As they try to stay one step ahead of the curve, pollsters are having a field day in New Hampshire and each is predicting a Romney victory.
With the New Hampshire primary set for this coming Tuesday, January 10, the candidates are busy traveling from precinct to precinct and saturating the air waves with political ads. They hope that each appearance and each new ad will have a positive effect on the outcome of Tuesday’s primary. And every major polling firm is in New Hampshire tracking the least little change.
As of Friday, January 6, The WMUR/UNH, NBC News/Marist, Rasmussen Reports, and Suffolk/7News Tracking all give the win to Mitt Romney with leads ranging from 20-24 points. They consistently award second place to Ron Paul with between 17 and 20 percent. The rest of the field with Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, and Jon Huntsman all jockey for third, fourth, fifth and sixth place.
But the pollsters are also active in South Carolina for the January 21st primary. As of Friday, January 6, Gallup Tracking has Mitt Romney at 27 percent, Newt Gingrich at 19, Rick Santorum at 15, Ron Paul at 12, Rick Perry at 6, and John Huntsman at 2 percent. Clearly, this shows a Romney win with an eight-point lead over his nearest competitor. The Rasmussen poll also shows a Romney victory with 27 percent, Santorum at 24, Gingrich at 18, Santorum at 24, Paul at 11, Perry at 5, and Huntsman at 2. While another victory for Romney, Santorum comes in a closer second, and Huntsman a dismal last. This three-points separating Santorum from Romney is a statistical tie between the two. The CNN/Time poll once again puts Romney at the top of the list but with 37 percent, Santorum at 19, Gingrich at 18, Perry at 5, and Huntsman at 1. The 23-point lead here for Romney leaves Santorum and the rest of the field in the dust.
The pollsters are just as busy as the candidates as they try to predict winners and losers in both races, but no one will know for certain until all the votes are counted and certified. Once we can call the New Hampshire primary history, you can bet the pollsters will move on to Florida for the January 31 primary in an attempt to stay one step ahead.
Reference: Realclearpolitics, WashPost.
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#1 Santorum is a crook ...he bought iowa
Did Bob Vander Plaats's Endorsement Come with a Bill?
An endorsement from Bob Vander Plaats can do a lot for a presidential candidate's chances in the early days of Republican primary. As the president and CEO of The Family Leader — the most influential Christian/conservative political organization in Iowa — a nod of his stately head in your direction can make or break your chances in the state's all-important caucuses.
So, shouldn't an endorsement from Plaats be worth a little something to a hard-working candidate like Rick Santorum? I'm not talking about a lot here. Just a little something to wet Plaats's beak. Like, say, one million dollars…
Less than 48-hours after receiving the backing of Bob Vander Plaats, the head of the prominent evangelical group The Family Leader, Santorum disclosed that the prominent Iowan told him he needed money to make the most out of the endorsement…
"Clearly the endorsement was for sale — without a doubt," one source said. It's a charge that The Family Leader flatly denied…
Though Santorum did not specify the dollar amount he and Vander Plaats discussed, multiple sources said he was soliciting as much as $1 million from Santorum and other candidates.
Whaaaaat?! That sounds insane! There's no way that a conservative Christian political leader with eyes on public office would ever be caught doing anything that could be construed as shady! There's certainly no history of such accusations…
ABC News has learned that Vander Plaats tried to solicit money for his endorsement during the last presidential cycle too. A former staffer for Mitt Romney’s 2008 presidential bid who is currently unaffiliated with a campaign said Vander Plaats came to them seeking money for his backing if he supported the former Massachusetts governor.
"He wanted to be paid," the former staffer said. "He was clearly looking for a paycheck. There was a conversation about him getting a title, but being a paid consultant was much more important."
Given the fact that Plaats's endorsement ultimately went to Mike Huckabee, we can probably make an educated guess as to how that Romney deal went.