Small Bloggers Cut a Wide Swath in NH

He's at the top in the first four, with Cain second

(NEWSER) - A CNN/Time survey of the first four states to vote bodes well for Mitt Romney. He leads them all, though Herman Cain is within a whisker in Iowa and South Carolina. A quick look at the top two in the state polls:

• Iowa (Jan. 3): Romney, 24%; Cain, 21%
• New Hampshire (Jan. 10, maybe): Romney, 40%; Cain, 13%
• South Carolina (Jan. 21): Romney, 25%; Cain, 23%
• Florida (Jan. 31): Romney, 33%; Cain 18%

'We don't need to be New Hampshire's pinata': Nevada GOP chair

(NEWSER) - Talk about political inside baseball: Nevada restored order to the GOP's chaotic primary scheme today by agreeing to run its caucus in early February. Prodded by Mitt Romney's campaign, Nevada had slated its caucus for Jan. 14, but with half the Republican field promising a boycott, and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus personally showing up to sway Nevada Republicans, the state switched its caucus date to Feb. 4, Politico reports. More»

Forget about Pa.; focus on Virginia, Florida, FiveThirtyEight says

(NEWSER) - John McCain, the polls aren’t looking good and your running mate is being accused of going “rogue,” but Nate Silver has some advice on how you can still eke out a victory. “No razzle-dazzle here,” Silver writes for FiveThirtyEight, “McCain simply has to pick which states he and Sarah Palin can do the most good in.” To wit: More»

Campaign reportedly low on funds after Florida advertising spree

(NEWSER) - Rudy Giuliani's campaign is urgently requesting funds, the New York Daily News reports, seemingly contradicting the camp’s denials of financial hardship. While staffers are going without paychecks this month—voluntarily, they say—Giuliani’s campaign manager emailed a plea to prospective donors yesterday. “I am asking you to dig a little deeper," he wrote. "Will you help us one more time?" More»

Obama's message of change sits better with voters

(NEWSER) - Hillary Clinton is suddenly an underdog and must now prove she has the same resilience her husband showed after a sluggish start in the primaries 15 years ago. The strategy of running as an incumbent didn't play with Iowans, Margaret Carlson notes on Bloomberg. "The folks in Iowa didn't seem to be yearning for a third Clinton term, hers if not his," Carlson writes. More»