Just when it looked as if his campaign was faltering, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney scored two important weekend victories, finishing first in a straw poll of the nation’s leading conservatives and then scoring a surprise win in the Maine Republican caucuses.
Reeling from a triple loss last week to former senator Rick Santorum in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado, the presumed frontrunner was looking for some positive political news to get him over the hump until the next big showdowns in Michigan and Arizona later this month.The good news came first in the form of a solid showing among conservative Republicans who have been critical of the former governor and have been hoping a more conservative candidate would come a long to lead the party against President Obama this fall. After delivering a strong appeal to the thousands who gathered in Washington for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday, the participants responded by handing Romney 38 percent of their support, compared to 31 percent for Santorum, 15 percent for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and only 12 percent for Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.
Paul, a libertarian with a big following among young people and anti-government conservatives, had invested considerable time and money in hopes of scoring his first victory of the campaign season in Maine. The caucus was conducted over the span of a week, and some speculated that Romney would suffer his fourth straight defeat there, fueling concern that his well-oiled and well-financed campaign was fast losing altitude.
But Romney took the Maine caucuses with 39 percent of the vote, finishing just ahead of Paul, who garnered 36 percent. Santorum, who has been flying high and raising a lot of money since his triple victories, and who received a hero’s welcome at the conservative conference on Friday, finished a distant third, with 18 percent of the vote, followed by Gingrich with only 6 percent.
Santorum and Gingrich didn't compete in Maine, but Romney made a trip to the state on Friday evening to participate in a town hall. His campaign made a small ad buy in the state as well, during the time in which Republicans gathered for caucuses.
Gingrich has been on a steady downward slide since his big victory last month in South Carolina, while Santorum has been surging and rallying support among social and religious conservatives and Tea Party adherents throughout the Midwest. Gingrich had a much trumpeted plan to gradually claw his way back with solid performances in the South, including his home state of Georgia, and Texas; Santorum, meawhile, spent a couple of days in Texas last week and was met with enthusiastic crowds and campaign contributions.
The last candidate to speak to the CPAC gathering on Friday, Gingrich was introduced by his wife, Callista, who indicated she would be taking on a bigger role in the campaign by trying to put a more human face on Gingrich, who has been sharply criticized by many of his former congressional colleagues for being an abrasive and difficult personality.. During his speech, the former House speaker once again argued that he was the rightful heir to the Reagan conservative legacy, and boasted of his efforts during the 1990s to balance the budget, generate new jobs and reform welfare. He vowed to reform the tax code and balance the budget, in part by abolishing the Department of Energy.
Santorum, though, generated the most buzz at the CPAC gathering, repeatedly thrilling the crowd with red-meat declarations ranging from “Obamacare” and contraception to global warming and drilling. Santorum stressed his ideological purity and repeatedly blasted Romney for being a moderate pragmatist who would abandon core conservative and religious values “for a hollow victory in November.”
But Romney delivered a strong performance as well a couple hours later, arguing that he has adhered to conservative principles throughout his career as a politician and business executive, and that he was as much of a family man and religious as any of the other candidates.
In Massachusetts, he said, he had the “unique experience of defending conservative principles in the most liberal state in our union.” He boasted that he was the true Washington outsider, and portrayed Santorum as a “creature of Washington,” who has spent much of his career as a big-spending member of Congress and advocate for special interest groups.
Robert Berkowitz, a conservative Republican from Denville, N.J., who supports Romney, said on Friday that “Santorum is a solid conservative and I like him, but he’s not presidential timber.”
He said the Republican presidential nominee has “got to have gravitas” and that Romney is the one who fits that bill best.
