on the NBC program “Meet the Press.”

Others expressed skepticism that Gingrich can revitalize his chances in the face of Romney’s surge since South Carolina’s primary.

“There are 17 primaries and caucuses in the next 30 days, and the map is lining up very well for Mitt Romney because here’s the bottom line: Everybody knows he’s got the best chance to beat President Obama,” Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell said on the CNN program “State of the Union.”

Also on CNN, former House Republican leader Dick Armey, who heads the FreedomWorks grass-roots conservative group that helped start the tea party movement, said Gingrich’s lone primary victory so far was likely to be his last.

“I don’t think Newt will be able to replicate that magic moment in South Carolina, because he had a confluence of circumstances that came,” Armey said.

Romney, meanwhile, “continues to work along at a steady pace, and we are left with a dilemma that we are not going to get a reliable, small-government conservative out of this nominating process,” Armey continued.

Paul and Santorum said Sunday they would continue their campaigns despite trailing far back because Romney, in Paul’s words, “doesn’t satisfy a lot of people.”

Paul said on the ABC program “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” that the turnout Saturday in Nevada was lower this year than in 2008, when Romney also won the state. A similar lower turnout in Florida this year, compared with four years earlier, has raised questions about whether Republican voters are unhappy with their choices.

With a dedicated base of mostly young supporters, Paul could represent a valuable voting bloc if the outcome of the nomination race remained undecided at the GOP’s August convention.

Both Paul and Santorum got in digs at the front-runner Sunday. Asked about possibly getting Romney to agree to some of his libertarian views, Paul said it could happen because Romney has a history of changing his views.

“If he hears from our young people and voters and we continue this, yeah, he’s going to change his mind, if there’s a political benefit to it,” Paul said.

Santorum referred to Romney as a “uni-dimensional candidate” on “Fox News Sunday,” while on the CBS program “Face the Nation,” former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani cited Romney’s past changes on issues as a reason for continued conservative skepticism about him.

“He has changed his position on virtually everything,” said Giuliani, who has not yet endorsed anyone for the GOP nomination. “He was a traditional moderate Republican, strong on fiscal matters, conservative, strong on foreign policy but basically socially moderate and he changed all that.”

Newt resets the campaign and looks to the Lone Star State for the big win!

A defiant Newt Gingrich vowed on Saturday to continue in the 2012 Republican primary race and predicted that he could pull even with Mitt Romney in the delegate count within two months.

Brushing aside all talk of quitting the Republican presidential race, “I am a candidate for president of the United States. I will be a candidate for president of the United States,” Gingrich said in Las Vegas. “We will continue to campaign all the way to Tampa,” the party’s nominating convention in late August.

The former U.S. House speaker suffered a second straight defeat to Mitt Romney, this time in the “first of the west” caucus in Nevada.

With 43 percent of precincts reporting, Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, had secured 44 percent of the Nevada vote to Gingrich’s 26 percent.

“I think I will do better than John McCain did three years ago,” Gingrich said of the Nevada outcome. McCain, who went on to be the Republican nominee, received only 13 percent of the vote to Romney’s 51 percent in 2008.

Some of Romney’s success at the ballot box has been attributed to massive spending on negative television ads against Gingrich, especially in Florida.

“Although we will be outspent, we think we can communicate through the clutter,” Gingrich said.

“The vast majority of Republicans in this country want an alternative to a Massachusetts moderate. I think you can count on us being competitive in every state of the country.”

Gingrich messed up a meeting with Nevada’s governor last week then suffered through the indignity of having advisers tell reporters that the former House speaker would score the endorsement of Donald Trump, only to watch the unpredictable real estate tycoon back Mitt Romney.

Gingrich’s campaign has always been a bit of organised chaos however, Gingrich is often late, he frequently strays off message and his schedule sometimes seems improvised. His public appearances in Nevada have been surprisingly few, and he didn’t even venture out to caucus sites on Saturday as voters cast ballots. But in Nevada, organizational problems were laid bare in a fashion that raises questions about whether he can compete in upcoming contests.

A Republican candidate needs to amass 1,144 delegates to win the nomination. Only a relative handful has been allocated in the first five states to vote: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and now Nevada.

