Romney Gets Narrow Win Over Santorum In Michigan
NOVI (WWJ/AP) - After winning a close race against Rick Santorum, a victorious Mitt Romney took the stage in Novi to thank his supporters.
WWJ's Marie Osborne reports that after Romney acknowledged the slim margin of victory: "We didn't win in Michigan by a lot but it was enough," he immediately started swinging at President Obama.
"He thinks he's unchecked by the constitution, he's unresponsive to the will of our people and in a second term he would be unrestrained the demands of re-election," said Romney. "If there is one thing we can't afford, it's four years of Barak Obama with nothing to answer to, so we're going to get him out of that office and get him back home where he belongs."
"I was confident that we could come together today and take a giant step toward a brighter future and we celebrate with people across these states," said Romney.
Romney says he has a message of hope for America and will be taking it to every corner of the country.
But Romney's victory in Michigan's primary won't get him many more delegates than Santorum, if any. It's even possible Santorum could win most of the state's delegates.
With 22 of the state's 30 delegates decided, Romney and Santorum each have 11. Michigan awards most of its delegates based on results in each of its 14 congressional districts - handing out two for winning each district. Incomplete results in the four remaining congressional districts show Romney and Santorum splitting the final delegates. But that outcome could change as more votes are tallied.
So then what does Romney's narrow Michigan win for his chances to get the Republican Presidential nomination?
WWJ spoke with longtime Michigan Democratic Congressman John Dingell says Romney survived, but he can't relax yet.
"It tells me that he has to work because he's had a close call. It also tells me that he's got a great deal of work to do with supporters of the Tea Party and evangelical Christians and others," Dingell said.
"He's going to have trouble, including with the manufacturing segment of our economy, because he said let Detroit, let American manufacturing, let the American automobile industry go bankrupt. Remember, that's one job in seven in the United States," he said.
Dingell believes that if it is a Mitt Romney/Obama matchup in November, Obama will win re-election.
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