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January 31, 2008
Is Romney Packing it in?
It's hard to know exactly what to make of this:
In a major boost for John McCain, Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney signaled Wednesday he's not ready to commit to a costly campaign in the states holding primaries and caucuses next week.Romney has taken 2 out of the 3 state caucuses held so far and there are 4 caucus states on Super Tuesday. Romney is expected to win Utah with its 36 delegates as well. Beyond that, he is close in a few states but trails McCain badly in California, New York, and Illinois - the three biggest states up for grabs next week.
Several officials said that on the heels of a defeat in Tuesday's Florida primary, Romney's campaign was not attempting to purchase television advertising time in any of the states on the Super Tuesday calendar.
Instead, the former Massachusetts governor's current plans call for campaigning in California and other primary states, said the officials, who had knowledge of the internal discussions. There would be organizational efforts primarily for caucus states.
Perhaps Romney is simply reluctant to throw more of his fortune into what surely looks at this point as a losing effort. If so, McCain should coast through Super Tuesday and emerge with such a big lead that no possible challenge could defeat him.