Atlanta — Mitt Romney still can’t seem to win over the bulk of the conservatives who make up the bedrock of the Republican Party.
Despite primary victories that have established him as the GOP presidential front-runner, his stunning trio of defeats this week laid bare the difficulties that still could undercut his path to the party’s nomination — and hamper him in the general election to follow.
Not that he would acknowledge as much Wednesday.
“I don’t think the conservative base changes its mind day to day,” Romney told reporters, dismissing the notion that he’s got a problem with the party’s core supporters. “The places where I campaigned actively, we got actually in some respects record support from the conservative base.”
Such denials aside, Tuesday’s three-state caucus sweep by Rick Santorum illustrated the degree to which many conservative voters remain skeptical of Romney’s commitment to the GOP base’s principles, especially given what some of them see as his history of shifting priorities. And he hasn’t been able to sell them on his main argument — that he’s the most likely in the primary field to beat Democratic President Barack Obama.
“The more confidence the strong conservatives have in the alternative candidates, the more Romney’s lack of strength in those categories starts to show itself,” said Iowa Rep. Steve King, a conservative who has been publicly neutral in the nomination race.
To rebound, Romney is working to make his chief rivals — all of them running to the right of him — unacceptable in the eyes of conservatives by casting them as big-spending Washington insiders.
“A lot of us feel that the Republican Party lost its way in the past,” Romney said Wednesday. “Republicans spent too much money, borrowed too much money, earmarked too much, and Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich have to be held accountable.”
Romney, who has struggled to win tea party support, also is appealing directly to the movement saying that it formed because Americans were unhappy with incumbents.
“In this race, I’m the only guy that hasn’t spent time in Washington,” Romney said. “And Senator Santorum and Speaker Gingrich, they are the very Republicans who acted like Democrats. And when Republicans act like Democrats, they lose. And in Newt Gingrich’s case he had to resign. In Rick Santorum’s case, he lost by the largest margin of any Senate incumbent since 1980.”
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Getaroom (anonymous) says…
Conservatives have doubts, whatever for? Like there was anyone to feel hopeful about from the get-go.
rtpayton (anonymous) says…
Wasn't Romney the one guy that said he wasn't concerned about the poor. He should be worried about all American's no matter what economic status the person lives in. That statement I think hurt him. Newt and his ties to FreddieMac will hurt him the most. Obama should be attacked by mandating Army chaplains not to read the letter the archbishop wrote. I'm not Catholic but this order appears an attack on our Constitution.
Yeoman2 (anonymous) replies…
How is this an attack on our Constitution? Chapter and verse that are being attacked, please?
I think it says that there shall be no law respecting the practice of religion. Prohibiting workers from benefits available to workers who do not work for religious zealots is unconstitutional. All religion is fantaasy and supposition anyway, why should this impact people who are doing an honest job for wages and benefits?