Republicans, Divided

The battle among the Republicans is continuing longer than anticipated, to Barack Obama’s advantage. No winner emerged from the Super Tuesday primary elections which were held in 10 states, though each day seems to bring Mitt Romney closer to success within the Grand Old Party. Still, much patience is needed to continue to fight, to endure and to hope.

Romney now has 354 delegates and an eye on the Republican National Convention, where it will be decided which candidate will oppose Obama. He needs 1,144 delegates. The race will be a long one; it will also be, like this past Tuesday, a choice between the candidate who holds the greatest chance of winning in November and the one who best represents true conservatism. And in this latest test, a few delegates notwithstanding (147), it was Rick Santorum who bested Romney despite the latter’s swerve to the right in recent weeks. In Ohio’s crucial primary, Romney beat his rival by only one point. Nevertheless, Santorum is facing a dual problem: He must vie with his main adversary and at the same time prevent Newt Gingrich (victorious in Georgia, the state he represented in Congress for 20 years) from pilfering support from the most conservative voters.

With this division, the debate between the Republicans is leaning more and more toward a deeper conservatism, with topics like abortion, opposition to public health care, the role of religion in the public sphere and foreign relations, especially those with Iran. The tea party movement has cast its extremist and anti-big-government shadow over the candidates, influencing the radicalization of the Republican debate. Obama must be rubbing his hands in anticipation, as the political center — which is where presidential elections are won in the U.S. — is clearing out every day, making it easier for him to conquer and renew his mandate. The longer that doubt is cast on who his Republican rival will be, the more ground he will gain.

For now, the differences are growing between Obama and his potential rivals (be it Romney or Santorum) with the improvement of the economic and employment indicators in the U.S. Despite the ideological bent of the Republican debate, what primarily occupies voting Americans, not in the Republican primaries but in November’s presidential elections, is the economic situation. And this will no doubt be what will tip the scales in the coming elections.