The Note's Must-Reads for Friday, March 8, 2012
Compiled by ABC News' Jackie Fernandez, Jayce Henderson, and Amanda VanAllen
PRESIDENT OBAMA The New York Times' Jim Rutenberg and Jeff Zeleny: " Obama Mines for Voters With High-Tech Tools" With a "chief scientist" specializing in consumer behavior, an "analytics department" monitoring voter trends, and a squad of dozens huddled at computer screens editing video or writing code, the sprawling office complex inside One Prudential Plaza looks like a corporate research and development lab - Ping-Pong table and all. LINK
USA Today's Fredreka Schouten: "Obama tops recent presidents in fundraising attendance" President Obama has attended 191 fundraisers for himself and others, far exceeding the fundraising pace of presidents going back to Jimmy Carter as he drives to stockpile money for his re-election, according to new data compiled for USA TODAY. The fundraising push comes as Obama's campaign has rebuffed requests from congressional Democrats to transfer campaign funds from the Democratic National Committee to bolster the party's efforts to retake the House and maintain control of the Senate. LINK
MITT ROMNEY ABC News' Michael Falcone and Emily Friedman: " Romney Campaign Says Their Opponents Would Need An 'Act Of God' To Win GOP Nomination" On the day after his wins in six states on Super Tuesday, senior officials from Mitt Romney's campaign expressed confidence that the Republican nomination was all but theirs. However, they stopped short of tracing a detailed path from Romney's current position in the race for delegates to the point at which he could officially vanquish his rivals and clinch the nomination. LINK
The Washington Post's Philip Rucker and David Fahrenthold: " Romney campaign urges rivals to back out, saying delegate gap is too big" On Wednesday, the famously genial Mitt Romney sent his fellow Republican candidates a steel-hard message. Give up, the message went. Resistance is futile. Romney's aides laid out a detailed case, saying that after the former Massachusetts governor won six states on Super Tuesday, it is now nearly impossible for anybody else to capture the GOP presidential nomination. LINK
The New York Daily News' Aliyah Shahid: " Mitt Romney: I feel 'pretty darn good' about Super Tuesday-there won't be a brokered convention" 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. LINK
RICK SANTORUM ABC News' Shushannah Walshe: " Rick Santorum Says Mitt Romney Not Being 'Truthful' With the American People" "Are we going to win here?" Rick Santorum asked an excited crowd Wednesday evening at a rally ahead of their primary next week. The candidate touted his Super Tuesday wins and tried to define Mitt Romney as a candidate willing to mislead the American public. LINK
The Washington Times' Seth McLaughlin: " Santorum assails Romney's health care stances" While Mitt Romney squeaked out a narrow victory in Ohio's Republican primary, chief opponent Rick Santorum peeled away the scab and drew new blood over the former Massachusetts governor's history on health care, resurrecting the chief obstacle between Mr. Romney and the nomination. LINK
Bloomberg's Lisa Lerer: " Santorum Backers Pressuring Gingrich to Get Out" Rick Santorum's aides and allies have a message for rival Newt Gingrich: Time to Go. Within minutes of Santorum winning a trio of victories in this week's Super Tuesday voting, his backers began making the case that Gingrich should drop out of the Republican presidential contest. LINK
Politico's Ginger Gibson: " Rick Santorum supporters want Newt Gingrich out" Supporters of Rick Santorum are beating the drum for Newt Gingrich to exit the presidential race. On Wednesday, Santorum - who picked up wins in Oklahoma, Tennessee and North Dakota on Super Tuesday - wouldn't call explicitly on Gingrich to leave the race. LINK
GOP RACE The Los Angeles Times' Paul West: " GOP slugfest could drag on till June" A presidential primary season that opened with great promise for Republicans is entering its second half with a flawed front-runner and shaky prospects for victory in the fall. LINK
USA Today's Gregory Korte and Susan Page: " Delegates won't add up to GOP nomination until mid-May" Mitt Romney's prize of 212 delegates out of the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses still leaves him less than halfway to the 1,144 delegates he needs to lock up the GOP presidential nomination. But the delegate math is even more daunting for his challengers. LINK
The Wall Street Journal's Neil King Jr. and Patrick O'Connor: " Delegate Math Challenges Romney Rivals" Mitt Romney didn't deliver a knockout blow in winning six of the 10 states up for grabs on Super Tuesday, but he did expand his delegate lead in ways that his rivals will find increasingly hard to bridge. The Romney campaign tried to make the case Wednesday to fellow Republicans that it now has an all-but-insurmountable advantage in delegates to the August nominating convention. LINK
ABC NEWS VIDEOS " In 60: Super Tuesday" LINK
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