An Administrative Defeat

Rick Santorum’s defeat in the Michigan primary would have been a tie according to the delegate-allocation rules of the state’s congressional electoral districts. Instead, his defeat ended up materializing in an office when — at the last minute — the Michigan Republican Party decided on an alteration that awarded more delegates to Mitt Romney, the winner. Naturally, the former Pennsylvania senator’s campaign is complaining that they cannot change the rules and alter the results after the elections have already taken place. Santorum claims (and let’s say it is) a moral tie.

The reality is that the Santorum campaign needs to act quickly if it does not want to watch the advantage it had just one week ago fade away. With less money and less organization than his main adversary, Santorum had a trump card to play against the favorite, Romney: a message. For some time, the ex-senator’s campaign was saying exactly what the conservative base wanted to hear. That is, until he deviated from the script with his extreme positions on religion, contraception and the importance of higher education, which cost him the support of women and the undecided. After that, he was “bathed” in the reality of Romney, who was ruthless about taking advantage of his rival’s ravings and who managed to redirect attention back to economic questions.

If it is true that the former Massachusetts governor has not yet impressed America’s public opinion, he has already written a new chapter in the narrative of the nomination race with his victories this week, soaring — once again — to the top of the national polls. Ten states will vote next week in an anxious Super Tuesday that may well be the coup de grace for Newt Gingrich’s campaign (or not), and which could confirm (or disprove) Rick Santorum’s fatuous fire while bringing Romney closer (more or less doubtfully) to the nomination. Because if there is one thing that stands out about his campaign so far, it is his ability to stave off the competition.