“We will seek to find a series of victories which by the end of the Texas primary in April will leave us roughly equal to Governor Romney,” Gingrich vowed.

Gingrich’s new strategy is to manage a series of victories  that would put him in a situation of ‘parity’ with Romney after the Texas primary, currently scheduled for April 3rd but likely to be delayed by litigation and where a massive winner-takes-all haul of 155 delegates are at stake.

Sooner or later, however, Gingrich will need to start winning again – and before April. He’s not on the ballot in Missouri on Tuesday, when Romney is favoured in Colorado and Minnesota looks like a toss-up. Then we have Michigan and Arizona at the end of February, where Romney is the heavy favourite.

Gingrich spoke at the Venetian Casino, owned by magnate Sheldon Adelson, who has sunk an estimated $11 million of his own fortune into a political action committee that has bankrolled a series of attack ads against Romney.

Gingrich was upbeat, telling reporters they should “take a few hours off from politics” to watch Sunday’s NFL Super Bowl, and quipping “did you miss me?” when asked about his sparse campaigning schedule in Nevada this week.

Romney wins Nevada as expected and increasing momentum

Republican front-runner Mitt Romney won an expected and comfortable victory in Nevada’s first the West caucus on Saturday. Although Romney won the state’s caucuses four years ago he actively kept his organisation active in the intervening time and the momentum is definitely with him ahead of Tuesday’s next stage in the Republican race.

With support from a broad cross-section of Republicans, Romney won by a big double-digit margin over former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Representative Ron Paul and former Senator Rick Santorum.

The victory was Romney’s second in a row and his third in the first five contests in the state-by-state battle to find a Republican challenger to President Barack Obama in November’s general election.

It propels Romney into the next contests in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri on Tuesday on a growing wave of momentum.

Gingrich held a news conference after the results to head off speculation that he might put an early end to his campaign.

“I’m not going to withdraw,” Gingrich told reporters, repeating his frequent vow to continue all the way to the Republican nominating convention in Florida in August. “I’m actually pretty happy with where we are.”

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, took control of the Nevada contest early after recapturing his front-runner status with a convincing win over Gingrich in Florida last Tuesday.

He benefited from a huge financial and organizational edge in Nevada, which he won with 51 percent of the vote during his failed 2008 presidential bid. A faltering economy and a big bloc of Mormon voters made Nevada friendly terrain for Romney, a Mormon and former head of a private equity firm.

Romney stressed his business background as a cure for the state’s ailing economy, which suffers from the country’s highest unemployment rate, 12.6 percent in December, and the highest home foreclosure rate.

Entrance polls in Nevada showed that was a persuasive argument, with the economy ranking as the top issue and Romney winning nearly two-thirds of the voters who listed it as their biggest concern.

“America needs a president who can fix the economy because he understands the economy, and I do and I will,” Romney told cheering supporters at a Las Vegas casino hotel, aiming his criticism at Obama and ignoring his Republican rivals.

The entrance polls showed Romney won a broad swath of voters, including moderates, conservatives, men, women, the elderly, Tea Party supporters and those who believed the most important quality in a candidate was the ability to beat Obama.

Romney hopes Nevada will kick off a February winning streak that could position him for a knockout blow to Gingrich during the 10 “Super Tuesday” contests on March 6 – or sooner.

In addition to Tuesday’s contests, Maine will wrap up its weeklong caucuses next Saturday, while Arizona and Michigan hold their contests on February 28.

Romney won Colorado, Minnesota, Maine and Michigan in 2008. He came in second in Arizona to native son and eventual nominee John McCain, an Arizona senator. He finished third in Missouri.

Gingrich hopes to hang in the race until March, when there will be contests in several southern states where the former Georgia congressman believes he can do well. He said his goal was to pull even with Romney in delegates after the Texas contest in early April.

Gingrich campaigned in Nevada but did not spend any money on advertising in the state. Paul, who is focusing on Nevada and other caucus states, spent on advertising and voter turnout efforts in the state.

Santorum, who finished a distant fourth in Nevada, skipped the state entirely. He said the race would begin to shift as it moved past the first five states, where Romney had an organizational advantage.

