Another twist in GOP race
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The Santorum campaign woke up Wednesday surveying a broader political map than the one it saw before Tuesday's trio of upsets that sent the latest tremor through the predictably unpredictable Republican presidential nomination battle.
Rick Santorum's victories in Missouri, Colorado and Minnesota brought media attention and money that expand the possibilities for the long-shot campaign as it considers where to concentrate resources in the multistate competition to come. The victories for the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania helped make the case that he is the conservative alternative to front-runner Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor.
"Romney can play everywhere; he can write big checks. We have to be more strategic," said John Brabender, a senior adviser to Mr. Santorum. "We're certainly very interested in states like Ohio and Michigan."
Ohio is one of the 10 states voting March 6 -- this year's Super Tuesday. Michigan, along with Arizona, votes Feb. 28 in the next contests on the GOP calendar. They are elements in the political triage the campaign is going through as it considers which of the upcoming contests offers demographics and media market spending opportunities most likely to be hospitable to Mr. Santorum.
Michigan may seem a puzzling choice for Mr. Santorum. Mr. Romney grew up there and his father, the late George Romney, was a popular governor. But Mr. Santorum believes his economic populism and emphasis on the need to restore the nation's manufacturing base will find a receptive audience in a state whose economy was already reeling before the downturn of 2008.
"Rick's background is in manufacturing," said J. Hogan Gidley, a senior Santorum adviser. "He's not just going after social conservatives. He's going after the Reagan Democrats, and Michigan is a perfect example of that. That's an important segment of the population that's been left behind by politicians of both parties."
Mr. Santorum is an orthodox conservative on most issues, but he has strayed from free-market principles, and sometimes toward labor positions, such as on trade. He supported the Bush administration's quotas on steel imports and he opposed NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement.
During the campaign, Mr. Santorum has highlighted a proposal for special tax breaks for manufacturing companies. Mr. Romney stirred controversy with his opposition to the auto industry bailouts begun under President George W. Bush and expanded by President Barack Obama, but that is a position largely shared by Mr. Santorum.
Given their spots on the GOP calendar, neither Michigan nor Arizona have received focused attention from the candidates so far, but that will change fast. The next of the frequently consequential debates comes Feb. 22 in Mesa, Ariz., in a state where early voting has been under way since last week.
"Most of my friends have already voted and they are all over the place," said Diana Arendt, the chair of Coconino County, in northern Arizona.
Rob Haney, the Republican chairman of Maricopa County, by far the largest county in the state, said the Romney campaign had been the most visible.
"The Mormon community here is very active politically; he's getting a lot of support in that regard," Mr. Haney said. "You also have tea party-type activists who have been pushing for [former House Speaker Newt] Gingrich and Santorum."
"It's pretty clear that immigration and the border is a strong issue here and Gingrich probably hurt himself and Romney certainly helped himself on that," said the party official, who is neutral in the contest.
Michigan has swung between the parties in the past decade, but 2010 was a good year for Republicans there, as well as across the country, as they captured the governor's office and strengthened their majorities in both chambers of the Legislature.
"On the ground in Michigan, they really haven't been concentrating so far, but that can change fast," said, Marlene Elwell, a veteran GOP activist and founder of Catholics in the Public Square.
She said evangelicals and pro-life activists in the state are divided on the presidential race, while one of the state's most visible pro-life groups, Michigan Right to Life, does not plan to endorse in the primary.
"The conservatives are split, with some for Gingrich and some for Santorum." Ms. Elwell said. "It's unpredictable; I've never seen anything quite like it."
Before they face more voters, the remaining GOP contenders will go before a more rarefied constituency Friday as they take turns addressing a Washington, D.C., meeting of CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, a gathering of much of the party's conservative intellectual and ideological elite.
Mr. Romney's task before the group, as in the primaries in general, is to ensure the activists of the authenticity of his conservative positions. Mr. Santorum and Mr. Gingrich, on the other hand, will continue their argument over which of them is the better bet for conservatives to rally around.
The Romney campaign's answer, of course, is neither. Mr. Santorum's new prominence has opened the Romney camp's opposition research file on Mr. Santorum. Today, in conjunction with a Santorum visit to Oklahoma, the Romney camp will host a conference call in a continuing attempt to brand Mr. Santorum as a Washington insider and champion of earmarks.
First Published February 9, 2012 12:00 am
