9:49 AM: It kind of slipped by before. But did everyone notice that Gov. Romney essentially said that you shouldn’t run for public office unless you’re independently wealthy and don’t need a salary?
9:50 AM: Another point on Romney, the idea that Romney’s 1994 run against Ted Kennedy was a suicide run is preposterous. Since Kennedy reclaimed some of his legendary status after 1994, it can seem that way in retrospect or if you weren’t there at the time. But that’s not at all how it was at the time. It was the nadir of Sen. Kennedy’s political career, perhaps his personal history as well. And remember, it was 1994, a blow out year for Republicans. The final result was a sizable victory for Kennedy. But that’s largely because Romney muffed it in the stretch. He was in that race to win it. Make no mistake.
9:57 AM: Just out from the Suffolk daily tracking poll …
For the fourth day in a row, Mitt Romney has fallen in overnight tracking, and Rick Santorum has dropped into fifth place among likely voters in the Jan. 10 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary, according to the latest Suffolk University/7News two-day tracking poll.
Ron Paul is gaining on Romney, while Jon Huntsman has rallied into third place.
Romney dropped 4 percentage points overnight to 35 percent. The former Massachusetts governor still holds a 15 point lead, but his margin has declined by 8 percentage points since last Tuesday, when 43 percent of likely Republican voters backed Romney.
