WILL ROMNEY SKIP SC ALTOGETHER?

I’m not sure I quite buy into the wave of rumors permeating through South Carolina that Mitt Romney, who 36 hours from now could be feeling the sting of back-to-back upset defeats, will move all of his Palmetto State resources to Michigan — not yet anyway. But I have been hearing this a lot and I do see the logic behind the anecdote.

If polling proves accurate and Romney loses tomorrow, he will essentially be forced to come into South Carolina a two-time loser in states he was expected to easily win; something that would likely doom him to the title of “former presidential candidate.” He would also come here trailing Mike Huckabee, facing a victorious John McCain and pestered by Fred Thompson, who is focusing solely on South Carolina.

And according to the swirling rumor mill, his advisors did not take well to getting beat in Iowa by a predominantly evangelical community that largely backs Huckabee. Word is that the Romney campaign sees what happened to him there as an indication as to what could happen to him in South Carolina.

If he can’t win in Iowa, if he can’t win in New Hampshire, and if he can’t win in this state, then the only hope he has at a win of any substance prior to Florida and Super Tuesday is in his father’s state of Michigan on Jan. 15 — although it carries far less significance than Iowa, NH or SC.

So it makes sense that Romney, needing some kind of victory to show for the absurd amount of personal cash he’s spent on this election, would put all of his eggs in the Michigan basket.

The best indicator that Team Romney is preparing for an all-out blitzkrieg on the Wolverine State is the heavy spin they’re putting out to media pushing a second place showing in New Hampshire as a victory. Why?  So that they can they lower expectations enough to stay viable in Michigan.

And to a degree, friendly media sources are running with it. The Politico noted Monday that Romney is “dialing down expectations hard.”

The almost frantic downsizing of expectations for the former Massachusetts governor came as the candidate and his staff are publicly and privately preparing to explain away what would be a disheartening loss and shift to a last-ditch strategy predicated on his ability to outlast and outspend his rivals, according to sources inside the campaign.

“This is a must-win state for him,” Romney said of McCain, in a Politico interview Sunday. “If he doesn’t win here, I don’t know where he is going to win. So for me it’s can I catch John McCain — can I keep him from getting this?”

Left unsaid was that Romney has led in state polls for much of the race, and McCain only caught him recently. [The Politico]

Also left unsaid is that if Romney doesn’t win New Hampshire, he probably won’t win South Carolina and “I don’t know where he is going to win.” Unless, of course, you count Michigan as a possible momentum-builder, which the Romney campaign is counting on even though many probably won’t.

After all, Michigan is where his campaign began… could it be where his campaign ends? It would certainly appropriately full circle.

So will his campaign pull out of South Carolina in order to get that win? Will it be worth it? Will anyone even pay attention? And will they please take these guys with them?

We’ll find out after the commercial break. And by commercial break I mean New Hampshire primary.