Romney Pressed to Check Santorum's Momentum in Must-Win Michigan
23.02.12
(For more 2012 campaign news, see ELECT.)
Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- For Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, Michigan may be their political Gettysburg. If Romney loses in his native state, where his father was governor, it would be a defeat from which he might not recover.
The makeup of the Republican electorate, which is likely to be one-third Catholic and opposed to abortion, will help Santorum offset the allegiance Romney draws from supporters who delivered his 2008 presidential primary win over John McCain.
Anything short of a win in the Feb. 28 primary would be an embarrassment for Romney’s presidential ambitions.
“It would be a huge disappointment to Romney if he doesn’t win this state by a substantial margin,” said Bill Ballenger, editor of the Inside Michigan Politics newsletter. “If he blows this, he’s really in trouble.”
This may be Santorum’s best chance to derail the candidate who Republicans perceived as having a better shot to win the nomination and challenge President Barack Obama in November because of an advantage in money and organization.
Source: BusinessWeek