Romney rakes in $5 million, shifts his attention to Michigan

WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney has been a busy White House hopeful in the 24 hours since finishing second in the New Hampshire Republican primary.

He collected an extra $5 million from supporters in a repeat of a one-day telephone fundraising blitz on Wednesday, while also choosing to pull his advertising from South Carolina and Florida to concentrate resources on next week's crucial primary showdown against John McCain in Michigan.

After finishing runner-up in both Iowa and New Hampshire, Romney's campaign is badly in need of a win.

Ken Warren, a political analyst at Saint Louis University, said Romney's initial strategy of putting a lot of money and resources into Iowa and New Hampshire with the idea of winning both states has failed, and now he must reshuffle priorities to stay afloat.

"I don't think he could afford to lose Michigan," Warren said. "Romney needs to win Michigan. He can't keep on losing.

"If he can't win Michigan, I think Romney's campaign has had it."

Romney grew up in Michigan, and his father was a governor there. That has given him a "favorite son" push, Warren said. Not coming in first in Michigan would not only mark his third loss but also leave an impression that voters in his home state will not give him a win — despite other candidates having not paid it as much attention. Romney also said during campaigning in New Hampshire that Michigan was personal for him, Warren said.

"We feel the best strategy is to focus our paid messaging in Michigan," Romney spokesman Kevin Madden explained Wednesday's strategy switch to pull the South Carolina and Florida ads.

Carl Forti, Romney's national political director, told the Deseret Morning News before the Iowa caucus that Romney needed to win either Iowa or New Hampshire. The campaign has downplayed both losses, stressing his win in the Wyoming county conventions, as well as pointing out that he finished ahead of several Republican household names — former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson — in each of the three contests he's competed in so far.

Warren said election results so far indicate that "there's no pure front-runner for the Republicans."