As the Republicans turn their attention to the southern states, will a long primary battle weaken the eventual nominee? Guests: Michelle Goldberg, an author; Ford O'Connell, a Republican strategist; Peter Fenn, a Democratic strategist.

In a recent interview with an Alabama radio station, Mitt Romney alluded to the challenges he faces in the Deep South by comparing campaigning there to playing "an away game."

Indeed, connecting with voters in the heart of Dixie is a particularly difficult test for a Boston business titan who takes the skin off of his fried chicken before eating it and who governed a state that is synonymous with Yankee liberalism.

After Romney increased his delegate lead on Super Tuesday, expectations for him were downgraded to the lowest in recent memory as the GOP primary fight headed to Mississippi and Alabama on Tuesday.

Despite his victories in Florida and Virginia, the lingering question over Romney’s ability to win in the South is one of the main reasons he hasn't seized the mantle as the inevitable Republican nominee.

But a closer look at the numbers reveals that Romney’s “Southern problem” may be overstated.

“In the general election, the South is going to be a strength for Mitt Romney,” said Republican strategist Ford O’Connell. “His weakness in the South means this primary drags on, but once November rolls around, Romney’s Southern problem will be over. Southerners may not like Mitt Romney, but they certainly don’t like Barack Obama.”

Read more from Scott Conroy at RealClearPolitics

Most Republicans want to drop talk of social issues and instead settle into a nice discussion of how horrible Obama is at everything independent voters like (read: gas prices, job creation, taxes.) But if the candidates are putting themselves on a strict economics-only diet, the race’s turn into the Deep South is akin to dropping them into a cupcake factory. Or at least a red meat factory.

The race now moves to approaching primaries in Alabama and Mississippi, where the conservatism is of the uncut variety. What’s worse for Republicans eager to abandon the topics polls show are turning off women, independents and Latinos, those states favor Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. Romney hasn’t done well in the South so far (see: South Carolina, Tennessee and the surprising Ron Paul vote in Virginia) and though he’s spending money in the Deep South primaries and won the endorsement of Mississippi’s governor, no one really thinks the contests are about him.

So that means a brighter spotlight on two candidates who love a good social issues fight, and two states with Republican voters who might have an appetite for one. The candidates themselves are trying mightily to stay focused. Romney is knocking the debt. Newt Gingrich is pumping gas and Rick Santorum is promising to be on his best behavior.

Republican strategist Ford O’Connell, who’s helped Republicans win in both states, told TPM that the national candidates need to tread lightly.

“You can’t really avoid talking about social issues in those states,” he said. “There are certain code words you can use down there that don’t come back to haunt you in the rest of the country.”

“If they go out there and shoot from the hip, they could obviously damage themselves in other regions,” O’Connell said.

Read more from Evan McMorris-Santoro and Kyle Leighton at TPM 

When we look at a political website, we see reflections of the candidates and their campaigns. It’s nice to see campaigns that put some effort into dressing up for the occasion. But when we look deeper at how many campaigns use their websites and other online tools, the picture is often a lot less impressive.

Let’s take a look at whether you’ve built in the horsepower to rev up your campaign or you’re “all show and no go” online.

Our first checkpoint is to ask if you understand your audience and what you’re trying to accomplish online.  In the most simplistic terms, you’re looking at presenting information and encouraging action. On the information side, the rookie mistake is to confuse the ability to publish an unlimited amount of information on your website or Facebook info tab with the desire of the audience to wade through your magnum opus. Likewise, crowding your home page with an excessive number of action buttons and links makes them easy to find, but less likely that the important actions will stand out.

There is no hard and fast rule on the maximum number of words or links on a page, but if it takes a typical visitor minutes rather than seconds to figure out what it is you want to tell them or have them do, you deserve a “delay of campaign” penalty. If you don’t have a good sense of this yourself, we suggest you enlist the help of some friends with short attention spans. See if they read the entire page or if they click on the action items that are most important to you.

Read more from Steve Pearson and Ford O'Connell at Campaigns & Elections 

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is finding it tough to connect with lower-income voters in his own party, a record that bodes poorly for success in a potential general election contest with President Barack Obama.

