It started on Tuesday, January 09, 2007. Mark Joseph of Fox news told us that Mitt Romney would likely not win the Republican nomination for President because Evangelicals in states like New Hampshire (20% of voters), South Carolina (34% of voters), and Iowa (37% of voters) would not support a Mormon candidate. Then, Steve McMahon (Dem Strategist), speaking with Chris Matthews, claimed the same thing. Not only was Romney a Mormon, he was really a “Massachusetts Liberal”. Few if any in the MSM and on the professional pundit shows gave Mitt Romney a chance. John King of CNN summed it up for us, “A successful Olympics, one term as governor and 3 percent in the national polls does not give you the nomination.”

My, my . . . things have certainly changed in the past nine months. According to USAElectionPolls.com, Romney’s rise in the national polls has been just short of astounding. Consider these key states:

Arizona 10% in January to 18% in October

California 3% in January to 11% in October

Florida 2% in January to 16.5% in October (wow!)

Iowa 8% in January to 24.3% in October

Michigan 9% in January to 39% in September*

Nevada 11.5% in March* to 23.5% in October

New Hampshire 13% in January to 24% in October

Ohio 4% in January to 8% in October

Pennsylvania 1% in January to 8% in October (wow!)

South Carolina 6% in January to 16% in October

And here are some interesting averages:

Southern States from 4% in January to 16.3% in October

Western States from 7.5% in January to 28.2% in October

Red States from 7% in January to 17.8% in October

Blue States from 6.6% in January to 16% in October (wow!)

Consider that Romney is splitting the polls with up to eight other candidates, and he is leading or a close second in those states that the pundits said he had little chance of winning. For Romney, if the next twelve months is anything like the last nine, they will not call him “Mitt the Mormon” anymore. They’ll be calling him Mr. President.

*polls were not available in for January/October