Romney faces vote in state with little TV ad saturation

NEW YORK — Mitt Romney is in danger of losing his fourth straight state in Saturday’s caucuses in Maine, where he and his allies have been all but absent from TV. That’s no coincidence. Over the past month, he has won in states where he and an allied super PAC, called Restore Our Future, have pounded his rivals with millions of dollars in negative ads. But he has tended to lose big when he has stopped using his power to crush other contenders by spending a ton of money — particularly on TV.

After defeats Tuesday in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri, Romney’s campaign is bracing for the possibility of more bad news in Maine, where Republicans will announce the results of a weeklong series of caucuses Saturday and where Romney’s TV presence has been virtually nonexistent. Ron Paul has made a strong play for Maine, making it essentially a two-man contest since Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum aren’t actively competing there.

The prospect of four consecutive weak performances for Romney raises questions about his durability as the GOP leader absent a barrage of attack ads lobbed at his foes.

The campaign and Restore Our Future spent just under $190,000 on ads altogether to influence Tuesday’s caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota. The two groups bought no ads in Missouri, which held a nonbinding primary the same day.