Romney Working Hard, Becoming a Factor in SC

This piece in the Hill updates readers on the GOP horse race in South Carolina. It sounds like a 2-man race between the Governor and John McCain, and they have a lot to say about Mitt:

Romney, in particular, party officials and consultants said, has aggressively courted grassroots activists. One Republican operative attributed this to Romney’s concern that he has yet to overcome “the Massachusetts factor” and Southerners’ distaste for Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.).

“Not that we’re leery of them,” he said of Massachusetts candidates, “but we are.”

Romney has also ramped up his involvement in local elections, Dawson and Sullivan said.

In 2004, Sullivan said, Romney gave between $40,000 and $50,000 to Republicans running for the state House and in other races in South Carolina.

This year, Sullivan said, “he’s turned around and given money to the party … and they’re looking for a full-time person down here just to hand out checks.”

Great advance work by the Romney/Commonwealth team. Given his built-in competitiveness in early-primary states like New Hampshire, Arizona and Michigan, if he can perform well in South Carolina, we really have a shot at making this a two-man race. And I'll take those odds every day.