Republicans Await Crucial Phase

The Republican primaries are entering what is probably their decisive phase. The first TV debate in a month is tonight. In the coming weeks, there will be plenty of voting. The American station CNN has the honor to organize tonight’s important debate in the state of Arizona.

The station’s favorite candidate is Rick Santorum. He is allowed to stand in the middle. The conservative former senator from the state of Pennsylvania tops the polls and recently won the primaries in three states.

Michigan and Arizona

Santorum is also doing well in states where voters will go to the ballot box soon. In Michigan, he has a small lead on Mitt Romney. That is remarkable because Romney grew up in this state when his father was governor here. The latest polls, however, indicate yet another neck-to-neck race. In Arizona, Romney still has a lead on Santorum, but it has decreased in the past weeks. Both states go to the ballot box on Feb. 28.

Mitt Romney has been seen, ever since the start of the primaries, as the absolute favorite for the Republican nomination. He has the most money, the best organization, is supported by the party conference and has so far gained the most delegates (127). 1144 delegates are needed to earn the nomination.

Yet Santorum, not Romney, is ahead in the polls now. The right wing of the party, especially, seems to have united behind Santorum, while before, it “shared” itself among candidates like Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Santorum.

Strike back

For Romney, the task now is to strike back; that is possible in tonight’s debate. Santorum was so far not very strong in that respect and will now see all arrows aimed at him. Also, it is very possible that the Romney-related super PAC will start a bombardment of commercials against Santorum. In January, this organization already spent $14 million on commercials that mainly point out the shortcomings of other candidates.

After next week’s elections, Super Tuesday will follow on March 6. On this day, the residents of 10 states go to the ballot box at the same time. Often, there is only one candidate left after this night. But not necessarily — the Democratic race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in 2008 went for on much longer.

Many of the candidates for the Republican primaries go up and down like a yo-yo. Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul will hope for that effect; currently, they are not doing well in the polls.