Brownback Plays It Down the Middle, Attending Both GOP Candidate Rallies March 9, 2012

A few eyebrows went up when the Ron Paul campaign announced Kansas Governor Sam Brownback would he at his Topeka campaign rally this afternoon (see previous post). It turns out Brownback will also show up at a Rick Santorum event, too.
The Governor’s Friday schedule now shows him also attending a Rick Santorum Wichita rally late Friday afternoon. Brownback endorsed Rick Perry for President when the Texas Governor launched his brief campaign last year.
When Perry pulled out, he endorsed Gingrich. Brownback did not. The likelihood of a Brownback endorsement of Ron Paul was remote to begin with. Paul’s foreign policy of bringing
most troops home and closing US bases around the world does not square with Brownback.
Santorum, on the other hand, shares Brownback’s strong right to life world view. The two former Senators also found themselves on the same side on many issues when both of the men served in the Senate.

Santorum Campaign Makes Bid for Kansas Caucus Voters at State Convo February 16, 2012

GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s daughter, Elizabeth will campaign for her father at the Kansas Republican Party state convention in Overland Park this weekend.
The Kansas GOP caucus to start it’s delegate process is Saturday March 10.
Thursday evening Texas Governor Rick Perry is the star at the Sunflower state fundraiser for the state party.
After Perry left the nomination race, Perry endorsed Newt Gingrich for the nomination.
Elizabeth Santorum will be at the Kansas GOP luncheon Saturday.
That takes place at the Sheraton Hotel in Overland Park from Noon to 1:30 pm.

Perry to Headline KS GOP Fundraiser in Feb. January 26, 2012

Former Presidential candidate, Texas Governor Rick Perry will be the star of a fundraiser for the Kansas Republican Party next month.
State GOP officials say Perry will be at the February 16 fundraiser. It is part of their state convention proceedings. The convention will be at the Sheraton Convention Center in Overland Park, Kansas.
The next day Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal makes appearances at both the GOP Kansas Convention and the Missouri Republican Party Lincoln Days event in Kansas City at the Westin Crown Center.
The two state parties will also share an appearance by Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell.
Both Jindal and McDonnell are considering potential running mates for the Republican presidential nominee.
Another former presidential candidate, Steve Forbes, will be the keynote speaker for the Kansas state convention dinner Saturday night.

Perry Blasts Romney. Venture Capitalism is OK, “Vulture Capitalism” Is Not January 10, 2012

LEESVILLE, S.C. – While his rivals threw parties in New Hampshire, Rick Perry is heading back to a business travelers’ hotel here in this suburb of the state capital for an early night in.

Far from Tuesday’s voting in the first-primary state – and far behind in the vote count – the Texas governor did his best to dismiss New Hampshire’s importance. Perry said it’s South Carolina, where he’s camped out and staking his campaign’s hopes, that matters in the fight for the nomination.

"Tonight’s results in New Hampshire show the race for ‘conservative alternative’ to Mitt Romney remains wide open. I skipped New Hampshire and aimed my campaign right at conservative South Carolina," Perry said in a statement. "I have a head start here."

As his poll numbers tanked and his war chest dwindled, Perry made a strategic decision to skip New Hampshire and head straight to South Carolina, which he judges to be more friendly territory for his conservative, Washington-outsider candidacy. The rest of the pack will descend starting Wednesday on the Palmetto State for the Jan. 21 primary that Perry himself says will be decisive in the GOP nominating contest.

Perry has certainly been working the state with fervor on a two-week swing, going to diners and walking down Main Streets in an attempt to connect and gain steam with voters. As eyes were fixed northward on Tuesday night, Perry held a barbecue buffet in Leesville.

"These other states winnow the candidacy down, if you will," Perry said Tuesday. "They kinda start separating the wheat from the chaff, if you will. But South Carolina picks presidents."

The Texas governor is also waging a populist offensive against Romney, who handily won the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday and is first in recent South Carolina polling. Like other Republicans, Perry has been swinging at Romney over his role at Bain Capital and coined a new term for the private equity firm on the day the former Massachusetts governor scored his biggest electoral victory yet: "vulture capitalism."

"I know the difference between venture capital[ism] and vulture capitalism," Perry said. "Venture capitalism is a good thing, comes in, gives that gap funding to help these companies get off and get started creating jobs, and work. But Mitt Romney and Bain Capital were involved with what I call vulture capitalism. And they walked into Gaffney and took over that photo album company for no other reason than to basically pick the bones clean. And those people lost their jobs."

