McCain's town-hall meetings shelved

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Almost as soon as the Republican primary ends here Tuesday, Sen. John McCain of Arizona will ditch his trademark town-hall meetings and begin an aerial trek from one media market to the next, touching down long enough to hold tarmac rallies before moving on.

It is exactly the kind of campaigning that McCain dislikes. But a campaign of comfort zones will quickly give way to one of time zones as Republicans focus on Feb. 5 contests in 20-odd states.

None of the four remaining major GOP candidates has the time to compete in every state that will vote on Super Tuesday. Instead, they will be picking and choosing, employing divergent strategies aimed at winning the most states and delegates.

McCain and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani — if he survives past Florida — will spend much of their time in the Northeast and in California, where they hope big victories in the largest states will deliver the most delegates. Both also will aim for a few Southern or Midwestern states, such as Illinois and Georgia, where a lot of delegates are at stake.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has not decided which states to target Feb. 5, spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said. A loss in Florida's primary Tuesday could be crippling; a win would give Romney a boost heading into the next round.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who has not won since finishing first in the Iowa caucuses Jan. 3, has little money to work with and is concentrating on a few Southern states, where his campaign thinks that a strong showing will keep his candidacy alive. He'll appear in Nashville today.

3rd-place Edwards

switching to Plan B

COLUMBIA, S.C. — After a disappointing third-place finish in South Carolina's primary Saturday, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and his supporters say they are moving to Plan B: A marathon run in which they plan to stay in the race with the hope that one or both of the two front-runners, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, will implode.

"We believe it will go to the convention," said Joe Trippi, Edwards' chief strategist.

In the worst-case scenario, they say, Edwards will enter the Democratic national convention in Denver in August as a power broker, helping drive the agenda on issues that he has championed, such as health care, poverty and the inequities of bad trade deals.

The Edwards campaign says it has raised $3 million over the Internet so far in January, including $230,000 on Thursday. Most of the money, the campaign says, is coming in donations of $100 or less.

Trippi said he expected that Edwards would be able to spend 70 percent of what Clinton and Obama will spend on the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday states, which would keep Edwards financially competitive, if still outspent.

Edwards' strategists say they will cherry-pick certain states where they think they can do well. Edwards was in Georgia on Sunday and was scheduled to fly into Tennessee and Missouri today.

Other Super Tuesday states that Edwards will consider targeting include Oklahoma, Alabama, Alaska and North Dakota.

Roe v. Wade plaintiff

endorses Ron Paul

On the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court's historic Roe v. Wade abortion ruling, the Roe of that landmark legal case endorsed libertarian-turned-Republican Rep. Ron Paul for president.

"Jane Roe," whose real name is Norma McCorvey, turned against abortion a decade ago. In her endorsement she said, "I support Ron Paul for president because we share the same goal, that of overturning Roe v. Wade. He has never wavered on the issue of being pro-life and has a voting record to prove it."

Paul, a 10-term Texas congressman from the Houston area, is a 72-year-old Air Force veteran and obstetrician/gynecologist who has surprised many political observers with the fervor of his bands of followers and his campaign's fundraising prowess.

Also

Liz Cheney, one of Vice President Dick Cheney's daughters, has signed onto Mitt Romney's presidential campaign as a senior foreign-policy adviser. Cheney most recently worked in the State Department handling Middle East affairs.

Seattle Times news services