Okay, here’s an idea for Rudy, Fred or Mitt. It is a constant annoyance to me that the media and the campaigns pay so much attention to the candidates’ standing in the national polls. All that should matter right now are the early primary states where, for example, Hillary is not way out in front. But since that’s not the case, since campaigns raise money off their national standing and the media assign “momentum” and “first tier” status to candidates based in large part on their standing in national polls, maybe it would make sense for Rudy, Mitt or Fred to take out some ads in other parts of the country? Right now, voters in California, New York and just about every other region of the country save Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina are paying next to no attention to the presidential contest (which, on the merits, is a good argument for why we shouldn’t care about the preferences, but that’s a different story). One consequence of that is that they are very open-minded about who they’ll support. A few ad barrages in carefully selected regions might have a significant affect on a candidate’s standing in the national polls, which would then be translatable into an aura of inevitability in primary states. I’m sure there are good financial reasons why this idea is of little utility to the underfunded candidates. But a Rudy or a Mitt could probably find the resources.