Perry was referring to a local photo-album manufacturer in Gaffney where 150 jobs were cut when Bain assumed control.

Five Things to Watch When the Caucus Results Come In January 3, 2012

From Politico:
1) How high can Mitt go?
This is the most important question of the evening, after months of a primary season that has been, in one way or another, all about Mitt Romney.
The former Massachusetts governor is, by all accounts, within striking distance of a win in Iowa. His crowds have been big and, just as important, energetic. Romney has seemed relaxed and confidence about his chances.
His backers have argued that he doesn’t need to win outright in order to be a winner, and that may prove true — but after closing-day polls showed him either winning or essentially tied for first place, anything lower than a close second will be tough to spin.
Further, if Romney can’t climb higher than the mid-20s — like Bob Dole in 1996 — it will keep alive the lingering questions about whether he can win over the leery Republican base. If he doesn’t get 28 percent, it will be a tough night for Romney, many insiders believe.

2) Turnout, turnout, turnout
Every election comes down to turnout and which side gets their supporters out. Tuesday night is no exception.
But not all ground games are equal. Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are the only two with the resources to turn out their supporters. Rick Santorum is running a shoestring operation based on momentum and, if he’s lucky, a late-breaking movement of the 2008 Mike Huckabee coalition in his direction — most notably social conservatives, evangelical voters, and home-schoolers.
If the weather is bad, the wide perception is that it will favor Paul, whose supporters are generally seen as more motivated than anyone else. The days leading up to the caucuses have been cold but dry (and manageable), meaning it’s possible that older voters could turn out.
Still, there has been a general enthusiasm gap among voters about a field that’s widely been panned as weak, and it remains to be seen if they’ll turn out in meaningful numbers.
A major question is whether Paul’s army has the depth to compete — and whether the results will be treated as legitimate. If entrance polling shows a high number of Democrats and independents showed up and switched registration at the door to caucus for Paul, some top GOPers — already fearful of what a Paul victory would do to the legacy of the Iowa caucuses — will use that as evidence to suggest it’s not a true win.
Another question is whether any of the mega-churches mobilize for Santorum. And aside from that, there is the matter of the broader role of evangelical voters — will they dominate or will the more secular question of electability, which is Romney’s calling card, ends up ruling the day.
If turnout is high, it’s seen as favoring Romney. Lower turnout would benefit Paul and Santorum.
The turnout for the caucuses in 2008 was just under 120,000. Given the historic opportunity that Republicans see to beat President Obama, anything less than that bar will add to the sense of restlessness that voters have about the field.

3) The politics of place
There are sections of the state filled with the types of voter that the top three contenders need to build winning coalitions.
Mitt Romney needs a strong showing in eastern Iowa, home to many moderates. If he fares well in the eastern swath of the state, it bodes well for him — and a poor showing there will be a bad harbinger.
Likewise, the northwestern part of Iowa is home to conservatives who are more likely to favor Rick Santorum and, in some cases, Ron Paul. If Santorum starts performing especially well in the northwest, it will be a signal that evangelical voters and the social conservatives who have been saying they find his message appealing are coalescing around him.
That would be an indicator of a good night for Santorum.
Likewise for Paul, college towns are his key areas — places like Ames, which is home to Iowa State University. If younger voters do turn out in droves for Paul, it will be a signal that his vaunted turnout machine did the job.

4) The gap between the top three
The expectation is that the proverbial three tickets out of Iowa will be a combination of Romney, Paul and Santorum. But it’s not just the order that’s up in the air, it’s also the point spread.
If the top three finishers are far enough ahead of the “mini-caucus” taking place among the second tier, it could force some of the stragglers to think seriously about how to spin a path forward.
But it will also create haziness as to what comes next.
If he fares well, does Santorum try to make a play to stop Romney’s momentum in New Hampshire, and press the case he’s been making about his own electability? Or does he head straight to South Carolina, where his conservative credentials may play better, but where Romney has the endorsement of Gov. Nikki Haley, and where other conservative hopefuls are indicating they intend to play?

5) Who comes in fourth?
Typically, there are only three tickets out of Iowa. But given the low expectations for the second tier, a closer-than-expected fourth-place finish could be spun into something a bit better.
And that’s, to some extent, what Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry have been battling over for the last few days, especially with Michele Bachmann showing up in last place in almost every recent poll.
The faint hopes of Gingrich or Perry going forward may hang on fourth place at this point. Any lower and neither one of them will have a convincing case about staying in the race through South Carolina, regardless of how many plane tickets have already been purchased.