Romney, Santorum and Paul to campaign in Washington in advance of caucuses (this Saturday)

The Oregonian ^ | February 29, 2011

[campaignPete R-CT]

Three of the four major Republican presidential candidates will be in Washington state Thursday and Friday seeking support in advance of the Washington caucuses on Saturday.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, coming off an easy win in Arizona and a narrow victory in Michigan, has long been scheduled to hold a $1,000-per-person fundraiser in Bellevue on Thursday evening.

UPDATE: The Romney campaign announced a "Meet and Greet with Mitt" at 8 a.m. Friday in Bellevue.

Romney will appear at a Thursday afternoon rally in Idaho Falls. Idaho will hold its own presidential caucuses on Tuesday and Romney is expected to do well there, in part because of the state's large Mormon population.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who led among prospective caucus attendees in a poll taken last week, will be in Spokane Thursday afternoon and in Pasco that evening.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who campaigned in several Washington cities last week, has not announced any further visits to the state. He is banking on reviving his campaign with a strong showing Tuesday in Georgia, which he represented in Congress for 20 years.

But (Romney's) schedule suggests he's not making an all-out effort to win the low-turnout caucuses, which could be dominated by social conservatives and Tea Party activists he has had a harder time winning over.

Paul, meanwhile, is hitting two areas -- Clark County and Spokane -- where he has a strong volunteer base that he hopes will translate into a big showing on Saturday.

Santorum, who campaigned in Olympia and Tacoma two weeks ago, is focusing on eastern Washington this time. In Spokane, he'll speak at the New Life Assembly of God Church as he seeks to build on his strong support among evangelical voters. Later in the day, he will be in Pasco.

[campaignPete R-CT]

Santorum was leading in polls. 12,000 was the 2008 turnout, very very light considering there are 9 Congressional districts.

[campaignPete R-CT]

Do I have to be a registered Republican to participate in the caucus?

No. You only need to be registered to vote and be willing to sign a form stating that you ‘consider yourself to be a republican’ and that you will not participate in any other party’s caucus this year. Washington State does not have partisan voter registration, so you cannot register as a Republican or Democrat. Even if you have voted for Democrats in past elections, you may still participate in the caucus.

When is the caucus?

The caucus will take place Saturday, March 3 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. You are encouraged to arrive at your caucus location around 9:30 a.m. for check-in.

[campaignPete R-CT]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46580695
http://www.nwcn.com/home/?fId=140958623&fPath=/news/local&fDomain=10212

[Linda Frances]

Dirty tricks
Is Google Targeting Rick Santorum?
David A. Patten 2/26/12 NewsMax

Type the word “Santorum” in Google and you won’t find his campaign website or other positive, useful information about him in the first, second or even third entries

In fact, almost every entry on the all-important first page of “Santorum” results — the one most users see — is laden with nasty, sometimes vulgar attacks

Google hired former Rep. Susan Molinari, R-NY, a staunch Romney supporter, to head its lobbying

Is Google at war with Rick Santorum?

Google employees and executives were collectively Obama’s fourth-largest donor to the Obama campaign in the 2008 cycle, contributing some $814,540 according to FEC records

Google’s anti-Santorum bias

[CainConservative]

I think, even after Willard tries to buy the Washington caucus with a million or so, Rick squeaks by with a 4-5 point win there.

Then Rick goes on to a super Super Tuesday winning in Alaska, N. Dakota, Tennessee, Ohio, and Oklahoma.

And pretty strong seconds for Rick in Georgia (to Newt) and in the three Willard states of Mormon Idaho, Socialist Vermont, and Taxachusetts.

It’s a shame about Virginia though with the establishment blocking Rick and Newt from the ballot.

[parksstp]

ID doesn’t (and shouldn’t be a Romney state)

The rules of the ID caucus are similar to how WV ran it’s caucus in 2008. It’s pretty simple. If Newt and Santorum want to undercut Romney, they team up, otherwise Romney could get 50% or more here.