With the Iowa Caucuses just days away, the places the GOP candidates are campaigning is just as telling as what they're saying on the campaign trail.
For example, former Massachussets Gov. Mitt Romney chose to campaign in New England, pounding the pavement in an attempt to explain away two profoundly shattering editorials from New Hampshire's two biggest newspapers. Although Romney held a strong lead in Iowa during October 2007 (partly because he campaigned in Iowa more than any other candidate), he was brutally blindsided by the papers just after the Christmas holiday. The Concord Monitor called him a "phony" and the New Hampshire Union Leader said, "... the more Mitt Romney speaks, the less believable he becomes."
Meanwhile, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani took his campaign to Florida, where he hoped to regain a toehold in the state after his campaign suffered a sudden free-fall during December. Giuliani, who once held an overwhelming lead in just about every national poll, seems to have foresaken the Jan. 3 election in Iowa, choosing instead to focus on the Jan. 29th primary in Florida. Recent polls show Giuliani dropped eight percentage points there, surrendering the lead to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who has enamored Florida's elderly and evangelical voters.
California Congressman Duncan Hunter gave up the ghost in Iowa and is moving on to Nevada and eventually to Texas to ring in the New Year. One would assume Texas Congressman Ron Paul is OK in his home state; he is now working Iowa relentlessly and steadily boosting his TV profile in the bargain. Arizona Sen. John McCain, whose campaign has taken a turn for the better, is maintaining his presence in Iowa, intent on maintaining his skyrocketing momentum. Huckabee is doing the same thing for the same reasons. Not Fred Thompson, though. The former Tennessee Senator is blanketing the state in a five-stop-a-day tour, but not because he's doing well everywhere else. Thompson is desperately hoping a decent showing in Iowa will kick start his campaign in other key states. Problem is, in terms of campaigning, Thompson is so far behind the rest of the field he might as well announce he's running for vice-president.
So what will Iowa tell us when the checks are cashed and the final counts are in?
Iowa will show the nation whose campaigns are healthy and whose are not. The true conservatives will rise like tallow, and they're already easy to see. They're the ones enjoying themselves. The others are frantically scrambling to make up ground and are everywhere except where they need to be. For them, it's panic time in the Hawkeye State ... and they're somewhere else.
For example, former Massachussets Gov. Mitt Romney chose to campaign in New England, pounding the pavement in an attempt to explain away two profoundly shattering editorials from New Hampshire's two biggest newspapers. Although Romney held a strong lead in Iowa during October 2007 (partly because he campaigned in Iowa more than any other candidate), he was brutally blindsided by the papers just after the Christmas holiday. The Concord Monitor called him a "phony" and the New Hampshire Union Leader said, "... the more Mitt Romney speaks, the less believable he becomes."
Meanwhile, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani took his campaign to Florida, where he hoped to regain a toehold in the state after his campaign suffered a sudden free-fall during December. Giuliani, who once held an overwhelming lead in just about every national poll, seems to have foresaken the Jan. 3 election in Iowa, choosing instead to focus on the Jan. 29th primary in Florida. Recent polls show Giuliani dropped eight percentage points there, surrendering the lead to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who has enamored Florida's elderly and evangelical voters.
California Congressman Duncan Hunter gave up the ghost in Iowa and is moving on to Nevada and eventually to Texas to ring in the New Year. One would assume Texas Congressman Ron Paul is OK in his home state; he is now working Iowa relentlessly and steadily boosting his TV profile in the bargain. Arizona Sen. John McCain, whose campaign has taken a turn for the better, is maintaining his presence in Iowa, intent on maintaining his skyrocketing momentum. Huckabee is doing the same thing for the same reasons. Not Fred Thompson, though. The former Tennessee Senator is blanketing the state in a five-stop-a-day tour, but not because he's doing well everywhere else. Thompson is desperately hoping a decent showing in Iowa will kick start his campaign in other key states. Problem is, in terms of campaigning, Thompson is so far behind the rest of the field he might as well announce he's running for vice-president.
So what will Iowa tell us when the checks are cashed and the final counts are in?
Iowa will show the nation whose campaigns are healthy and whose are not. The true conservatives will rise like tallow, and they're already easy to see. They're the ones enjoying themselves. The others are frantically scrambling to make up ground and are everywhere except where they need to be. For them, it's panic time in the Hawkeye State ... and they're somewhere else.
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