BLITZ

Romney Looks to Lock Up Nomination

By the end of the month.

Eight votes or not, Mitt Romney’s Iowa victory has caused his campaign to shift gears and focus on winning the nomination—fast. Romney holds a commanding lead in New Hampshire, which will hold the nation’s first primary on Tuesday, and now he’s turned his attention to the Jan. 21 South Carolina primary—where a recent poll also had him in the lead. He's also begun courting South Carolina’s Sen. Jim DeMint, who endorsed him in 2008 and is influential with the Tea Party. Romney has now turned his attention to Florida with a massive media blitz ahead of that state’s Jan. 31 primary. “If Romney wins the first four states, he’ll be the de facto nominee of the party,” said GOP strategist Steve Schmidt.