Blog Entry #5

http://www.thestate.com/2012/01/02/2098706/dems-target-romney-in-iowa.html#storylink=misearch

The title of this article is, “Dems Target Romney in Iowa,” and was written by Ken Thomas. This article was found on thestate.com, which is one of South Carolina’s newspapers found online. It was also published on January 2, 2012. This article is about how those Democrats in Iowa want to try to lessen Mitt Romney’s popularity, especially with the GOP Caucus that occurs on January 3, 2012. Democrats will be at the caucus to try to get the voters not to vote for Romney because as of now, he leads in the national polls and could use Iowa as well as other early states to secure his nomination as the Republican candidate. Democrats have tried to show the people that Romney is not a good candidate because although Romney says his business background is a big reason for why he should be sent to the White House, the Democrats feel that his background in business is questionable. Michael Fitzgerald, a Democratic state treasurer of Iowa, stated, “When push comes to shove, Romney’s economic vision could not be more out of touch with the needs of working folks here in Iowa and across the country.” The article also mentions how Obama plans to talk to the caucus attendees by web video on January 3. It also mentions that Romney is in the lead with a steady support at twenty four percent and many of the people who will attend the caucus believe that Romney would be the most likely Republican to run against Obama in the presidential election. The Democratic National Committee found a union official who was laid off by Romney’s private equity firm Bain Capital that said that the layoffs show that Romney does not understand the needs of the working people. Similar to other candidates, the Democrats tend to try to use Romney’s past against him to make sure Obama can shine, especially when talking about the economy. Romney’s campaign has worked hard to try and stop the efforts of the Democrats to bring up Romney’s business past. Romney’s campaign also mentioned that the reason the Democrats are targeting Romney is because they know that Obama will lose the presidential election if Romney is the Republican candidate running against him. This is significant because it shows that not only does Romney have a great chance of winning the GOP caucuses and being the candidate to run against Obama, he also has a great chance of beating Obama. Democrats are fearful that Obama will lose if Romney is the man to run against him and they will do everything in their power to bring Romney down.

http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/301843/santorum-on-shoestring?CSAuthResp=1325633784%3A4ae6l5h0l9ssfbu82uqq7gs457%3ACSUserId%7CCSGroupId%3Aapproved%3AE53D946CD726FA2E2BB61D2923BB3849&CSUserId=94&CSGroupId=1

The title of this article is, “Santorum on a Shoestring,” and was written by Annmarie Timmins. It was published on January 3, 2012 on one of New Hampshire’s online newspapers, www.concordmonitor.com. This article is about Santorum’s decision to campaign in New Hampshire. However, he will only be able to do it on a shoestring budget. Santorum already has very little money with him in Iowa. Santorum was only able to raise $1.3 million and already spent $1.1 million. Mitt Romney’s funds of $33 million and only $18 million spent. Santorum is having difficulty of affording rental cars as well as affording pollsters or television advertisements. It seems like it will be difficult for Santorum to be able to get the funds that would lead him to becoming a big factor in the race for the presidency. However, Santorum is still getting the attention needed in Iowa, which gave him the opportunity to raise more money in five days than he did in the previous four months. Jamie Burnett, an unaligned New Hampshire-based GIO strategist, believes that Santorum is, “showing he can live off the ground, so to speak, and make a real competitive go of it.” Santorum’s lack of wealth was shown when in Iowa, he relied on a supporter’s pickup truck for transportation. Phil Musser, a Republican strategist, asked the question that only a miracle could answer: “Could they put together $10 million in five days?” This is significant because although Santorum may be in the top three at the moment, he may be unable to have enough funds to continue in the race. It is also significant because many people say that money is something that should not matter when dealing with certain situations such as this one, but in reality money is a big contributor to the success of many. Santorum could be the perfect candidate to run against Obama, but he may be unable to because of his money situation.