Rally to Romney — California Dreamin’
Romney was in Long Beach California last night.
As Hugh Hewitt notes:
The Romney team is wired, the sort of energy that cannot be faked but only flows from conviction that the political wind is at your back. Similar reports are arriving from Colorado and Georgia. . . . Expect Romney to challenge McCain to a series of one-on-one debates that McCain really cannot accept, underscoring the weakness of the McCain campaign if it has to match up against Obama. Not only would McCain be overwhelmed by the volcano of money exploding for Obama, he can't match the Illinois senator on the small screen. The recognition of the mismatch looming is adding fuel to the Romney rally. Romney by contrast has enormous energy and an appeal built on the future, not the past. He can easily raise the money necessary to contest the next eight months until public financing takes over on 9/1, and he would easily best Obama in one-on-ones on television. . . . If he can keep it close tomorrow, the shift to him will accelerate as the GOP decides to contest 2008 on the basis of free markets, free minds, traditional values, and victory in the war --in short, on a 2008 edition of the 1980 platform.Note to my fellow Californians -- Vote! And, Go Mitt! UPDATE: California Dreamin':
It was a large and boisterous crowd in Long Beach, and the California GOP is made up of conservative activists. The Huckabee vote has dwindled as it became apparent the only choice for today at least is McCain-Arnold or Romney, and the immigration issue remains a vote driver that burdens McCain despite a week of "trust me on the border" ads that the McCain campaign ran on many stations --including mine-- that pledged that McCain had heard the message. . . . A win in California propels the race to at least Ohio and Texas in early March and could indeed turn it decisively against McCain.We shall see just how interesting Super Tuesday will be. Poll trends suggest folks are uncomfortable with McCain's views and staying power. But, has the base awakened in time to stop the Establishment Candidate McCain, or as Dan Riehl asks, is it too little too late? We will know much more by midnight Left Coast time. . . .