Petition Deadlines Confirm Status of GOP Presidential Campaigns

If you've ever worked or volunteered for a statewide campaign near its conception, you're probably aware of how one of the first tests major tests is getting the 10,000 signatures required to get on the ballot. It's not necessarily a hard task, but it does require a decent sized field organization since you're required to get at least 400 signatures from each Congressional district (and most campaigns try to get at least close to 600 just to make sure).

When you consider how there are a lot of rural districts in Virginia, this can create some interesting scenarios in the final week before the signatures are due. I know I once hit every one of Virginia's 13 Congressional districts in a five day period when I was working for a statewide campaign. Another time, I did the same feat in a week as our field director updated the staff on what districts really had poor numbers. This wasn't just canvassers or volunteers that were out collecting signatures. I was a senior staffer in the communications shop for one of these campaigns and was joined out in the field by other senior staffers.

I bring this up because the GOP presidential campaigns are currently dealing with the struggles of getting their signatures for the Republican primary in Virginia (the deadline is December 22). Bill Bolling submitted over 16,000 signatures for Mitt Romney's campaign yesterday, for instance, and Newt Gingrich is holding rallies throughout the state in an attempt to rally up some more signatures.

These developments are actually quite telling about the two campaigns because Romney has been portrayed as the candidate who's working hard to build up an organization. The fact that he was able to turn in a substantial number of signatures, and do it before the deadline, suggests this might actually be true. Gingrich, however, has been criticized for not building up an organization AND not focused in on the places he needs to be to win the nomination. With both the national and local media are reporting on how the former speaker is being forced to make appearances in Virginia instead of Iowa, a lot of folks are realizing these rumors probably represent the true state of his campaign.