Despite a rough GOP primary, a new McClatchy-Marist poll finds Mitt Romney is still neck and neck with President Obama in a hypothetical general election matchup.

Obama leads Romney 46% to 44%, “suggesting a country that remains closely divided between the major parties, unwilling to rally to the Democratic incumbent and refusing to cast aside the front-runner for the Republican nomination after a dark hour of attacks and sniping inside his party.”

A Suffolk University poll yesterday found Obama with a 10 point lead.

In a sign that his campaign is in need of fresh funds, Newt Gingrich began charging $50 to have a photograph taken with him following a campaign speech, National Journal reports.

“It was the first time that the former House speaker has charged those attending one of his public speaking events to pose for a photograph with him.”

NBC News: “Charging for photos, in addition to news that the campaign canceled a
trip to North Carolina, contributes to the narrative that Gingrich is
struggling to stay afloat financially.”

Alex Pareene: “Being that it’s still March 2012 and we have no way of knowing who will actually be president by the end of January 2013 (besides “not Ron Paul,” obviously), it would seem to be a bit premature to speculate as to how the 2016 presidential race will shake out. And yet political reporters, finally bored perhaps with the inevitable Republican nomination of Mitt Romney, are already spewing forth predictions…”

“But you see where we are, at this point: Randomly tossing out names. It’s like predicting the 2016 NFL Draft. Some of these kids are still in high school!”

Larry Killgallon, president of Etch-A-Sketch maker Ohio Art Co., told Bloomberg TV he’s loving the use of his company’s toy in the presidential campaign debate.

Said Killgallon: “We’re talking about creating T-shirts and the kind of things we could bring to the convention.”

He added: “What we need is a long time period of time and we need to sustain this into the fall. If we keep this dialogue going between the campaigns and Etch-a-Sketch, it will be great.”

Newt Gingrich “has lost his last embedded print reporters,” reporters on the trail confirm to Politico.

“The last two print reporters covering Gingrich full-time on the trail — from Politico and the Atlanta Journal Constitution — pulled out on Friday. The Associated Press pulled its embed after Tuesday’s Illinois primary.”

“If we only have a two-month campaign, [the Obama campaign’s] money
advantage, and it’ll be an advantage, won’t make much difference because
there is only so much money you can spend in two months to have really
any impact. There are diminishing returns after awhile. But if we have a
nominee next week, all of the money advantages they have, now, are
going to be trained on destroying the nominee.”

— Rick Santorum, in an interview with National Review, on why a contested convention would be a good thing for the Republican party.

Rick Santorum told David Brody he would consider being Mitt Romney’s running mate if he doesn’t become the Republican presidential nominee.

Said Santorum: “Of course. I mean, look. I would do in this race as I always say, this is the most important race in our country’s history. I’m going to do everything I can. I’m doing everything I can. I’m out there. In the last 10 months, I’ve had five days off. Two for Thanksgiving, and three for Christmas. I’ve been working every single day. My wife and my kids, we’re just busting our tail, because we know their future and all of our childrens’ future is at stake in this election and I don’t want to be the guy who has to sit with my granddaughter, 20 years from now, and tell stories about an America where people once were free. I don’t want to have that conversation.”

Of course, Mitt Romney seemed to rule out the possibility earlier this month.

A new Suffolk University poll finds President Obama leading Mitt Romney in a general election match up by 10 points, 47% to 37%, with 7% saying they would vote for a third-party candidate and 7% undecided.
 
Obama led the other GOP candidates by even larger margins: Rick Santorum by 14 points, Newt Gingrich by 19 points, and Ron Paul by 21 points.

The Evansville Courier & Press highlights a tough statistic for Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), who is already facing attacks on his legal residency in Indiana.

“A
week ago, U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar’s campaign — under fire from state
Treasurer Richard Mourdock in the Republican primary — offered details
on exactly how many days he’s spent in Indiana over his 36-year tenure
in office. The answer: 1,805 days, or nearly five years total.”

The
campaign of Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) noted
that in just five years in office, he had spent 1,151 days and 1,029
nights in Indiana.

Chris Cillizza
considers whether Mitt Romney’s political abilities are actually
underrated, as he has managed to lead the Republican presidential
primary field despite being a Northeastern moderate in a party of
Southern conservatives, a Mormon in a party of evangelicals, and the
author of Romneycare in a party opposed to Obamacare.

“Romney is no
world-beater as a candidate. He is awkward and somewhat tin-eared, and
can seem aloof. And yet, when you scan the hurdles — demographic and
ideological — that Romney has overcome to emerge as the all-but-certain
Republican nominee, it’s clear that he doesn’t get enough credit for
what he’s accomplished.”

“In a move that will keep them guessing in Washington,” the Portland Press Herald reports Maine U.S. Senate candidate Angus King (I) “has named two new campaign aides: one a Democrat and one a Republican.”

“It will be difficult for King to operate in the Senate without joining either the Democratic and Republican caucus, since the party caucuses make committee assignments. Many Democrats are hoping the socially liberal, but more fiscally conservative, former Maine independent governor joins the Democratic caucus. King supported George W. Bush in 2000, but Democrat John Kerry in 2004 and he is backed Barack Obama in 2008 and this year.”

There’s just one word for Herman Cain’s new video: disturbing.

[Read more…]

Mitt Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades hasn’t given a single on-the-record interview this entire cycle, and never goes on television, BuzzFeed reports.

“This determined obscurity is part of the myth of Matt Rhoades, the behind-the-scenes operative successfully steering the Romney campaign down a narrow path to the nomination… Indeed, like a hipster for the blue-blazer-and-loafers set, Rhoades’s political persona is deeply invested in giving the impression that he doesn’t care what you think of him.”