Mitt Romney fended off Rick Santorum's popularity surge on Tuesday night with projected wins in both Arizona and Michigan. While the former Massachusetts governor was born and raised in Michigan, recent polls suggested his path to victory was far from a sealed deal — a potentially embarrassing blow for any front-runner.
"Just a week ago, the pundits and pollsters were going to count us out," Romney told a crowd of supporters. "We didn't win by a lot, but we won by enough, and that's all that counts."
He said his experience as a governor and as a business leader make him the right candidate to "restore America's promise." Leading up to the primary, pollsters showed him in a dead heat with Santorum in Michigan.
In a rare move, he also asked for donations to his website.
Our very own Lawrence O'Donnell pointed out, "every one of these election nights has been a referendum on Romney." The guy really can't win, in the eyes of voters and his party, until he secures nomination and then beats President Obama in November.
He faces an uphill battle. Voter confidence in Obama is now at a one-year high.
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"We didn't win by a lot, but we won by enough, and that's all that counts."
The words of one who, I would hope anyway, realizes the damage done having to fight to the extent that he did in what should've been, by all rights anyway, a fairly easy win in his home state.
Sorry, Mitt, but winning by "enough" is not all that counts.
Now, of course, the delegates won by Romney as well as avoiding what could have been a potentially damning loss are all positives, no question about it. However, the unsettling truth remains in that the GOP candidate is really only back to the position he was before Santorum's three state sweep; neither noticeably stronger nor weaker, though his current money issues are of worthy note, as his request for donations during his speech tonight gave light to.
I don't believe it an exaggeration in the slightest to say that while Romney has staved off a potential disaster for the moment, his performance on Super Tuesday - a battle in which Gingrich's newly refinanced campaign will certainly try and rebound - will likely be of even greater consequence, one way or the other.
Wow, this is the Amazing race ain't it!!!?
What could have been a win for Santorum (if had kept his mouth shut), not only turns out to be a significant win for Romney, but in my opinion could be the beginning of the end for Santorum. His inane rantings this past week I think cost him Michigan, and in the long term may have cost him wins elsewhere. The rejection of Santorum has just begun.
As much as I would hope this would signal a turn of support for Ron Paul, the reality of this, is that Romney can only gain from this. This could signal the end of the 'Anyone but Romney' campaign. The GOP majority just does not have the stomach for a Santorum or Gingrich candidacy. This is not to say they will continue to pick up candidates, but there is no way either Gingrich or Santorum will arrive at the convention with enough delegates to win election.
We could still be in for a brokered convention - and then its anyone's game!
It is amazing how Santorum, quite literally, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
This is a guy who, in the words of Tom Brokaw, is just the kind of guy that he is. He has this kind of angry, intolerable, even condescending attitude that just continues to push people away from him.
If he had stuck with his blue-collar, hardworking American image that he had just a few weeks back, I believe he could've swept Michigan without much difficulty. But then you hear him calling the President a "snob" for wanting to send kids to college, insulting the memory of JFK, taking on the issues of contraception and abortion, and then perhaps the clincher of them all..
...Breaking down the divide between church and state, and you sit back in your chair and wonder...
...My God, is this guy really serious?
And he is. He very passionately believes everything he says, and that's his fatal flaw. When all's said and done, Santorum can't form a coherent, disciplined message to bring to the people, but rather indulging in all this nonsense that only continues to hurt him.
Romney can't win by enough in Nov though, and that's what counts. He will lose Mich. and Mass. to the President, and probably Ohio as well. I do feel that if the voters had all the information they need to make their decisions that Romney would not be leading in any of the states so far. The MSM has not done their jobs in discussing the fact that he was a Mormon Minister for ten years, he does not have twenty five years in business. They have not asked him serious questions, such as how can you support a constituional amendment for marriage when your grandfather had four wives? Voting for a Minister is like voting for a Priest, Rabbi etc. I really don't care what religeon a person is, or if he/she believes at all. What I do care about is voters not being informed about a person's faith, if it will involve decision making for America. This man has flip flopped so much, we can't trust what he says, so how do we know he will not practice as a Mormon Minister when President? Why isn't the MSM doing journalistic research on his background in the Mormon church?
