|
 "Clearly, someone like myself, who's not a household name across the country, I want to do well in the early states to drive the attention to my campaign and my message," the former Massachusetts governor told the Associated Press on Tuesday. "I'm just following the same path that every nominee for president has followed in the past."
He didn't mention Giuliani, the former New York mayor who leads in national polls but lags Romney in Iowa and New Hampshire. But the contrast was clear. Unlike Romney, Giuliani's campaign plan is based more on math
-- winning bigger states to get the most delegates -- and less on momentum.
Absent Giuliani's starpower gained as a mayor of New York City, Romney has struggled to make himself known to the country as a whole and substantially boost his national standing even though he has been on the covers of major weekly news magazines, appeared repeatedly on wide-reaching TV news programs, and otherwise received top-tier treatment in the media.
Romney rejected any notion that he is failing to connect with the broader GOP electorate. "The places where I do have ads, where I do speak to crowds and where I do have a ground team and where people have heard my message, I'm doing well," he said.
Still, Romney sought to temper expectations of a blowout win in Iowa amid signs that the race here is tightening as voters focus and prepare to caucus Jan. 3. His monthslong double-digit lead in Iowa is narrowing. Giuliani is competing strongly, Mike Huckabee is surging, and Fred Thompson is stepping up efforts in the state.
A new CBS News/New York Times poll shows Romney with 27 percent backing by likely Iowa GOP caucus-goers. Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, now threatens Romney's lead with 21 percent; Giuliani, has 15 percent, while Thompson, a former Tennessee senator, has 9 percent. John McCain lags.
"They're all going to be concentrating here," Romney said in the interview. "My guess is they're going to be shooting rockets off in my direction. It's going to get very narrow. I'm going to be facing stiff competition from one or more of the candidates," Romney said as the sport utility vehicle carrying him sped through this western Iowa town. "This is one where easily it could tighten up, I could find myself a few points behind."
[to top of second column]
 |
 On money matters, he declined to say whether he's poured more of his personal fortune into his campaign. As of September 30, he had put $17.5 million into the race, and has indicated a willingness to dip into his bank accounts again.
He played coy Tuesday: "You don't think I'm going to tell you that do you? These are closely kept secrets."
Romney also brushed aside criticism from rivals like Thompson, who recently suggested that Romney is buying his lead in polls.
"I'm outworking them. That's what I'm going to do," Romney said of his opponents. "They have the advantage of long-term name recognition and political history, and I'm a relative newcomer. I'm a come-from-behind guy. I'm doing my best to catch up." Romney ran for a Senate seat from Massachusetts in 1994 but lost; he ran for governor in 2002 and won, serving a four-year term.
He also renewed his criticism of McCain over an independent group's advertising campaign that is promoting the Arizona senator's positions on security and spending issues. McCain has called on the group to stop running the ads, and broadly asked his donors to refrain from such activities.
But Romney sidestepped when asked whether he would make the same request of his backers should they bankroll an independent ad campaign to benefit him.
"We're a long way from knowing what's going on with 501(c)4s and 527s," Romney said, using the shorthand names based on the sections of federal laws under which such groups are formed. "I'm not going to foreclose possible avenues at this stage. We just don't know enough about what he's doing, what others are doing."
"I don't think there's anything in the works. I don't know of anything in the works," he added.
[Associated
Press; By LIZ SIDOTI]
Copyright 2007 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
