The competition among GOP presidential contenders that has split Tea Party support may end up helping the candidate who, so far, has demonstrated little ability to appeal to conservative voters: Mitt Romney.
The former governor of Massachusetts had been the presumptive front-runner in the race from the start, after mounting a bid in 2008 that swiftly fizzled.
But he lost some traction after Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Tea Party favorite, entered the race earlier this month. Romney was also out of the limelight while Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota — founder of the House Tea Party Caucus — was winning the Iowa straw poll.
Perry now leads Romney by 14 percentage points among Republican voters, according to the latest CNN/ORC International poll. Much of Perry’s support comes from the Tea Party, the poll shows, with the Texan winning 42 percent of votes from Republicans who identify with the movement, and Bachmann getting 17 percent. Romney was preferred by just 11 percent of Tea Party voters.
Romney has managed to stay within hailing distance of Perry because the Tea Party support is fractured among several candidates, with others waiting to give their allegiance to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin if she enters the race.
The inability of any candidate to seize the Tea Party vote may open the door for Romney to put together a winning coalition, some analysts say.
Romney is scheduled to make his first ever appearance at a major Tea Party event on Monday in New Hampshire, where he will join the Tea Party Express bus tour.
His remarks will provide a preview of how he plans to ignite his appeal among some of the country’s most conservative voters, without sacrificing his campaign pitch — that he is the only candidate who can appeal to a general electorate.
“[Romney] has a good story, he just hasn’t told it very well to the Tea Party people,” said Harold Hervey, chairman of Conservative Party USA. If he wants to win them over, “He has to do a better job of explaining to the Tea Party why he passed health care reform in Massachusetts,” Hervey added.
GOP strategist Cheri Jacobus said Romney could make gains among conservatives without having to change his campaign strategy.
“The fact that this will be his first Tea Party event is an indication that he is confident that he can peel off a lot of the Tea Party folks to his side,” she said.
Jacobus said she doesn’t expect Romney to change his campaign stump speech in the company of the Tea Party Express.
Even when talking to the Tea Party, Romney won’t stray from his win-the-general-election pitch, she said.
“His greatest strength … is that he’s not a purist,” she said. “Though some will also perceive it as his weakness … Tea Party voters, like everyone else, will see that’s how he was elected as a Republican governor in a state like Massachusetts.”
