As GOP Slog Heads South, Nothing Changes in Romney vs. Santorum

COMMENTARY | Despite winning six of 10 Super Tuesday GOP contests, Mitt Romney clearly has nothing sewn up. Oh, surely, the math is beginning to look iffy for Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, but if nothing else, Romney has again clearly demonstrated he doesn't much inspire what is called "the Republican base."

Therefore, Romney has focused his guns on Santorum, as per Reuters, attacking him as a Washington insider both before and during his tenure as a U.S. senator, terming the social issues conservative "a go-to guy for D.C. lobbyists while he served in the Senate." A couple examples:

- Certainly-Not-Romney's Super PAC, Restore our Future, has already spent about $3 million in Alabama and Mississippi (where primaries will occur next Tuesday) on anti-Santorum ads.

- Certainly-Not-Santorum's Super PAC, the Red, White and Blue Fund, has become, by contrast, a band of guerillas, expending a mere $500,000 in ad ammo in those two states, apparently firing from behind trees.

Thursday, again according to Reuters, Romney picked up the endorsement of Mississippi's governor, and delivered himself of the fairly louche remark, "I'm learning to say y'all, I like grits." No one called this an outright lie, and at least he didn't say his wife had two helpings at breakfast that day. For Santorum's part, he called for increases in defense and space spending at a state-run space museum in Huntsville, according to CBS on-line. This obviously fell short of Newt Gingrich's call for a 51^st state on the moon, but with two of the three "real" candidates for the Republican nomination pushing space spending, Romney speech writers are likely puzzling over what Mitt should say about NASA. This is not a beloved program of "the Republican base."

In other words, we've reached a point that's the same as the last point -- for the moment. The richest candidate is still woodenly pretending he has a bunch of flannel shirts in his closet, and the self-proclaimed true blue conservative decides that federal dollars for space exploration are necessary.

However, Gingrich knows -- note, here's a change potential in this continuing yawnfest -- he must win in Alabama and Mississippi to continue. A Newt spokesman unnamed by CBS said so.

Or maybe that means nothing -- more or less like Super Tuesday. MSNBC.com, however, has declared the disappearance of Gingrich to be Santorum's goal for the next four days.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gop-slog-heads-south-nothing-changes-romney-vs-001200482.html

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