STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — When Rick Santorum’s top aides began to gather here at Steubenville High School for election night, they assumed Santorum would finish second — a close second, they hoped — to Mitt Romney in the Ohio Republican primary. “If we can show here that we are very close in a state where we got outspent six to one, I think people have to ask the question, ‘What the heck is wrong with Mitt Romney?'” said top strategist John Brabender before Santorum’s supporters began to fill the room. How close would be very close? “Five points,” Brabender answered.
Then things began to change. As the votes were counted, Santorum moved into a lead over Romney — first 5,000, then 10,000, then 15,000 votes. Even though there was a lot of the state yet to report, some members of Team Santorum began to ask: What if he wins? Santorum had already picked up victories in Tennessee, Oklahoma, and North Dakota. A win in Ohio would be huge — and a huge setback for Romney. As Santorum’s lead grew, campaign manager Mike Biundo said he had “a feeling” all day that Santorum might pull it out. Biundo admitted that his was a minority opinion among the staff. But things were looking surprisingly good.
Santorum decided to speak while he was ahead. But he had to wait — and wait and wait — for Newt Gingrich to stop talking in Atlanta, freeing up the cable news time for Santorum in Ohio. When his time to speak finally came, Santorum was deliberately vague, picking up on Romney’s oft-used Olympics imagery to claim that he won “at least a couple of gold medals and a whole passel of silver medals.” His campaign, Santorum said, had “overcome enormous odds to make this a great night for us in the Buckeye State.”
After the speech, and after most supporters left, Santorum hung around in the high school’s weight room, which had been converted into his temporary headquarters. As his lead held, rumors circulated that he might come out to the cameras. But as 11 p.m., and then midnight approached, votes from Cuyahoga, Hamilton, and Franklin counties were counted, and Romney, on the strength of suburban voters, caught up and finally surpassed Santorum. In the end, Romney won by a tiny margin, with 38 percent of the vote to Santorum’s 37 percent. Team Santorum began talking about second place again.
But their point was the same as if their man had won. “I think it shows the fundamental weakness in Romney,” former senator and current Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said. “He cannot, even with this massive advantage in money, blow Rick away here. This is not a strong candidate.”
To read more visit The Washington Examiner
