Romney Competitive In California

http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/news/breaking/2007/09/california_presidential_poll_1.html

There are some new poll numbers out of California, and Mitt Romney is on the rise. The last poll came out in June with Mitt Romney getting 13% of potential vote, and Rudy Giuliani having a double-digit lead with 31%.

In today's released poll however Giuliani has slipped to 22% and Mitt has risen to 16%. Fred Thompson is also getting 16%, and John McCain 15%. What does this mean?

It means that California is in play. The land of fruits and nuts is anyones for the taking, though it had been previously written off to Giuliani. In fact California was considered a key piece to the Giuliani strategy of ignoring the early primary states, and hoping for a big win on Super-Duper Tuesday. That strategy might not work out as well as hoped. Giuliani is trending downward in California and Mitt Romney has not only risen in the polls, but has raised more money in Silicon Valley than any other GOP candidate.

Based off conversations I've had with neighbors, friends and other voters - I wouldn't be at all suprised if Mitt Romney took California. He is extremely popular among Latinos, many of whom are still registered as Democrats. This is anecdotel I know, but the fact of the matter is his numbers continue to go up, and Giuliani's continue to decline. Look for Romney to continue to gain ground as the race tightens.

Which reminds me, Romney will be visiting the Golden State next week his schedule:

Romney, one of the leading Republican presidential candidates, heads to Silicon Valley where he is scheduled to appear Monday at an "Ask Mitt Anything" town hall. The forum is at 2:30 p.m. at David's Restaurant in Santa Clara.

The campaign says it's open to all; just RSVP on the Romney Web site at california@mittromney.com.

Romney also has scheduled two more "Ask Mitt" events in California: Sunday at Chapman University in Orange and Sept. 26 in Long Beach.

Romney also expects to hit the retail campaign circuit next Tuesday in Bakersfield and Sept. 27 in Sacramento.