Ruth Williams, 55, of Colombia, said she was at a stop sign along I-26 on Wednesday when she saw the Romney campaign bus pull through town in the Columbia area. "I was on the highway praying and said God tell me how to get [my house] lights on, and I pulled up to a stop sign and his bus was there," she said.
Williams said she followed the bus to the airport "because the Lord told me. It sounds strange but he really did. I mean God really talked to me about this."
The bus was picking up Romney after his New Hampshire primary win. Williams did not get to meet him upon his arrival, but aides told her to head to a rally in Columbia that evening, which she did.
Romney, briefed by his staff about her story, came over to talk to Williams after that rally. She spoke to him tearfully and asked him about his economic policies. "He was kind to me," she said. "He stopped doing everything." She told Romney she had a sick son and was looking for a job. "I told them about my problems and that I just want to work. I just want to work," she said.
Williams said she had been cleaning houses for home builders, but with the downturn in the housing market, had been unable to find work since October.
Also easing Romney's way in Florida is Restore Our Future, a "super PAC" led by former advisors. It has reported spending more than $2.6 million on TV ads attacking Gingrich. The former House speaker has lacked the wherewithal to respond in kind, and a super PAC that backs him has stayed focused, so far, on South Carolina.
Gingrich has started establishing a presence in Florida more recently. He campaigned Friday in Orlando and Miami's Little Havana. Gingrich has recruited a former House colleague, Bill McCollum, as co-chairman of his Florida campaign.
Perry, whose campaign was flush with cash in the fall, assigned staff to Florida months ago. In automatic robocalls to absentee voters, the Texas governor has talked up his conservative credentials on abortion, same-sex marriage and gun control. But dismal poll ratings suggest Perry could have trouble surviving without a strong showing in South Carolina.
Paul, who won just 3% of the Florida vote in 2008, plans to spend little money there this time. That could prove a wise move, given Florida's winner-takes-all system for awarding delegates and his single-digit poll ratings.
But the Texas congressman has opened offices in a dozen other states, among them Missouri, Nevada and Minnesota, Paul spokesman Gary Howard said. "We're in it for the long haul," he said.
For Santorum, Florida is a steep climb. His state chairman recently fretted in an email, published in a Miami Herald blog, that Santorum's 110-plus volunteers were "grouped together in the more populated areas and most of them aren't interested in leading."
But national evangelical leaders on Saturday endorsed Santorum, and if the endorsement comes with substantial cooperation, the former Pennsylvania senator could transform their volunteer networks into a "campaign juggernaut," at least short-term, said Chip Felkel, a South Carolina GOP strategist who is nonaligned in the race.
"That would give him time to build what he needs to build," Felkel said. "The problem is, sooner or later, the gas runs out of this thing."
For any possible insurgent, the scope of work that lies beyond South Carolina is "massive," said Fred Davis, who made campaign ads for McCain and now works for an independent group airing TV spots for Huntsman. The later a campaign sprouts into a serious national operation, he said, the more it will cost.
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