April leap or May slog, Romney on pace to GOP nod

GOP campaign » At this point, only a total collapse will deny the former Salt Lake Olympics leader the nomination.

< Previous Page

MARYLAND and D.C. FAVOR ROMNEY

Maryland and Washington, D.C., are a lock for Romney, despite his calling himself a Beltway outsider.

Romney has campaigned in Maryland. Santorum hasn’t.

Then there’s Restore Our Future again, spending nearly $900,000 on television ads for him there.

And Santorum failed to file to appear on the District of Columbia ballot.

Romney could really start to pull away Tuesday. Most of the delegates at stake in all three states are winner-take-all, not the proportional contests that dominated the first three months of voting.

———

APRIL LULL

Voting takes a three-week break after Tuesday. Romney will be raising money but also working behind the scenes to bring nervous conservatives into his tent.

This week he trumpeted praise from tea party icon Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and endorsements from Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, American Conservative Union President Al Cardenas and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

Santorum sought to stoke doubts about Romney as a conservative by appearing outside the Supreme Court as it heard arguments about Obama’s health care law.

"This is the most important issue in this election," Santorum said, referring to the 2010 law, which Romney’s critics compare to one he signed in Massachusetts. "There’s one candidate who’s uniquely disqualified to make the case."

That would be Romney, of course.

———

BIG EAST TOURNEY

The rest of April doesn’t look much better for Santorum than Tuesday’s contests.

On April 24, Connecticut and Rhode Island should be scarcely different than the string of four New England states the former New England governor has already bagged.

The same for New York, where polls have shown Romney dominating, and for Delaware, where Restore Our Future is the only group advertising.

Restore Our Future is advertising in all five April 24 primary states, including Pennsylvania.

Romney shows no signs of ceding Santorum’s home state. Polls show Santorum leading, but Romney has amassed support from key GOP leaders and fundraisers.

Santorum’s Senate tenure and grass-roots following give him an edge, Pennsylvania GOP strategist Leslie Gromis Baker said. But Romney is poised to outperform expectations.

Next Page >

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

About Reader Comments

---

Reader comments on sltrib.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Salt Lake Tribune. We will delete comments containing obscenities, personal attacks and inappropriate or offensive remarks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. If you see an objectionable comment, please alert us by clicking the arrow on the upper right side of the comment and selecting "Flag comment as inappropriate". If you've recently registered with Disqus or aren't seeing your comments immediately, you may need to verify your email address. To do so, visit disqus.com/account.
See more about comments here.