Top Secret Info: The Republican Presidential Candidate Strategies

The Republican Party has a field of 5 legitimate candidates, all of whom have a chance at winning the party's nominee to represent it in the national presidential election. The total number of candidates rises to 6 if you include libertarian candidate Ron Paul who gained 8% of the vote in the New Hampshire primary on January 8 and only fell a mere 300 votes below Rudy Giuliani for 4th place. Ron Paul finished in front of conservative Fred Thompson who had a very poor showing in the Granite state. So what are the campaign strategies that each candidate has which makes them believe that they can win their party's nominee? No candidate has dropped out of the race although money is increasingly becoming a major factor on the campaign trail. I detail the inside scoop of what each candidate's campaign strategy is and how any one of them can win the Republican primary.

John McCain: McCain appears to be the front runner of the Republican Party for the time being. He is coming off of a big win in New Hampshire after beating Mitt Romney by a solid margin of victory. Romney was originally expected to win New Hampshire since he is the Governor of Massachusetts which borders New Hampshire. However, McCain previously won New Hampshire back in 2000 when he ran against George W. Bush for president and once again, the people of New Hampshire voted for him. Using the slogan "Mac is Back," McCain hopes to surge into the polls and gain momentum in order to win Michigan. McCain will be competing a hard fought battle in Michigan which will probably be Romney's last and final stand in the Republican primary. McCain is a maverick candidate who appeals to independents. He must do well in states with open primaries in which independents can vote in the primaries. In states that have closed primaries in which independent voters cannot vote, he isn't expected to compete or campaign in those states which include New York, New Jersey, etc.

Mitt Romney: For Mitt Romney, it is do or die in Michigan. His father was a governor in Michigan and for the people of Michigan, the economy is their major issue which is one of Romney's strengths. As governor of Massachusetts, he helped revitalize the state's ailing economy. If Romney doesn't win Michigan, it won't matter that he placed second in Iowa and New Hampshire. He will be forced to drop out of the race. Romney has a great deal of personal wealth and if he wins Michigan, he could definitely be in this race for the long haul. His strongest states are up North where he hopes to compete. He can also be a factor in some Southern states which don't contain a strong evangelical Christian base.

Mike Huckabee: Huckabee had great success in Iowa because he received the Evangelical vote. No matter how much momentum he had out of Iowa, it wasn't going to win him the New Hampshire primary which has a small population of evangelical Christian voters. Huckabee is from Arkansas in the South and it is the Republican primaries in the South that Huckabee will have the most success. It is this same reason why Huckabee has chosen not to campaign in Michigan; instead focusing his resources in South Carolina. Huckabee has had a limited budget throughout his entire campaign but he is a very likeable person and even in New Hampshire, he finished a surprisingly third in the polls, ahead of New York City Mayor Giuliani who had a poor showing in 4th place.

Rudy Giuliani: Rudy Giuliani's campaign team has had one of the riskiest strategies ever. His campaign strategy relies on winning the major states in the Super Tuesday February 5 election. On Super Tuesday, 22 states will be having their primary elections which include New York and California, states which Giuliani has been doing well in the polls. Before Super Tuesday, Florida will have its primary day and if Giuliani doesn't win Florida, he may be out of the race for good. He has concentrated most of his resources in Florida and he is currently ahead in the polls but his polling numbers have been fading fast due to his poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire. Giuliani must win Florida and the big delegate states on Super Tuesday in order to win the primary.

Fred Thompson: For Fred Thompson, he has been a huge disappointment for conservatives. His slogan is "The clear conservative choice" but his lack of campaigning has greatly hurt him. His final and last stand may be in South Carolina which is the first southern state to have a primary. Thompson must convince Republican voters that he reflects the party's conservative values. Anything less than a first place finish will have Thompson bowing out of this race. Thompson will be competing hard against Huckabee for the Southern states in the primaries because Thompson knows he doesn't have a prayer to win any Northern Republican state primary.

Ron Paul is probably not going to win his party's nominee. Recent allegations have surfaced against him being a racist as his name was tied to a racist newsletter with his name on it. He has vehemently denied the allegations but it probably didn't matter anyway. He is too radical of a candidate to get much more than 10% of the vote in any state primary but he has the money to spend to shake things up in just about every state primary.