“We think this is an opportunity for us to begin to turn this race,” he told CNN. “The more this race goes on, the more people see we present the best chance to win this.”

At least 1,144 delegates are needed to secure the nomination in August. Nevada will award 28 delegates and split them proportionally based on the vote total

Nevada’s caucuses were held at 125 sites around the state, with voters breaking up into small groups by precinct to tout their candidates and debate their choices. Several Romney supporters said they backed him because he could win in November.

Romney and Gingrich both plan to take a day off the campaign trail on Sunday.

You’re the Nominee – “The Donald” endorses Mitt

Dynamic Businessman – Donald Trump turned the Republican presidential race into a scene resembling one of his Apprentice shows by keeping everyone guessing on whom he would endorse for president. The rumours had been back and forth that he would endorse Newt Gingrich, then it was leaked that he would endorse Mitt Romney however, in true Trump fashion, he kept everyone waiting until the end before confirming his support behind Mitt Romney.

The Romney campaign did not release their public schedule until Thursday morning in an unusual move for them and even then their 20:30hrs GMT slot stood vague, offering only: “Romney for President Event. TBD Location. Las Vegas, Nevada.” Mr. Romney will appear with Mr. Trump at his Trump International Hotel & Tower.

Mr. Romney and Mr. Trump have not always enjoyed the strongest of relationships with Romney as recent as December, referring to Trump as a real estate mogul and reality television star and declined an invitation to attend a Republican debate, which “The Donald” had planned to host, but was later cancelled after other candidates pulled out and included a very public spat with Jon Huntsman.

A spokesman for Mr. Trump suggested the Romney camp would be releasing an official statement soon, and in manner typical of Trump showmanship, said, “I strongly suggest you be there no matter what.”

Trump is a controversial figure and the world’s greatest self-promoter however, like him or loath him, he brings considerable media attention where ever he speaks and when he speaks. Trump did toy with the idea of entering the race last year himself and actually led the polls prior to pulling out with catchy sound bites on U.S. trade policy being weak towards China and regarding Iran. Trump has been one of the most vocal critics of President Obama and his economic record as president. He has made no secret of his concern about the direction and future of America under another four year Obama term and has also criticised the president on the polarising approach to his presidency and his failure to unite American’s in a common cause.

Trump promised to “push our president and the country’s policy makers to address the dire challenges arising from our unsustainable debt structure and increasing lack of global competitiveness.” Following his announcement last May, that he would not be a candidate for the GOP nomination, Trump welcomed other hopefuls to his office at Trump Tower on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue for strategy sessions. Romney made the trek, as did former candidates Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain and Rick Perry. Gingrich visited in December when he was topping polls in Iowa and nationally.

Trump’s weeks of will-he-or-won’t-he run last year, stole the media coverage and his decision to question the validity of President Obama’s birth certificate, caused such a news media firestorm that the White House was forced to publicly release the document. A feat even Hillary Clinton her campaign team had failed to achieve during the heated Democratic primary campaign four years ago.

Many will question the impact of a Trump endorsement, I believe it will not have a considerable impact on Republican voters, but most certainly on Independent voters where Romney has an increasing negativity rating in recent weeks, due to his attack ads in Iowa and Florida against Gingrich. Trump will be able to command a media audience and spotlight that no other previous endorser of Romney could hope to deliver. The media love “The Donald” and he equally loves them.

Trump said he made the decision after getting to know Romney after meeting with him several times in the past few months and it was his real honour to endorse Mitt Romney. He said Mitt was tough, his smart and he’s sharp and he’s not going to allow bad things to continue to happen to the country. Trump also cited Romney’s performances in presidential debates and his tough stance on China and OPEC as reasons for his support.

It is certain that Trump’s announcement has all but ruled out a third-party run for the White House which he threatened if the wrong GOP candidate was selected to run as the nominee. One would also have to say that with Trump’s ability to command a media audience and great communication ability, Speaker Gingrich’s hopes of winning the nomination appear to be dwindling by the day now. It will come down to his performance in the Lone Star state of Texas on 3 April, 2012. A poor showing by Gingrich in Texas will effectively finish his campaign and hand Romney the nomination.