PAULINE, SC -- I came out here for a Mitt Romney event, but it
was canceled. I doubt there would have been much of an audience if
it hadn't been -- this area got a dusting of snow last night, which
terrifies South Carolina drivers, and it's raining this morning. I
heard that some of Romney's events yesterday were canceled, too. It
hardly matters. Romney is making only a token effort here --
he has no ads running* -- focusing instead on the
more fertile ground in Nevada. It's a smart move; with McCain,
Huckabee, and Thompson duking it out, and Giuliani putting all his
chips on Florida, it's likely that Romney will win the Nevada
caucuses, and the polls show it. (Whether
victories in Michigan and Nevada will lead to victories elsewhere,
of course, is an open question.)
*Correction: Romney went back on the air Tuesday and is upping his ad buy. A Thompson spokesman was
telling me yesterday that Romney wasn't running ads, but obviously
his information was out of date.