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Romney Hits S.C., Lowers Expectations

January 16, 2008 11:20 AM

ABC News' Matt Stuart Reports: After finally getting "the gold" in the Michigan primary yesterday, Mitt Romney boarded an early plane this morning to South Carolina, and soon after touching down, Romney Press Secretary Eric Fehrnstrom was already on the press bus lowering expectations for the upcoming contest.

Fehrnstrom said he "would be shocked" if Romney won in South Carolina but that they "hope to do well," calling the state "McCain territory" and "Huckabee territory."  Romney pulled his advertising here after his second place finish in New Hampshire, and only went back on the air yesterday.

Romney has spent a lot of time and resources in South Carolina, but still lags in polls here.

Fehrnstrom suggested that Romney would focus his efforts instead on Nevada, which holds its caucuses on the same day as South Carolina's primary.

Fehrnstrom attempted to argue that there was more at stake in Nevada where there are more delegates up for grabs (31 in Nevada vs. 24 in South Carolina) despite the Palmetto State's more high profile contest.

The Romney campaign appears to be changing it's tune on delegate counts.

After their loss to former Gov. Mike Huckabee in Iowa, Romney's campaign said they weren't going to count those delegates in their internal running tally because, they argued, the Iowa delegates are not officially committed on caucus night.

Nevada's delegates are awarded in a similar fashion, and since the Romney campaign seems to be competing harder there than its opponents, it seems to be much more eager to add Nevada delegates to its overall tally should they win.

Romney is in South Carolina all day Wednesday and Thursday morning before heading to Nevada.  No word on where he'll choose to spend election night on the 19th.

January 16, 2008 in Palin, Sarah, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (0)

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