A stream of memorable gaffes on the topic of wealth - Romney is one of the richest men ever to seek the presidency - has cast the former venture capital executive as out of touch with the concerns of working Americans.

Lower-income Republicans are more likely to vote on social issues like opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage, where Santorum scores highly.

Ultimately, most Republican primary voters who opted for Santorum or former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich are likely to unite behind Romney in the spirit of partisanship, if he becomes the candidate.

But independents, whose support tilts the balance, arguably do not have the same type of "anyone but Obama" mentality of many Republicans.

"Romney is going to need some working-class votes in Ohio, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Iowa and other states to win a general election," said Republican strategist Ford O'Connell.

"As long as the economy is where it's at, he has a chance to win. But he needs to keep his message on the economy simple. Mitt has literally got to roll up his perfectly tailored sleeves and say, ‘I'll work hard for you."

Read more from Ros Krasny at Reuters  

It's time for Mitt Romney to roll up those perfectly tailored sleeves and get his hands greasy. Not dirty. Greasy. As in, "I need a napkin because I just ate a lot of this not-so-nutritious-but-oh-so-delicious southern food."

It won't be easy otherwise for him to connect with southern voters. He's Mormon; they're not. He's extremely wealthy; they've been slow to recover from the jolts of 2008 and 2009. They love NASCAR and college football. He doesn't do sports. And his record so far—losses in South Carolina, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Georgia—suggest the romance has, to say the least, not reached full bloom.

But the truth is Romney's southern woes will extend only through the primary season. Once November rolls around, it will be a contest between a big-government Democrat and a Republican who, at least, talks of fiscal responsibility. And, in that contest, Romney will view the South as a strength, not a weakness.

Read more from Ford O'Connell at U.S. News & World Report

Republican strategist Ford O'Connell says President Barack Obama will reap the rewards of a GOP race that looks set to drag out.

Video available at: 

http://www.reuters.com/video/2012/03/07/president-obama-real-victor-on-super-tue?videoId=231339376

Rick Santorum’s victories in Tennessee, North Dakota and Oklahoma — and a nail-biting loss to Mitt Romney in Ohio — mean the already-prolonged GOP dogfight is far from over, pundits told the Herald.

Santorum kept it close in Ohio, preventing a potentially catastrophic Romney landslide in the battleground state, despite what his supporters called a well-organized, heavily financed Romney machine.

Santorum needed something to celebrate after two big losses last week in Michigan and Arizona, which effectively zapped his onetime front-runner status.

But GOP strategist Ford O’Connell said Santorum continues to suffer from a stubborn Newt Gingrich, who’s peeling off conservative votes otherwise headed for Santorum.

“As long as Gingrich is in the race, that benefits Romney,” O’Connell said.

Read more from Chris Cassidy at the Boston Herald

Mitt Romney is confident he’ll be the Republican presidential nominee-- and he’s insisting a brokered convention is out of the question.

The former Massachusetts governor, fresh off winning six of the 10 Super Tuesday contests, told CNBC’s Squawk Box that he felt “pretty darn good” and dismissed the notion that the nomination won’t be sewn up until August's Republican National Convention.

“I can tell you for sure, there’s not going to be some sort of brokered convention, where a new person comes in and becomes the nominee,” said Romney. “It’s going to be one of the four people that are still running."

Political analysts say that while Romney will likely win the nomination, he still has a long road ahead.

“It’s going to be a long haul for Romney,” said Republican strategist Ford O’Connell, pointing to this month’s races in Alabama, Kansas and Mississippi --three socially conservative states that are unlikely to favor the former Massachusetts governor.

O’Connell added that Santorum and Gingrich are duking it out to become the preferred candidate in the South, so the two splitting the votes there could benefit Romney.

“If Santorum can’t make this a one-on-one race, the better off Romney is,” he said. “I think Romney is going to be the nominee, the only question is when.”

Read more from Aliyah Shahid at the New York Daily News

How the Republican presidential candidates fared in the vote from Ford O'Connell, a Republican strategist and former campaign adviser to John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Video available at: http://www.cbc.ca/video/watch/News/ID=2207032364