Posted on 12/31/2007 6:48:34 AM PST by Reaganesque
COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa -- Down more than 10 points in the polls here only weeks ago, Mitt Romney appears to be surging back days before Iowans head to their caucuses.
Two polls released over the weekend showed Romney ahead of rival Mike Huckabee by several points, while another survey out Sunday has Romney in a statistical tie with the former Arkansas governor.
That's a far cry from early November, when a surging Huckabee took the front-runner mantle from Romney and never looked back. While Iowa's caucuses -- the first test of the presidential contest - are difficult to poll given only a small percentage of the state actually turns out for the caucus meetings, the polls may indicate a change in attitudes in Iowa.
A spokesman for Romney said polling really is all over the map.
"We're still running like the underdog," traveling press secretary Eric Fehrnstrom said, "although the sense is the people of Iowa are responding to Mitt Romney's message that he is the candidate who can bring real change to Washington and fix what's broken."
A new McClatchy, MSNBC and Mason-Dixon poll out Sunday has Romney leading Huckabee 27 percent to 23 percent, while an American Research poll from Saturday shows Romney leading Huckabee by 9 points, 32 percent to 23 percent. Meanwhile, a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby International survey of likely caucus-goers finds Romney and Huckabee in a statistical tie.
Huckabee's emergence as a front-runner was followed by intense media scrutiny while Romney had already faced that earlier this year, a point that could have lead to Huckabee's quick rise and plateau in the polls.
Huckabee on Sunday went on NBC's "Meet the Press" to counter criticism that he doesn't have enough foreign policy experience after a series of gaffes on the campaign trail. He ticked off a demographic-filled list about Pakistan when quizzed about a misstep, but spent several moments slamming back at Romney for his critical advertisements.
Huckabee said Romney was running a "desperate and dishonest campaign."
"If you aren't being honest in obtaining the job, can we trust you to be honest when you get the job," Huckabee said.
Romney's national spokesman, Kevin Madden, responded to Huckabee's attack noting that the rival candidate "never refutes the facts of his troubling record."
"It's a record that is tough to defend, so his testiness and irritability when being questioned about it is obvious," Madden said.
"But Mike Huckabee's lashing out with personal attacks against Governor Romney that have no merit or substance is quite unfortunate. Campaigns should be about the issues."
I have never seen so many bozo’s running for office at one time both dem’s and gop.
Kinda scary, ain’t it?
Is he making Julieannie a new dress?......
It's Mitt and McCain in NH, where indies can vote in either primary, and depending on who the GOP frontrunner is, some indies might vote as Dems to see that Hillary loses. Gonna be interesting.
I still think Mitt will win the first four primaries, Fred will drop out, Huck will plummet, and Rudy will recover on Super Tues. for a four-way race.
(in case you didn’t know, that machine is a “serger”).......
The huckster has pulled ahead.
This is absolutely no different than the "log cabin" campaign of 1840, or the notion that we should vote for "Old Tippecanoe" because he whipped some Indians. This is American politics, and it's the best system in the world.
I prefer Fred, and for that matter, Duncan. But if Mitt gets the nomination, I’ll vote for him. Probably also donate to him. He is, in my estimation, acceptable.
I haven’t given up on Fred, however. I can only hope he’s still in the running when the primaries come to my state.
It does sound a whole lot like a little kid on a float yelling look I am swimming.
Application for endorsement:
I sure wish it were possible for Duncan Hunter to win...geez, every time you listen to the guy, it's exactly what a Conservative believes to be truth. Here's my DREAM TEAM.... Hunter/Bolton ;-) Freepmail me YOUR choice, would you? I really value your opinions.
Hope all is well with you!
You mean the flier praising gay pride weekend paid for by Mitt upsets you?
Take it up with willard, he did it.
Thanks for all your work, Calpernia - HAPPY NEW YEARS!
Happy New Year to you too.
If this 17-minute video doesn't inspire you and convince you that Fred Thompson should be our next President, I don't know what will:
http://fredfile.fred08.com/blog/2007/video-freds-message-to-iowa-voters
That's the problem with Fred. He wants to phone it in instead of actually showing up.
I think Fred Thompson and John Edwards are gaining some last minute traction in Iowa. I expect them to do better than the polls say.
Thompson is getting most of the Tancredo supporters and taking some support away from Huckabee.
Edwards has a formidable caucus organization (me thinks many of the Obama supporters won’t show ... Obama will do worse than expected).
I think you may be right.
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