Rick Santorum’s stunning triple victory Tuesday in Missouri, Colorado and Minnesota is fast reviving Mitt Romney’s successfully harsh anti-Gingrich effort in Florida as the GOP primary campaign turns to the next big contests February 28 in Arizona and Michigan.
Where in the three contests Romney didn’t spend heavily on advertising or dispatch his legion of surrogates to attack Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul like he did in Florida, Romney’s team will turn up the heat in Arizona and Michigan.
While Gingrich was the focus in Florida, this time the target will be Santorum, the conservative former Pennsylvania senator who has now won one more contest than Romney, though he is far behind in the delegate count. “The themes will be that he is a long-time creature of Washington who’s big on earmarks,” said a Romney advisor.
GOP officials say that Arizona is expected to be ground zero in the Santorum-Romney fight, in part because it is a conservative state and also because Romney is considered a favorite son in Michigan where his dad was once governor. Said the Romney insider: “Arizona will set the theme for super Tuesday,” March 6, when 11 states will hold primaries or caucuses.
Leading the Romney cause will be longtime Arizona Sen. John McCain, who was a relentless surrogate in Florida and who has blasted Santorum as an earmark hog. “He’s a tireless campaigner and we won’t be able to keep him away,” said the advisor. Plus, it’s not a secret that McCain and Santorum don’t like each other.
McCain’s involvement could set up a clash with his 2008 vice presidential running mate, Sarah Palin, who has a home in Arizona and who urged voters in South Carolina to vote for Newt in order to keep the contest going. “I could easily see her saying something like, ‘I’d vote for Rick to continue the process,” said a Palin associate.
One other factor: the Romney campaign has a well-greased early voting operation already underway in Arizona.
Santorum should be in the fight, however, buoyed by support and donations expected pour in after Tuesday’s wins. “Tuesday ensures that Rick is going all the way to Tampa,” the site of the Republican presidential convention, said a conservative political operative.