I understand where you're coming from, but Romney would be quick to take any investigation into his Mormon background as an attack on his religion - and even if he didn't, that's how a lot of his supporters and media disgraces like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reily would try to frame it; making Romney into a martyr.
The focus needs to stay on the economy and jobs, and that's inevitably where it's going to go come election time.
I don't want to be too critical, Edna, but it's important to make sure the information is accurate. Please do your own research. It was Mitt's great-grandfather, Miles Park Romney, who had four wives--and took a fifth after he left to help found a colony in Mexico after the Federal government crackdown on polygamy that preceded Utah achieving statehood. Mitt's father was born in Mexico of American citizens who'd been born in Utah Territory.
Romney was also an "unpaid leader" in the LDS church, serving as a bishop and stake president. Where LDS dissembling comes in though is their claim they have "no paid clergy." In truth, the LDS seminary program (95% of secondary schools here in Utah have LDS seminaries adjacent to their campuses) does have paid teachers who drill students on church doctrine. The "revisionist" history is particularly incredible and one-sided. Church leaders, known as apostles, are also paid, and "General Authorities" receive compensation for their expenses. Given their estimated income of 4-5 billion per year, that doesn't represent a drain on church coffers.
What needs to be emphasized is Romney's "business career" was of the "chop shop" variety. Troubled businesses were acquired at fire sale prices, operations were downsized or "spun off," and many lost their jobs in the process.
Just the thing this country needs for its businesses today? Right? No wonder Obama can't get any traction on Wall Street...
Too, many of Bain Capital's acquisitions realized profitable concessions from state and local governments as well. When the companies went under, governments were essentially left holding the bag.
I agree with you Romney won't win in November, particularly if we truthsayers speak clearly and to the point.
Hey Lawrence...Romney heard that really loud BOOM! sound around the state on his way out of Michigan? That was the voters slamming’ the door nearly hittin’em where the ‘God Lord’ split'em! Congratulations on barely squeezing through that door on his way to a win.But, unless he is completely tone deaf he must realize he's got nothing coming from the majority voters in Michigan.
A win is a win unless you win against a weak and wounded candidate like Rick Santorum who apparently came into Michigan on a kamikaze mission, whom Romney left twisting in his own wreckage, yet still alive to go on to possibly win Super Tuesday.It shows just how incompetent he is, and his campaign handlers, and his lack of vision for the country’s future really are to the average voter.
Something tells me he can afford one of the best bottles of champagne money can buy, sent to Santorum for “vomiting” such rank stupidity. He saved Romney a millions by turning off conservative women, their daughters, who attend two of the best universities,U of M & MSU, as he preached against contraceptives and education. And, help get some older Independents vote for Mitt by saying four words-Church, state, Kennedy and vomit. Who knew that vomit could be such a turn off?
Good luck to you, Mitt, on your twisty-turning-bumpy-flippidy/floppidy road to the nomination.But, come November, you can save your billion dollar supporters millions.Because, Michigan is ‘Obama-Auto Bail Out Country’!
Thing is, the Michigan delegates were split fifty-fifty...
//www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/02/29/national/w133722S97.DTL
Despite winning the popular vote in Michigan's primary, Mitt Romney will split his home state's convention delegates with second-place finisher Rick Santorum.
I think it's fair to say that Romney will probably win the nomination. So you got Mitt Romney+SUPER PAC+Donald Trump+Chris Christie bad mouthing Obama. What could possibly go wrong. I predict a landslide in the general election.
A landslide for Obama is probably a extreme, but the Republican circular firing squad you described could tilt the electorate in that direction...
I'll go 53-44 for the President... Many of the evangelicals are going to stay home, and they would not have voted Democratic anyway...
55-52 if Santorum wins the nomination...