The Battle for Endorsements -- and Momentum

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani picked up a significant endorsement today in Texas. And in the battle for the allegiance of Southern voters.

Gov. Rick Perry, who succeeded George W. Bush in 2001 when Bush became president and then was elected on his own twice (2002 and 2006), endorsed Giuliani and became a national co-chair of Giuliani's campaign.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney picked up a couple of endorsements this week. One was from Bob Jones III, the grandson of Bob Jones, who founded the conservative college that bears his name in South Carolina. The other endorsement for Romney came from another famous name -- Rep. Connie Mack Jr., R-Fla., whose father was a senator from Florida.

The "middle class" is the hot new buzz word in politics, but MSNBC wonders what the middle class is.

Jonathan Martin of The Politico says the Romney campaign is trying to narrow the focus of the campaign into "us or Rudy," thus taking attention away from the other contenders.

When the issue is framed that way, Romney's campaign clearly believes rank-and-file Republicans will feel that Romney better represents their beliefs. And that Romney is the best alternative to Giuliani.

But one Romney supporter in the media, Dean Barrett of the Weekly Standard, thinks Romney needs to find his voice.

Romney drew fire recently from John McCain for his assertion that he represented the "Republican wing" of the Republican Party. Lately, Giuliani is drawing criticism from McCain for supporting pork-barrel spending.

The Republican candidates in general seem to have their own problems with the presumed Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.

According to the latest Fox News polls, the top four Republican candidates -- Giuliani, Romney, Fred Thompson and McCain -- trail Clinton by varying margins nationally.

McCain and Giuliani run the closest races -- head to head, Clinton gets 47% in each matchup, while McCain draws 44% and Giulani draws 43%. Those margins tend to fall within the margin of error, so it could be closer than it appears in both cases.

The Fox polls show that Clinton beats Romney and Thompson by identical 50-38 margins.

The surveys were conducted within the last week.