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Brian Snyder / Reuters
Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a town hall meeting campaign stop Friday in Portland, Maine.
PORTLAND, Maine -- In an effort to reverse a three-state losing streak, the Romney campaign announced Friday afternoon that its candidate would put off his first trip home in 2012, and instead visit two caucus sites here in Maine, where the winner of the state's non-binding caucus will be announced Saturday night.
Mitt Romney will speak at a caucus in the state's largest city, Portland, and in Sanford, where Ron Paul is also expected to appear less than an hour before the former Massachusetts governor. As in other caucus states, candidates or their surrogates are allowed to speak briefly to attendees before voting begins. These will be the first caucuses this cycle where Romney will speak on his own behalf, after dispatching campaign staffers, supporters, and four of his five sons to speak for him at caucuses in Iowa.
Romney's campaign has downplayed other contests, like Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri, that do not award delegates directly, but Maine may appear too tempting of a target to ignore. In 2008, Romney more than doubled John McCain's vote total in winning the state, and Romney's strong performance in neighboring New Hampshire and years as governor down the road in Massachusetts all mean he is a known commodity here, without having to spend much time or money campaigning.
"The lakes of Northern New England are very special to me," Romney told the crowd at a town hall event Friday night, reminding them that he owns a home on Lake Winnepesaukee, just a 90 minute drive away.
Romney's biggest opponent in the Pine Tree State will likely be Ron Paul, whose libertarian views play well here, and whose campaign has focused its energy on winning delegates in caucus states. Paul's strongest performance in the campaign thus far was next door in New Hampshire, where he finished a distant second behind Romney.
Complicating predictions of victory for any candidate in Maine -- the state's weeks-long caucus process, in which different municipalities gather on different days to cast their ballots. The process began on Jan. 29, and in some places will continue until March, though the local Republican party will announce a winner Saturday.
Another factor? Turnout. In 2008, fewer than 5,500 Mainers cast votes in the state's caucuses. Turnout this year is expected to be equally low, with a Romney campaign adviser estimating 6,000 people may caucus in total. To put that in perspective, at least 300 people attended Romney's town hall here Friday night.
If they all caucus Saturday, they would make up 5 percent of the total vote.
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Seems like dadel must be one of the 11 per cent who approve of congress and a charter member of the 23 percent who still loved Bush when he left office. Great parroting of Foxxxx views.
Lemme guess Willard ... you're going to juice-up the wacko-base by stating you're *Severely Conservative* because you said the word *Conservative* 24 times at CPAC ... where the right-wing asylum converges to rant in torment & hysteria as the *Party of Hate & Death* ...
Mittler, you do realize you're that *Bad Machine* in the Section 13 scene in *Midnight Express* ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shlBZZ-IQYY&feature=watch_response
LOL.
God am I bored with the whole lot by now. Obviously NONE of these clowns will ever be Pres
Anybody but Obama,
then anybody but Romney
Mitt is a Corporate Raider. Corporate Raiders take perfectly good companies, drive them into Debt, then extract all the wealth they can before they drive them out of business and send their employees to the unemployment lines...
Many people who have worked at these companies for decades are cast off without a second thought.
Romney still looks out of sync, lol. Look at the picture. He's wearing jeans, trying to show he's an everyman, too. The only problem is most of the other people who dragged themselves out of their homes to hear him seem to have dressed up.
Everything about him always looks fake.
"Romney better come back, maybe next week, cause you see he's on a losing streak
Mittens can't get no, satisfaction, Mitty can't get no voter reaction..."
Stephen King in 2012 ! Ayuh !
Lets invite the Republicans back in. They can take your Social Security and Medicare Insurance and put it into the Stock Market, just like they did with everyones Mortgage's. We saw how well that worked out!
It is no secret that for the last thirty years the Republicans have been trying to dismantle Social Security and Medicare Insurance. They are in the process of getting rid of Unions. They have gotten rid of REAL Pensions and replaced them with worthless 401ks, and Social Security and Medicare Insurance is next.
They also got rid of Real Benefits. You used to get Medical and Dental over and above your pay in the not too distant past.
@ Title of article: Romney looks to reverse losing streak---
Really? Now why would he want to do that? Does he really want to be President?
