Two More Defeats for Romney, Even the South Votes Santorum

While Gingrich was expected to do well in the two “Deep South” primaries this Tuesday, it was Rick Santorum who emerged as the winner in Alabama and Mississippi. This, of course, is not at all good for the “favorite” of the Republican contest for the White House, Mitt Romney. In addition to treating him as “Mr. Flip-Flop” and “the inventor of Obamacare,” we can also say now that the “Massachusetts moderate” does not “speak” in the south, a Republican Party stronghold. According to the partial results revealed just before midnight east coast time, Mitt Romney has not even claimed third place in Mississippi and Alabama, trailing behind Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. In Washington at midday, even a staunch Republican agreed with us that that his conservative friends are a bit “barmy” this year and seem to be taking great pleasure in their self-destruction.

While the former Senator from Pennsylvania was not really on unsafe territory going into the Tuesday primary, his wins in the two states will still give a breath of fresh air to the Santorum phenomenon. Santorum’s win also prolongs the suspense of the primary race. In a delegate count (it will take 1,144 delegates to win the Republican Party nomination during the August convention held in Tampa), Santorum (who has 230 delegates at last count, after his Tuesday victories) is far behind Romney (over 450 delegates at last count) and will have trouble catching up because the majority of states designate their delegates on a proportional basis. “Mathematically, it will soon be almost impossible”* for Santorum to obtain a majority of delegates, reassured one of Mitt Romney’s advisors Tuesday evening.

The other major question of the day is to whether Newt Gingrich, who has wanted to be the champion of the South after his victories in South Carolina and Georgia, will continue to play the spoilsport. Continuing his campaign now clearly supports Mitt Romney in the race by dividing the “conservative” vote.

*Although accurately translated, this statement could not be independently verified in English.