From the Fix:

McCain To Headline Romney Fundraiser: In a sign that the 2008 campaign is water under the bridge, Arizona Sen. John McCain will host a fundraiser for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney’s Free and Strong America PAC next Wednesday at Chase Bank Field in Phoenix. McCain — along with Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) — will co-host the event, which includes a VIP reception ($3,000 donation per person) and luncheon ($300 per person). Romney and McCain clashed repeatedly during the 2008 campaign and the Arizona Senator made little secret to mask his distaste for his most serious rival for the nomination. But, McCain’s willingness to sign on for a fundraiser to collect cash for Romney’s leadership PAC suggests the rivalry of 2008 is gone if not totally forgotten. That’s a good thing for Romney as he prepares for his increasingly likely run for president in 2012.

It is interesting to me that McCain is willing to do this for Romney, and so early after the recent election. They did, after all, have a very rough primary. I can only attribute it to the fact that Romney was very gracious in his concession to McCain and immediately, and with full-throttle, campaigned for him up all the way up to election day.

Here is a reminder of the post-primary Romney from an excellent article entitled The Long-Distance Runner by the Boston Globe:

“He lost a tough race,” says New Hampshire state Senator Jeb Bradley, a Republican and former US congressman. “After that, Mitt could have done anything he wanted with his life: back to the nonprofit world or start a new business. But what has he been doing? He’s kept at it. He’s been busting his butt since losing more than anyone I have ever seen.”

…

Romney returned to his office the following week in a T-shirt and jeans, ready to travel to his California home. From there, Romney’s staff informed McCain’s, he would be willing to travel to Arizona for a formal endorsement ceremony. But McCain’s camp volunteered their candidate, campaigning that day in Rhode Island, for an immediate photo op in Boston. Romney wavered about doing it so quickly — he held a ticket for a middle seat on a JetBlue flight later that day and hesitated about paying the cancellation fee — but was flattered that McCain would show deference and come to him. Hours later, after postponing his flight and changing into a suit, Romney met with McCain privately for 15 minutes and asked what he could do. McCain made a standard request: He entreated Romney to campaign for him and other Republican candidates. Then the two walked out in front of an American flag and made it official.

…

“That we just put down to him being smart,” says Mark Salter, a McCain adviser who was among Romney’s most vehement detractors during the primaries. “He got out and then graciously said, ‘Put me to work.’ And I don’t think he turned down anything we asked him to do.”

I’m reminded that Romney “did events for 33 federal candidates running for office and 37 surrogate events for Senator McCain and Governor Palin”.

They put him to work indeed.

We’re back! Mitt Romney stomping for McCain in Utah?!

Hugh Hewitt notes a change in the McCain approach to fundraising:

Drawing on some of the successful fundraising techniques of President Bush’s two campaigns for the White House, the McCain campaign now plans to mirror the Bush-Cheney campaign’s Pioneers, Rangers and Mavericks with the McCain 50s, McCain 100s, McCain 200s and other elite designations for top fundraisers who agree to raise $50,000, $100,000, $200,000 or more.

I guess he looked at Romney’s $20+ million and said… wow, that worked… I should try that.

Come on in John… the waters fine!

You see Romney realized the value of this approach sometime last year. In January, Spencer Zwick, Ben Ginsberg, and the finance team put in place 3 fundraising levels: Founder, Statesman and Patriot. Each level corresponds to a committment of fundraising before the year is out.

There were other bonuses for fulfilling your promise within the first 30 days (a ski trip with the Governor). On top of that Team Romney put in place incentives to match your lifestyle:

Let me give you an analogy: I have a very good friend in the midst of a start-up. His product is a unique remote control with 5 “On” buttons. When you press the button for “Family” it sorts through all of the shows that are playing on your cable or satellite box and filters the choices for you that your family will like. When you press the button for “With the spouse” it does likewise. When you press the button for “Just Me” it grabs the latest sports team you like to watch and so on.

Team Romney has brought the best of the business world to campaign fundraising: know your customer and cater to them.

By creating a myriad of well-honed programs for the specific incentives and needs of a specific audience, Romney can maximize his fundraising effort. Which is exactly how he raised the $23 million.

One example: last Monday Team Romney sent out an email to people who subscribe to MittLink:

Today, as an extra special reward for your efforts, you can earn two tickets to the NCAA College Basketball Final Four. Just earn the most points using MittLink from today, Tuesday, March 27th through 11:59 p.m. EST, Thursday, March 29th, and the tickets are yours!

