Romney stretches his lead in endorsements

He may be trailing Newt Gingrich in the national polls, but there’s one metric by which Mitt Romney is dominating the 2012 Republican field: endorsements. He’s already bagged the two biggest ones announced so far: Chris Christie and Tim Pawlenty. He also has the backing of several key Republicans in New Hampshire, including current Senator Kelly Ayotte and two former Governors. And yesterday he added another big name from another early state to his list: South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

Haley’s support for Romney is not wholly unexpected: she backed him in 2008 and he endorsed her early in her campaign for Governor last year. It is significant, though: a new Republican Governor, popular with the party’s voters, is a big get – especially in the state that holds the second primary. And it means that Romney adds another ‘Mama Grizzly’ (female Tea Party-ish candidates backed by Sarah Palin in 2010) to his supporters, having already notched