The Republican presidential nomination rollercoaster ride continues to have its ups, downs, and upside downs. With Senator Rick Santorum recently riding high with victories in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri, political pundits feared that Governor Mitt Romney’s campaign was again in trouble. But, hold onto your safety rail. Romney even more recently won the caucuses in Maine and an important conservative convention—CPAC—straw poll. As for the next loops on this ride, AGC PAC is closely eyeing the primaries in Arizona and Michigan scheduled on Tuesday, Feb. 28.
Today’s polls show Romney winning Arizona and Santorum taking Michigan—the state where Mitt Romney grew up and his father was a popular governor. However, if this race has shown us anything, it’s that polls taken weeks away from the actual contest are not perfect when it comes to predicting the actual results. Take the Florida primary for example. Nearly two weeks before that contest, Newt Gingrich’s surging in South Carolina led him to a double-digit lead in the Florida polls. The upshot: Romney defeated Gingrich by more than 14 points in Florida.
But how does Romney manage to turn things around so quickly? Two reasons: (1) superior financial backing; and (2) strong campaign organization. The Romney super PAC—called Winning Our Future—has the ability to place millions of dollars in advertising to change the entire tone of the campaign in a state-wide race. As for organization, the Romney campaign has had operatives in states across the country, some since his previous run in 2008. These many of these operatives converge on key states to hone their efforts at the right time.
AGC PAC continues to closely monitor this race and the congressional races for construction-friendly candidates running for federal office.
For more information, contact Jimmy Christianson at 202-547-5013 orchristiansonj@agc.org or visit www.agc.org/pac.
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