The Perry Campaign Has Reset and Refocused in South Carolina

Here’s what everyone thinks about this year. If Romney sweeps Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina he wins. It is conventional wisdom and conventional wisdom is usually right.But this year there is an anomaly. The first several rounds of primaries and caucuses are not winner take all, but proportional. In fact, as you can see from the chart below the fold, there is still a long way to go.That is one reason Perry stayed in after finishing fifth in Iowa and expecting to finish at the bottom in New Hampshire. Not only does South Carolina not care about Iowa and New Hampshire, but they are not really relevant to South Carolina, the first Republican primary in a consistently Republican state.But the Perry camp knows what go them to this point isn’t working. I’m being told reliably the campaign has gotten the message and has reset its South Carolina operation. Gone are the flashy national ads with the national ad buyer and the national staging. It is very South Carolina focused, hoping to build upward momentum.That campaign is relying less on national consultants and more on instate players. The campaign ads are focused on local market buys and local market newsmakers. The message is a more tailored message and less erratic than what we saw in Iowa — more about small government and sticking up for South Carolina’s conservative fighters in Congress.If it works, we should see some uptick in polling. The Perry camp made a wise choice to rely more heavily on South Carolina operatives than national consultants. It could be a model moving forward if it works.In the mean time, the Perry campaign took all of our concerns under advisement and intends to show it can reset, retool, and reboot to victory in South Carolina.

State	Delegates	Portion	Date	Filing	Complete

Iowa caucus	28	1.20%	Jan 3, 2012	–	1.20%
NH Primary	12	0.50%	Jan 10, 2012	past	1.80%
SC Primary	25	1.10%	Jan 21, 2012	past	2.90%
FL Primary	50	2.20%	Jan 31, 2012	past	5.10%
NV Caucus	28	1.20%	Feb 4, 2012	–	6.30%
ME Caucus	24	1.10%	2/4-11/12	–	7.40%
CO Caucus	36	1.60%	Feb 7, 2012	–	9.00%
MN Caucus	40	1.80%	Feb 7, 2012	–	10.70%
AZ Primary	29	1.30%	Feb 28, 2012	Jan 9, 2012	12.00%
MI Primary	30	1.30%	Feb 28, 2012	past	13.30%
WA Caucus	43	1.90%	Mar 3, 2012	–	15.20%
Pre-Super Tuesday	345	15.20%

State	Delegates	Portion	Date	Filing	Complete
AK Caucus	27	1.20%	Mar 6, 2012	–	16.40%
GA Primary	76	3.40%	Mar 6, 2012	past	19.80%
ID Caucus	32	1.40%	Mar 6, 2012	–	21.20%
MA Primary	41	1.80%	Mar 6, 2012	past	23.00%
ND Caucus	28	1.20%	Mar 6, 2012	–	24.20%
OK Primary	43	1.90%	Mar 6, 2012	past	26.10%
TN Primary	58	2.60%	Mar 6, 2012	past	28.70%
TX Primary	155	6.80%	Mar 6, 2012	past	35.60%
VE Primary	17	0.80%	Mar 6, 2012	Jan 9, 2012	36.30%
VA Primary	49	2.20%	Mar 6, 2012	past	38.50%
Vir Islands Caucus	9	0.40%	Mar 6, 2012	–	38.90%
WY Caucus	29	1.30%	Mar 6, 2012	–	40.20%
Super Tuesday	564	24.90%



State	Delegates	Portion	Date	Filing	Complete
KS Caucus	40	1.80%	Mar 10, 2012	–	41.90%
AL Primary	50	2.20%	Mar 13, 2012	Jan 13, 2012	44.10%
Haw Caucus	20	0.90%	Mar 13, 2012	–	45.00%
MS Primary	38	1.70%	Mar 13, 2012	Jan 14, 2012	46.70%
Am Samoa Caucus	9	0.40%	Mar 13, 2012	–	47.10%
Missouri Caucus	52	2.30%	Mar 17, 2012	–	49.40%
Puerto Rico Caucus	23	1.00%	Mar 18, 2012	–	50.40%
IL Primary	69	3.00%	Mar 20, 2012	past	53.40%
LA Primary	45	2.00%	Mar 24, 2012	past	55.40%
DC Primary	19	0.80%	Apr 3, 2012	past	56.30%
MD Primary	37	1.60%	Apr 3, 2012	Jan 11, 2012	57.90%
WI Primary	42	1.90%	Apr 3, 2012	Jan 11, 2012	59.80%
Conn Primary	28	1.20%	Apr 24, 2012	Mar 2, 2012	61.00%
DE Primary	17	0.80%	Apr 24, 2012	Feb 24, 2012	61.70%
NY Primary	95	4.20%	Apr 24, 2012	Feb 9, 2012	65.90%
PA Primary	72	3.20%	Apr 24, 2012	Feb 14, 2012	69.10%
RI Primary	19	0.80%	Apr 24, 2012	Jan 21, 2012	70.00%
IN Primary	46	2.00%	May 8, 2012	Feb 10, 2012	72.00%
NC Primary	55	2.40%	May 8, 2012	Feb 29, 2012	74.40%
WV Primary	31	1.40%	May 8, 2012	Jan 28, 2012	75.80%
NE Primary	34	1.50%	May 15, 2012	Mar 7, 2012	77.30%
OR Primary	28	1.20%	May 15, 2012	Mar 6, 2012	78.50%
Ark Primary	36	1.60%	May 22, 2012	Mar 1, 2012	80.10%
KY Primary	45	2.00%	May 22, 2012	Jan 31, 2012	82.10%
CA Primary	172	7.60%	Jun 5, 2012	Mar 23, 2012	89.70%
MT Primary	26	1.10%	Jun 5, 2012	Mar 12, 2012	90.90%
NJ Primary	50	2.20%	Jun 5, 2012	Apr 2, 2012	93.10%
NM Primary	23	1.00%	Jun 5, 2012	Mar 16, 2012	94.10%
SD Primary	28	1.20%	Jun 5, 2012	Mar 27, 2012	95.30%
OH Primary	66	2.90%	Jun 12, 2012	Mar 14, 2012	98.20%
UT Primary	40	1.80%	Jun 26, 2012	Mar 15, 2012	100.00%
Post-Super Tuesday	1355	59.80%

Total Delegates	2264	100.00%