GREENVILLE, S.C. | A glance in the rear-view mirror shows that potential presidential contenders for 2012 were nearly tripping over each other in key states late in the midterm election season.
A meet-and-greet at a barbecue joint in Columbia, South Carolina, a stump speech at a family restaurant in Sioux City, Iowa, a pep talk at a state party convention in Concord, Massachusetts.
Campaign stops like these gave possible candidates for the 2012 GOP nomination the chance to throw their star power behind congressional and gubernatorial candidates and get face time with an energized electorate in the final days leading up to the Nov. 2 elections — all while laying some groundwork for a possible 2012 run.
Govs. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Haley Barbour of Mississippi, former Govs. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, and Sarah Palin Alaska, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Indiana Rep. Mike Pence and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum all campaigned heavily for Republican candidates in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina in the final week of the midterm election season.
Those three states host the earliest presidential primary contests. Has the jockeying already begun?
In South Carolina, Romney stumped for Rep.-elect Mick Mulvaney, who defeated House Budget Chairman John Spratt last Wednesday, before joining Republican Gov.-elect Nikki Haley for a handful of campaign stops across the state.
“It was great reconnecting with old friends and making new ones as I traveled across the country talking about what we need to do to ensure we remain the world’s economic and military superpower,” Romney wrote on his blog this week, speaking of his stops during the campaign season. “We should all be proud of what we’ve accomplished together this year, and I look forward to working with you in the months ahead to build upon these victories.”
Huckabee took his Fox News Channel television show to a fall festival in Charleston in support of South Carolina Rep.-elect Tim Scott last Saturday. Scott, along with Florida Rep.-elect Allen West, became the first black GOP congressmen elected since J.C. Watts in 1994. (Watts left Congress in 2003.) Palin also endorsed Scott in a press release the Friday before the election.
In Iowa, Pawlenty and Barbour both stumped on behalf of Gov.-elect Terry Branstad and Santorum visited the state seven times this campaign season, most recently campaigning for Rep. Chris Hagenow’s reelection bid in Clive, Iowa, and speaking at a Family Research Council event in the final week of the election season.
Gingrich took his “jobs here, jobs now” tour through Sioux City and brought it here to Greenville, South Carolina, appearing with state party officials and South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, who handily won his reelection bid Tuesday evening.
Santorum made his sixth trip to South Carolina, campaigning with state GOP chairman Karen Floyd on behalf of candidates for state treasurer and agriculture commissioner. He also appeared in Charleston with Haley, who became the state’s first woman and first Indian-American to be elected governor.
“Washington is gonna be a pretty tough place to do business the next two years with a divided government, and states like South Carolina what it means to have a conservative management of money and conservative leaders in the governor’s office and legislature,” Santorum said at a Greenville event recently.
Indiana Rep. Mike Pence was busy with his own reelection campaign, a race he won handily, but he still found time to speak at a dinner hosted by the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition. He, like most possible 2012 candidates, dodged questions about his intentions for a possible presidential run, using the common excuse that he wanted to focus on the Nov. 2 elections.
Romney campaigned for over 60 candidates in 30 states, and his Free and Strong America PAC spent $1.1 million supporting over 500 candidates across the country, the most money raised and distributed by any potential candidate’s PAC.
