Mitt Romney’s win on Super Tuesday wasn’t as big as he had hoped, winning only six of the ten Super Tuesday primaries after outspending his closest opponent Rick Santorum by a large margin. Luckily for the Romney campaign the primary season could be over very soon as well-known Republicans, particularly party leadership, are rapidly coalescing around his campaign.
Romney has picked up major endorsements in the past few weeks from former Attorney General and Missouri Senator John Ashcroft , House Republican Leader Eric Cantor and Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn. The three join an impressive cavalcade of previous endorsements from other elected and formerly elected officials. It’s not just officials getting in the mix. Former First Lady Barbara Bush appeared on the Fox News program The Five on Monday, joining her husband, George H. W. Bush in supporting Governor Romney. Says Mrs. Bush,
“I’m very much for Mitt Romney, as I guess is my husband — I’m endorsing him for George.”
The former Massachusetts Governor already has an impressive slew of endorsements at his back. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, Senator John McCain, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and Ohio Senator (and former Office of Management and Budget Director) Rob Portman have all lended their support as have New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Missouri Senator Roy Blunt, despite Romney saying he did not support the Blunt Amendment, which would overturn the Obama Administration’s birth control requirement, and then reversing his position .
It’s not simply the “Republican Establishment” supporting Romney either. While endorsements from McCain, Cantor and Blunt can be considered “DC establishment,” support from Coburn, Brewer, conservative provocateur Ann Coulter and musician (and former husband of Pamela Anderson) Kid Rock can hardly be considered “establishment.” Even Donald Trump, in all his firing glory, came out in support for Romney and recorded almost as many robocalls for Romney in Ohio as Romney did for himself.
“Mitt is tough. He is smart. He is sharp. He is not going to allow bad things to continue to happen to this country that we all love. So Gov. Romney, go out and get em. You can do it,” Trump said.
But what does all this ACTUALLY mean? Republican opinion makers are growing tired of watching the Republican presidential field get beat up in the primary, and they’re beginning to unite around one candidate.
Even conservative stalwart, Richard Vigurie, is sick of the cycle of attacks. He’s imploring Newt Gingrich to drop out. While he urges Gingrich to consider supporting Santorum, the sentiment is the same: we need to get behind one guy.
For many, that guy is Mitt Romney. Illinois Congressman Aaron Schock, who endorsed Romney back in November, sent out a press release yesterday urging Republicans to unite behind the former Governor,
As the 2012 presidential election trudges along, with contests in Kansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Hawaii next week, expect to see more and more GOP figureheads get behind Mitt.