You earn points on MittLink by inviting people to join the network or fulfilling donations through the system. You can redeem the points for Mitt Gear. This is all part of the extreme and innovative way that Team Romney has literally re-invented fundraising.

(UPDATE: SEE APOLOGY TO PHILIP KLEIN HERE)

OK… taking a page from Dean Barnett I’m going to answer the gambit of questions I received from readers, friends and family.

Q. Where is Mitt going to be this week?

This week the focus is simple: fundraising:

• Mitt starts out the week on Monday in Texas with fundraising events in Dallas an Houston
• Tuesday, the campaign heads to California (which is proving very generous in their contributions) for fundraisers in Palm Desert and Los Angeles
• Wednesday the Governor jets across the country for a luncheon in Baton Rouge and northward for a dinner in in Charleston, SC
• Thursday the Romney camp awakens to the beautiful SC dawn for a luncheon in Greenville
• Finally, Friday finds Mitt in Palm Beach for the final fundraiser of the 1st Quarter

Q. What’s up with the fundraising for the various candidates?

Of course the real buzz around town is the anxious nail biting push for dollar donations which will probably be revealed at the end of the week. While the full reports won’t be published by the FEC until April 15th, the campaigns will likely give a good weekend update just in time for the Sunday shows.

So, who will be the winner. I wouldn’t count Mitt out but here’s the reality of the contest:

• Rudy is the rock star with wide (but shallow) support across the country
• McCain is the long-timer maverick, loathed by many in the GOP base, but has built up the best mailing list in the business
• Romney is the underdog who has hired the A-team but lacks the name recognition, relying instead on the ground game
• What about the others… If they garner more than a few million each… i would be surprised

Q. OK spill it… What are the numbers?

Despite what McCain wants you to believe the no one (including the Romney camp) is going to raise $30 million. McCain’s people are expectations spinners and it simply won’t fly. Romney will probably come in under $20 million. McCain will top him and Rudy? Really I have no idea but it could top them both – I dunno.

Q. Did you hear about the Evangelicals for Mitt liars?

Frankly, this is silly. In my mind the folks at EFM have been maligned by Philp Klein and the AmSpec folk (who are inexplicable vehement in their opposition to Mitt Romney). Here’s the short version: Nancy French (a native of Tennessee) opined that she thought Thompson was pro-choice in his original incarnation for the Senate. Philip Klein and (see apology here)other people in the blogosphere then accused them of being liars. EFM co-blogger comes to Nancy’s defense:

This was, of course, in response to Nancy’s very temperate post pointing out several news accounts that either refer to Senator Thompson as pro-choice during his Senate runs–or discuss Senator Thompson calling himself pro-choice. She didn’t attack Senator Thompson–she said he’d be a “great candidate”–but she did continue to make the point David and I have also made, namely that the “True Conservative Watch” currently enveloping our movement is a bit much. She simply pointed out that he appears to be just as imperfect as Governor Romney.

David French (Nancy’s husband) chimes in with his own response:

There’s no doubt that Fred Thompson was less pro-choice than his Democratic opponent in 1994, but there is also little doubt that he was less pro-life than Bill Frist (the other Republican running for Senate at the time). I was practicing law in Nashville, and I have distinct memories of the race because Fred Thompson was the first pro-choice politician I ever voted for. In fact, I can remember having guilty pangs as I pulled the lever–breaking a vow I made in college to never vote for a pro-choice candidate.

Yesterday, I suspect that Philip Klein (who I gather to be Anti-Romney-esque) fed some items into the Prowler Column on Spectator.org. The gist of the article is confusing. They claim:

• EFM is taking funds from the Romney campaign but isn’t
• Mark DeMoss was the guy who started the EFM website only he didn’t.
• EFM is using Romney research which the Prowler doesn’t cite.
• EFM is attacking Thompson using this research by quoting the opinions of other people?

In short, it’s a pathetic attack with little evidence

more to come later today

John McCain has refused an invitation to the Club for Growth’s annual conference.

Time for updated collateral that made it’s way to our desktop:
(click to enlarge)

Pat Toomey expressed his angst today in the Wall Street Journal:

To be fair, Sen. McCain has amassed a number of pro-growth votes over his 24 years in Congress, and his record in support of school choice and free trade is impressive, as is his opposition to wasteful government spending. He has battled to eliminate outrageous pork-barrel projects and has courageously voted against pricey laws like the 2005 Highway Bill. But his vigorous opposition to the most pro-growth tax cuts in 20 years, and his outspoken pursuit of anti-growth and anti-free market policies in the realms of regulation, entitlement reform and campaign finance reveal a philosophical ambivalence, if not hostility, toward limited government and personal freedom.

