By: Russ Friend
After sinking Newt Gingrich’s campaign hopes in a flood of negativity, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is focusing his attention on conservative rival Rick Santorum, who is expected to win Minnesota’s primary in spite of Romney’s victory there four years ago.
In a war of attrition, Santorum appears to be strengthening his conservative base within the GOP.
He said that Romney “should not be our nominee” and portrayed him as being “dead-wrong on the most important issue of the day” in regards to the health care overhaul Romney signed into law while governor of Massachusetts.
Romney, who’s expected to win Colorado after back-to-back victories in Florida and Nevada, said Santorum was “not effective” when he was serving in the Senate because of his “long history of pork-barrel spending.”
For the past two weeks, Santorum has been working Minnesota and the conservative areas of Colorado, while Romney campaigned and won back-to-back victories in Florida and Nevada. Santorum is hoping to capitalize on the conservative shift in Minnesota with a victory while placing a strong second in Colorado.
An invigorated Santorum showed up at an appearance in Rochester, Minn., going after Romney’s health care plan — which he referred to as “Obamneycare” — while making clear that Romney becoming the nominee would be “a devastating thing” for Republicans who want to defeat President Barack Obama in the fall elections.
At the speech, Santorum complained that Romney was turning his attack machine on him.
“Any time someone challenges Gov. Romney, Gov. Romney goes out and instead of talking about what he’s for, he just simply goes out and attacks and tries to destroy,” Santorum said.
Santorum urged his supporters to “go out and talk to folks in the next 24 hours,” telling them it was their “charge” to “[t]alk to them about a candidate who understands what’s at stake in this election.”
Ron Paul and Gingrich are still vying for the nomination, though neither one appears to be gaining traction. Gingrich has watched his poll numbers steadily drop in the face of Romney’s negative assault. The long-term effects of Romney’s campaign tactics might undermine his chances against Obama should he win the Republican nomination.
