For all of the attention paid to national polls about the presidential race, states are where the candidates focus -- from the traditional early nominating states to new ones.
Florida became one of the latter yesterday after Gov. Charlie Crist signed a bill formally approving a Jan. 29 primary for both parties. The St. Petersburg Times' Adam Smith writes, "get ready to see a lot of Rudy Giuliani in Florida," after weeks of beefing up his campaign team in the state. Giuliani's Florida chair Bill McCollum said, "He needs to win Florida to have the momentum going into Super Tuesday," Feb. 5, 2008. Smith writes that Giuliani campaign manager Mike DuHaime said any campaign could win the nomination if it fails to win in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
John McCain's campaign manager Terry Nelson said McCain will ramp up his Florida operations soon and he believes "Florida voters are fundamentally conservative." Conversely, the "Rudy argument is that Florida is a moderate state and therefore he should be able to successfully compete," Nelson said. While the McCain campaign has been "building strong organizations in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, it suddenly appears to be lagging behind" Giuliani and Mitt Romney in its Florida operations.
Romney is leading in a poll of Iowa Republicans who are likely to attend the Aug. 11 straw poll in Ames, reports the Des Moines Register's Thomas Beaumont. About a third of likely caucus goers will be in Ames and of those 34 percent support Romney in the poll, 16 percent Giuliani and 15 percent McCain. Tommy Thompson got 8 percent and Sam Brownback 6. The Politico's Roger Simon paints a picture of Ames as more of a party rally and fundraiser opportunity than serious voting event. Meanwhile, questions continue to swirl around Giuliani's intention to compete in Iowa.
On the Democratic side, Bill Richardson said he'll be making more stops, air more TV ads, and accelerate his campaign in Iowa starting in July. Richardson also said he'll try to appeal to Iowa's growing Hispanic population, which is about 100,000. "I am after every Iowa caucusgoer -- not just Latinos," Richardson added.
Though not a candidate, Newt Gingrich is "seeking to organize meetings in all of New Hampshire's 234 cities and towns this fall," reports the Boston Globe's James Pindell. The meetings are to focus on "big ideas on how to reform government and change the way Americans talk about government." If Gingrich can pull it off, he'll have the "equivalent of 234 city and town chairs to launch a presidential campaign" should he decide to run.
The New York Times' Adam Nagourney gives advice to states considering adding themselves to the early primary contest: "At this point, your best chance for wielding real influence over the nominating process is to go later, not earlier." Dynamics in each party could mean that the contest isn't resolved until the spring. On the Democratic side, the three major candidates all have "distinct bases of support in the party" and in the GOP "there's not much evidence" that the party will coalesce around one candidate in the winter.
Elsewhere on the Democratic campaign trail, Hillary Clinton debuted her new pre-kindergarten education plan in Florida that would see the federal government eventually spend $10 billion on pre-k classes, reports the Miami Herald's Beth Reinhard. Clinton said the cost of the program would pay off in higher test scores, a stronger workforce and lower crime.
Clinton and Barack Obama are setting up whip operations on Capitol Hill to gain more support from lawmakers, reports The Hill's Alexander Bolton. Lawmakers are important because they can raise money, mobilize voters in early states and serve as "super delegates" at the conventions who are not "tied to the results" of the primaries.
In California, John Edwards charged the University of California at Davis $55,000 for a speech about poverty last year, reports the San Fransico Chronicle's Carla Marinucci. The amount included Edwards' travel and airfare. In 2006 Edwards made $285,000 from speaking to nine colleges and universities, charging between $16,000 to $55,000.
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