THE GOP RACE ENTERS APRIL
By: Hope Wilkos, Writer/Blogger Photographer: George Whylie Videographer: Maxine NolanAs primaries are held and then the votes are tallied, it is more and more apparent that Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee to run against President Barack Obama in November.
Although Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich acknowledge that Romney has gained a sizable lead, they are not yet ready to end the race. However, when Romney reaches that required threshold, they will concede and pull out.
At this point, Romney has acquired 571 delegates, Santorum has acquired 264, Gingrich has acquired 137 and Paul has acquired 71. Santorum would need 880 delegates and Gingrich would need 1,007 delegates to have a fighting chance.
Next up on the campaign trail are Maryland, Wisconsin and Washington D.C. on Tuesday. Romney is expected to win each of these. There are a good number of upcoming states where the bid is still out there for the taking. Those are West Virginia, Arkansas, Texas, Indiana, North Carolina, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Santorum is confident of a win in his home state of Pennsylvania.
Romney has been campaigning diligently. He has received additional endorsements from Florida Senator Marco Rubio, former President George H.W. Bush and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, Chairman of the House Budget Committee. Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin also announced his support earlier today.
Vice President Joe Biden took aim at Romney this past week, citing that he is “a little out of touch” specifically on issues of health care, the economy which happens to be the largest concern for voters heading to the polls and the auto bailout. Obama’s team also points out that Romney is inexperienced in foreign policy matters.
It is interesting to note that Mitt Romney has won in every contest where evangelical voters have accounted for less than 50% of the electorate and he has lost in contests where the numbers were higher than 50%.
Perhaps after this week, the Republican candidates should come together and stand behind their front runner as a measure of solidarity for the party.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF Getty Images and Reuters
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