Santorum Gains Momentum, But Not Enough Math
Mitt Romney's campaign slogan may well become "It's the math, stupid."
Despite set-backs Tuesday, he continues to get closer to the required 1,144 delegates to capture the Republican nomination.
Even though he came in third in both Alabama and Mississippi Tuesday, he still won Hawaii and American Samoa, and added to his delegate count.
According to CBS News, Romney has 468 delegates, Rick Santorum has 217, Newt Gingrich 117, and Ron Paul just 41.
As you can see, Romney has more delegates than the other three combined.
Despite Santorum's good night, analysts say it will be nearly impossible for Santorum or Gingrich to surpass him and win the nomination.
Santorum and other conservatives say they could get close enough to keep Romney from getting the required number of delegates, if Gingrich would drop out of the race.
Gingrich has vowed to stay in the race to keep Romney from winning the nomination, and fighting it out on the convention floor at the party's convention in Tampa this August.
Gingrich will likely face increasing pressure to bow out - but will he?
For now, the race continues with Missouri's and Puerto Rico's caucuses this weekend, (Santorum won the previous non-binding primary), and primaries in Illinois and Louisiana next week.
Romney leads in the polls in Illinois, but not by much.
A Chicago Tribune poll shows Romney has 35, Santorum 31, Gingrich 12, and Paul 7.
In Louisiana, Santorum leads Romney 25-21, and Gingrich has 20.
As in Illinois, Romney has an advantage in most states: he wins in the big cities and in the surrounding suburbs.
Voters are more moderate there.
People in more rural areas have preferred Santorum.
Yet while conservatives and many Republicans appear to be more excited about Santorum, more may now be accepting Romney as the candiate who will win the nomination and be the strongest candidate to take-on President Barack Obama this fall.
Some analysts say Romney must do a better job connecting with voters.
He and his campaign would like nothing more than to wrap-up the nomination as early as possible.
But it looks like they won't be able to do that until after the Texas primary May 29th.
That should make the Lone Star State a competitive battleground.
While Romney leads Santorum by two points in Texas in a poll by Rasmussen, that could very well change by the next poll.
While Romney hasn't had a good enough February or March, April appears to be much more promising. He will likely win Washington DC and Maryland on April 3rd, and Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island, and the biggest prize, New York on April 24th.
Santorum has the edge in Pennsylvania, his home state.
The big battle next month is shaping up to be in Wisconsin on April 3rd. Stay tuned.
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