Yes, he does, he'd sell his wife and kids for the presidency if he could!
Romney Is the same book as Obama with a different cover.
Their ploicies mirror each other.
Vote for Romney or Obama if you want to be a slave in the New World Order.
Obama is leading America to its darkest days of the Age of Enslavement by proliferating Class Warfare and poverty.
Obama will bankrupt America with his out of control spending.
As an ex-Maine-iac, please, if there is a god, reject Mitt Romney. Take advice from someone who lived under his "rule" in Massachusetts.
After elected governor, he reneged on the majority of his campaign promises including women's right to choose, he didn't allow his grandsons to play with dolls so he switched them for trucks. (Boston Globe magazine article during his tenure.) And HOW can he possibly relate to those wonderful folks in my home state when his financial worth is two-times that of the past 8 presidents. Think about that for a moment. Don't be one of the sheep and let him convince you that he knows the answer. Read everything you can, both positive and negative and make an educated choice. He's NOT the 'one'.
POTUS is a hijacked propaganda post - both political parties controlled by the Rothschild/Rockefeller bankster cult who also conrol every major government in this "civilization".
It matters little who buys the election with bankster funds stolen from Americans.
Ron Paul has the right issues and we all win the longer he stays in and gets his message of individual liberty and end the fed broadly communicated.
It would be very nice if Maine voters gave Ron paul a boost.
Have a lobster. You're elegant; wear a bib.
Go to Cooks Lobster pound. Baileys Island. If your from away they will dress you up like the Gortons fisherman. Those old republican Maniacs love to have a good time.
Ron Paul takes commanding early lead in Maine Caucus http://www.examiner.com/libertarian-in-denver/ron-paul-takes-commanding-early-lead-maine-caucus
All the states should vote primaries on same day n pick a republican already all these different voting days n fighting just helps obama n we dont need 4 more yrs of that clown.
Gee a North Easterner, New Englander expecting to do well in that area. Who'd a thunk it. The real test will be in the West and on Super Tuesday. The West having more moderate Republicans and Super Tuesday a greater mix of different levels of conservativism.
The problem is,is that the tea party has taken the party so far right that there are only two levels of the gop remaining...you are either truly a moderate or truly crazy. That means Obama walks right into his second term...and probably costs the gop seats in both bodies.
Why does Romney keep trying to impress people with his wealth ? He reminded people at the town hall meeting he owns a vacation home just 90 minutes north on a lake in Maine to go along with the ones he owns in New Hamshire and California
Ellis Baumgarner - I for one who gives a rats ass - this man is a failure as a human being
romney hob-nobs with the bushes regularly,... like two peas in a pod that lacks BARS and locked doors!!!
Oh please. The man is a complete phony, through and through, who has no principles or core beliefs other than he will say or do anything to become president. It's a crying shame how many people can't see this.
Howdy doody romney, with his plastic smiles, his plastic hair, and tailored blue jeans has spent a HUGE amount of money, including mega-millions of his own ill-gotten, tax-evading, fortune, and has spent SIX YEARS NON-STOP RUNNING FOR THE PRESIDENCY!!!!
ROMNEY HAS SPENT SIX SOLID YEARS OF NON-STOP CAMPAIGNING AND THE PHONY, ELITST, SLOB CULTIST, CANNOT GET MORE THAN A 3% SPREAD BETWEEN HIS SO-CALLED "WIN", AND SECOND PLACE???!!!!!
What does that tell you??? It tells me TWO things:
1. FLIP-FLOPPING romney actually believes he can fool everyone or that he can buy the election/nomination...
2. ... yet, with his pathetic plastic and weak showing overall, he can't buy it!!!
Shoul've read Romney pays his way for a reversal!!!!!
I meant should've read Romney pays his way for a reversal!!!!
These guys really do rmind me of my broker days and some clients ... when one of my recommendations made them a good return they'd tell their friends about their success and how much they made ... but if a recommendation went south ... it was how much money their broker lost.
It's like the past record doesn't exist for them if they made mistakes ... and the repubs have made MANY. No accountability or responsibility ... just elect or reelect them because of their ability to put lipstick on their pigs better than the other candidate ... sheesh.