Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, the only notable GOP official to switch his support from Mitt Romney to Rick Santorum, made an interesting observation last night: if the race for the Republican nomination were a two-person contest, Romney would probably be in big trouble.
It’s speculative, of course, but that’s not an unreasonable assessment. Romney won very narrow contests in Ohio yesterday and Michigan last week, and in both cases, it’s likely the results would have been reversed if it were a Romney vs. Santorum affair.
It’s a point that is not lost on the former senator’s campaign.
Rick Santorum’s campaign is calling on conservatives to pressure Newt Gingrich to abandon his bid for the White House, a senior adviser told reporters tonight.
Senior campaign strategist John Brabender said the key for the campaign going forward will be creating an opportunity to challenge Mitt Romney one-on-one, though Brabender maintained the Santorum campaign would not directly call on Gingrich to drop out of the race.
“We’re never going to call on anybody to get out, but what we are calling is on Tea Party supporters and conservatives is to rally behind the only candidate that has demonstrated over and over again that he’s the one who can compete against Mitt Romney,” Brabender said.
Brabender added, “The real key right now is, can we get an opportunity to get a one-on-one shot with Mitt Romney.”









