PHOENIX — Despite his many failed attempts to close the deal with wary Republican voters, Mitt Romney has proven adept in one capacity that’s helped keep him at the front of the Republican presidential pack: A knack for knocking down rivals nearly as fast as they rise.
Whether it was through an onslaught of negative campaigning — in halting the ascension of Newt Gingrich both before the Iowa caucuses and after the South Carolina primary — or simply waiting out implosions by the likes of the now vanquished Rick Perry, Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann, Romney remains the lone constant in an otherwise topsy-turvy race.
And now, team Romney sees a lucky break in swatting away the latest would-be alternative to his candidacy, banking that former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum has exposed himself as a Washington insider incapable of delivering the jolt so many Republicans believe the political system needs.
