-By Collin Corbett
Jon Huntsman, fighting to gain traction in his presidential bid, took a jab at frontrunner Mitt Romney in New Hampshire this week saying, in reference to the recent debt ceiling debate, “to dodge the debate or to wait until the debate is over effectively and to take a side, I don’t consider that to be leadership.” Huntsman is absolutely right, but when it comes to Romney’s Presidential campaign, he’s following the straightest possible path to the Presidency. Romney’s best strategy, running contrary to what seems logical, is to stay out of the Primary fray, mostly out of the news, and as far away from controversy as possible. He may not be creating as much of a buzz or leading on current issues as many would like, but right now he’s showing definite leadership in the one area that matters most to his campaign: the polls. Hovering above 20% and in first in all major polls, Romney does not need to stick his head out in a debate or attack his opponents, a stark contrast from where he stood four years ago.
Around this time during the 2008 primaries, Romney trailed Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson and John McCain in every poll and was forced to run a momentum-based campaign: the same strategy many of the challengers have to employ today. Since coming up short then, Romney has essentially been running as the front-runner for the 2012 nod, all while avoiding the over exposure that could allow voters to outright reject him and move on to another candidate.
A majority of Republican Primary voters are looking for someone, anyone but Romney. Romney hasn’t even put much effort into energizing the base, knowing that eventually Primary voters will come home. Following the GOP South Carolina debate in May, a Fox News focus group hosted by Frank Luntz expressed some disappointment that Romney had decided to forgo the early debate. However, Romney pulled 24% of likely Primary voters in a PPP poll that same week, fending off Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin who polled second and third respectively. It is obvious that regardless of what Romney does, or doesn’t do (absent a misstep), he won’t see serious movement in the polls. He needs to let voters flirt with other candidates for a while before they eventually come home and marry him, or they’ll never be content.
It’s A Weak GOP Field Facing Romney”