Lisa, I’m with Ramesh on Romney’s national numbers vs his local ones. And, granted that every system is flawed, why is what’s happening in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina any more ”artificial” (your word) than a national poll based mostly on very basic pre-campaign name recognition and media filtering? The idea that the national numbers are “real” is the same kind of foolish logic that led Democrats to saddle themselves with John Kerry. In the Granite State, Mitt (like Hillary) has an impressive ground organization: He gets out, meets real people with real votes, and they seem to like him and don’t regard the Mormon thing as a big deal. No Wolf Blitzers or Chris Matthews are involved. If he comes out of Iowa and NH with real momentum, the national numbers will follow.
And, if he doesn’t, maybe there’s an opening for Rudy’s nationalized-primary strategy. As for flying New Yorkers up to go knocking on strangers’ doors in New Hampshire, that would seem almost parodically inept, even if it weren’t hunting season.