While Sen. McCain’s economic record is clearly mixed, a careful study demonstrates that even his pro-growth positions tend to be tainted by a heavy anti-growth undercurrent. This evidence, and the virulence of his rhetoric, suggest that American taxpayers cannot expect consistently pro-growth economic policies from a McCain administration.

Radar Online reports that things aren’t so hunky-dory in McCain’s camp

John McCain’s Obama-esque remarks about our “wasted” resources in Iraq weren’t the only comments that landed him in hot water after a recent appearance on Late Night with David Letterman. Many of his staff were blindsided by his campaign announcement. And several aides were so outraged that they’ve quit, say Republican insiders.

“They’re imploding—he had a game plan that had him announcing much later in the year,” one top Republican aide tells Radar, adding that the campaign is “in serious trouble … Romney’s plan and Rudy’s jump in the polls caused him to scrap his plans completely. When you do that, and you’re not prepared for it, the staff goes crazy. Some of his coordinators in different states were pulling their hair out!”

Another insider, a guru to the conservative movement, says that McCain himself is growing increasingly desperate in the wake of his downward slide in the polls—a slip hastened by his steadfast support of the very man who savaged him and his family during the 2000 election, George W. Bush, and the president’s unpopular plan for troop surge in Iraq. “One of the top aides to the Republican leadership told me that McCain has lost so much support, he’s simply beside himself. He’s wringing his hands. Things are sinking fast—in two or three weeks, we’ll know if there is any recovery.”

It didn’t help any that McCain was the one leading Republican candidate who skipped last weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference. In CPAC’s straw poll on Saturday, McCain came in fifth place—behind Sam Brownback. When the results were announced, attendees booed at the mention of his name.

The Politico has an incredibly in depth story on Romney’s Race towards the White House.

First is Romney’s plan to game the primary system, in other words, play it smart:

Republican primaries are winner-take-all. Whoever wins statewide gets all the
delegates at stake. This favors front-runners, who, with their early money and
early support, can wrap up the nomination quickly.
But, in a barely noticed move, California Republicans have changed the system. Now it is winner-take-all by congressional district.
That means a candidate no longer needs to win the whole state to get delegates.

This means that California’s primary is now 53 individual contests and the candidates will be able to cherry pick which districts they want to be competitive in, limiting the expense of advertising in CA.

Romney also plans to bring a new kind of politics to CA:

he intends to treat California as if it were a “retail” political state instead of a tarmac state. (Because California is so large geographically, candidates spend most of their time flying from airport to airport, standing on the tarmac, doing a sound bite for local TV and then flying on.) Romney intends to emphasize more intensive, face-to-face campaigning in select congressional districts in which he has the best chance of winning delegates.

He is going to spend money.

He will exploit the differences between him and his chief rivals:

Romney intends to exploit what he perceives as two of McCain’s great vulnerabilities in the Republican primaries: the McCain-Feingold law, which restricts campaign contributions, and the McCain-Kennedy bill, which would change immigration laws and allow for a guest-worker program. And while Romney disagrees explicitly with Giuliani on issues such as abortion, gun control and gay rights, he implicitly draws distinctions between Giuliani’s rather turbulent personal life — he has been married three times — and Romney’s own marriage of nearly 38 years.

In Iowa he is going to go all out at the Ames straw poll August 11th

Finally, he is going to try to talk about the Mormon issue thusly:

Romney intends to recast the issue by emphasizing that he is a person of
faith and that that is more important to voters than what faith he is. Second,
his Mormon faith has been fundamental to his commitment to family, which he
believes people of all faiths can respect.

And realize he can be funny about it:

Romney quoted Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, a Mormon, telling other senators the
difficulty he has raising money among members of his own faith.
“You’d have had trouble raising money, too, if all the people you were asking money from were sober,” Hatch said.

Mormons generally do not drink.

Of course, Mittheads, he can’t do it alone. If you haven’t already please go to Mitt’s Website and sign up to volunteer and prepare for the battle ahead. There is much to do and barely a year to do it in. Also make sure all of your friends and family who support Mitt have done the same. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!