- APFeb. 28, 2012: Mitt Romney waves at his election night party in Novi, Mich.
Mitt Romney, after fending off Rick
Santorum in his home state of Michigan, is fast-approaching the biggest
test so far of his volatile front-runner status: next week’s Super Tuesday contests where 419 delegates are up for grabs.
The former Massachusetts governor charges
into those 10 contests with a head of steam, after securing back-to-back
victories Tuesday night in Michigan and Arizona.
The only stop along the way is the Washington state caucus contest this Saturday.
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Romney will have to unleash the force of his
campaign juggernaut, as his competitors are still polling strong in key
Super Tuesday states.
Rick Santorum, who placed second in both
contests on Tuesday, is leading in most recent polls out of Ohio. Newt
Gingrich is leading in Georgia, the state he used to represent in
Congress.
The two states are the biggest delegate
prizes on Super Tuesday. All four Republican presidential candidates
have been mapping out a Super Tuesday plan – with some envisioning their
own comeback sparkling through the prism of Super Tuesday
possibilities.
Gingrich’s plan, he told Fox News, revolves around a victory in Georgia and strong showings in several other March 6 states.
Romney, though, could be looking at an easy
pick-up in at least one state. He and Ron Paul are the only candidates
on the ballot in Virginia, one of the 10 states holding contests a week
from now.
Romney heads into those primaries and
caucuses after preventing what could have been a major upset for his
campaign in Michigan. His victory over Santorum hardly locks down the
race, but at least for the moment it keeps the former Pennsylvania
senator’s campaign in check.
"We didn't win by a lot, but we won by
enough, and that's all that counts," an upbeat Romney said at his
Michigan victory rally late Tuesday night.
The two-for-two performance from Romney
helps him reaffirm his front-runner status among the remaining four GOP
candidates. In a reflection of the night's results, the candidate kept
his victory rally remarks focused on President Obama and his own
candidacy, glossing over what has become a bitterly personal contest
between him and Santorum in recent weeks.
He called the election a "time for choosing" in America.
"This time we've got to get the choice right," Romney said.
Romney, in his address, touted his recently
unveiled tax reform plan and like the other candidates pledged to open
up more U.S. land to oil and gas drilling -- at a time when gas prices
are rising and becoming a more frequent topic on the campaign trail.
"Look, when it -- when it comes to the
economy, my highest priority will be worrying about your job, not
worrying about how to save my own," he said in a crack at the president.
The former Massachusetts governor will take
all 29 of Arizona's delegates. With 100 percent of precincts reporting
in the state, Romney was leading Santorum 47-27 percent. Gingrich came
in third, while Paul placed last in the state.
Unlike in Arizona, though, Romney will end up sharing Michigan's 30 delegates with Santorum in the relatively close race.
Romney received 41 percent of the vote in
Michigan, followed by Santorum with 38 percent. Paul placed third in the
state, followed by Gingrich.
The Michigan election was not originally
expected to be as close as it was. For weeks, Romney seemed poised to
walk away with well-timed victories in the two contests Tuesday night.
Romney, while popular in Arizona, has deep
roots in Michigan which were expected to play to his advantage. He was
born there, his father was governor there and he won the state in the
2008 GOP presidential primary.
But Santorum's surge, and a decision by the
former Pennsylvania senator to compete hard in the state, put Michigan
in pure toss-up territory heading into primary day. Santorum's campaign
demanded attention as he went from being sidelined at debates earlier in
the year to winning the Iowa caucuses by a hair in a late call, and
then picking up wins in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado all in one
night.
Exit polls showed Romney and Santorum were each leading among distinct categories of voters.
Romney did well in Michigan among those who
value electability and experience the most; Santorum fared best among
those who most value strong moral character and true conservative
values.
Fortunately for Romney, those who think
ability to beat Obama is the most important quality made up 33 percent
of those polled -- those who wanted someone who is a true conservative
made up just 15 percent.
Santorum, though, dominated among
evangelical voters, picking up 50 percent of their support. Romney
picked up 35 percent. In Michigan, evangelicals made up nearly four in
10 voters on Tuesday.
The closeness of the race helped fuel a
tense contest between the two candidates, with each accusing the other
of being a false conservative.
Romney also slammed the Santorum campaign Tuesday for putting out a robo-call in Michigan urging Democrats to vote in the GOP race for Santorum. Romney called it a "new low" for his opponent.
But Santorum defended the robo-call, and at his post-election rally put a positive spin on the night's results.
"A month ago they didn't know who we are, but they do now," Santorum said.
Santorum claimed voters are still getting to
know him, but said they'll ultimately want someone like him to "take
on" Obama as he blamed the current regulatory environment for hard times
in America.
"It's getting harder for people to make ends
meet, because we have a government that is crushing us every single day
with more taxes, more regulations, and the idea that they know better
than you how to run your life," Santorum said. "That ultimately is what
this race is about. It goes down to the very nature of who we are as
Americans."
Gingrich and Paul barely competed in either contest being held Tuesday, and focused instead on the Super Tuesday primaries.
At a rally in Georgia on Tuesday evening,
Gingrich said voters need somebody who has "really large ideas for a
really large country."
In a separate interview on Fox News,
Gingrich offered a rough sketch of his comeback strategy. He said he
plans to win Georgia, while doing "very well" in a handful of other
Super Tuesday states, victories he projected would give him momentum to
win subsequent southern contests in Mississippi and Alabama.
Paul, meanwhile, pumped up a crowd of
enthusiastic supporters Tuesday evening in Virginia, where he and Romney
are the only GOP candidates on the ballot. He stuck to his
bread-and-butter message, railing against Washington on the issues of
overseas military interventions, over-spending and over-regulation.
Paul, in an interview on Fox News, argued
that he can attract independents and Democrats in a general election in a
way the other Republican candidates cannot.
"Somebody like Santorum doesn't do that as well," Paul said.
Nationally, Romney entered and exited the night with the delegate lead.
Before Tuesday's contests, The Associated
Press count showed Romney with 123 total delegates. Santorum followed
with 72. Gingrich had 32 and Paul had 19.
The eventual nominee will need to win 1,144 delegates. There are 40 delegates up for grabs in Washington's caucuses on Saturday.
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