Pure Horserace: Mitt’s Campus Clique

Romney Campaign Lets College Kids In On The Action

(CBS)  The Associated Press reported today on Republican Mitt Romney's latest fundraising innovation: College students who raise money for the former Massachusetts governor's presidential campaign will get a cut of the action — 10 percent after the first $1,000, to be exact.

Professional fundraisers have worked on commission for years. But employing such a system with money-hungry college students might be viewed as callous or one step above payola — or it could help out students who forego paid internships to serve as unpaid volunteers.

Putting that argument aside, this move shows that Romney may make college students a major part of his campaign effort. Anyone who attended the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington earlier this month saw a virtual army of young Romney volunteers everywhere they looked. Many attributed Romney's victory in the CPAC straw poll to the large number of students he bused in for the event.

College students have always formed an integral part of any campaign's volunteer corps. But Romney might want to be careful to not rely on them too much. When Howard Dean had a disappointing third-place finish in Iowa in 2004, some of the blame was put on his campaign's strategy of using students to persuade older voters to support the former Vermont governor.

Of course, Dean's college-age supporters often came from the anti-war left — and often looked the part. Young volunteers for the businesslike Romney may not face such hurdles.


Time To Cancel Those Christmas Break Plans: What would an edition of "Pure Horserace" be without an item about the primary calendar? Today's nugget comes courtesy of the Nevada Republican Party, which looks certain to move its caucuses up to Jan. 19 of next year. Democrats have long locked in that date for their contest, but the preliminary move by Republicans could set off some fireworks.

New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner had already threatened to move his state's primary ahead in the calendar, and this won't make him any less likely to do so. Unlike many states where legislatures or parties set the primary dates, Gardner has enormous flexibility to move New Hampshire's date — even near the last minute.

Should New Hampshire seek to leap-frog Nevada, Iowa could follow suit in an attempt to remain the very first contest of the season. A quick glance at the calendar suggests we could be talking about caucuses in the first week of January, with New Hampshire to follow the next week. Don't make those holiday plans just yet.


Vote First Or … While big-time presidential front-runners have always viewed Iowa and New Hampshire with trepidation, long-shot insurgents have long reveled in successes there. Two candidates from the past who benefited from New Hampshire's habit of sticking it to the favorites traveled to the state on Monday to voice support for its continued first-in-the-nation status.

Gary Hart and Pat Buchanan both won the New Hampshire primary and, although they failed to win a presidential nomination, they feel strongly that the retail politicking in this small state remains an important part of the process. Next year's Feb. 5 "Super Duper" primary date looms as a de facto national primary, leaving only those with enormous bank accounts an opportunity to compete.

If you remove small states like New Hampshire, "the only people who can run for office are those with tens or hundreds of millions of dollars," Hart said, according to an AP account.


Mark Cuban And Unity In The Same Room? Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is among the luminaries announced Tuesday as part of an advisory council for the Unity08 movement which is seeking to field a bipartisan, third-party presidential ticket. Delegates (anyone can be one) will be asked to nominate candidates and participate in an online primary to select a presidential nominee from one of the major parties and a vice presidential nominee from the other.

Getting the eventual ticket on state ballots for the 2008 election will be a hurdle involving time, money and organization. But the advisory council rolled out today contained some not-unimpressive names. Along with Cuban, former Maine Gov, Angus King and actor Sam Waterston will be part of the group (both have been involved in the effort for some time). The list also includes former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld and former AOL executive George Vradenburg.

In a release, Unity08 co-founder and former White House communications director Jerry Rafshoon said, "Unity08 is delighted to welcome this distinguished group of Americans to our efforts to take the country back from overly partisan, divisive politics and place it back in the hands of the people. Each of these individuals shares our belief that now is the time for Americans to unite in an Internet-based movement and to say, 'Enough is enough!'"


Editor’s Note: Pure Horserace is a daily update of political news as interpreted by the political observers at CBSNews.com. Click here to sign up for the e-mail version, coming soon to an in-box near you.

[sloagm]

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But overall your comment was good comic relief on a boring day. To close, might I recommend to you one of my favorite quotes from Alexander Pope.

"A little learning is a dangerous thing. Drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring. There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain. And drinking largely sobers us up again."

Cheers Jack!