PHOENIX — The Republican presidential contenders square off in their 20th debate Wednesday night as they prepare for one of the most consequential stretches of a tumultuous primary season, a two-week, 13-contest marathon that may finally put one of the four remaining candidates on the track to the GOP nomination.
The debate in Mesa — the last before Tuesday’s primaries in Arizona and Michigan and so-called Super Tuesday primaries the following week — will showcase just the latest incarnation of one of the wildest and most fluid presidential primaries in recent memory.
Since just last month’s Florida debate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum has morphed from afterthought to bonafide challenger, while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who seemed to regain his footing after his Sunshine State showing, now faces an avalanche of questions from party kingmakers and establishment figures that raises doubts about what was assumed to be his greatest strength — his electability.
Previewing the debate, Santorum and Romney on Tuesday focused all their attention on each other while Santorum campaigned in Arizona and Romney in his native state of Michigan.
“You hear a lot of talk about who’s the insider and who’s the outsider in this race,” Santorum said at the Maricopa County GOP Lincoln Day lunch. “There’s a guy that’s outside of Washington, who was not a senator or a congressman — not because he didn’t try — but because he never got elected.”
Brandishing his blue-collar roots — and contrasting Romney’s privileged background — Santorum added, “I’m not a manager, I’m not a visionary; I’m a guy from a steel town.”
Romney has responded by criticizing Santorum for seeking federal pork barrel funding — including $500,000 for a polar bear exhibit at the Pittsburgh zoo — voting to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and other legislative actions considered toxic among Republican voters today.
“I don’t think that’s consistent with the principles of conservatism,” Romney said. “I don’t think Rick Santorum’s track record is one of a fiscal conservative.”
Romney has weathered previous challenges from a string of conservative candidates in part by pummeling his adversaries with waves of negative advertising funded by his campaign or the super PAC supporting his candidacy. At least so far, however, those efforts have failed to stymie Santorum’s momentum in this western swing state.
A new CNN/Time poll released Tuesday showed Santorum just 4 percentage points behind Romney in Arizona, where the former Massachusetts governor was viewed as a shoo-in just days ago.
Republican strategists say a defeat in Arizona would be disastrous for Romney and heighten concerns that he lacks the tools to mobilize Republicans and win the general election this fall.
“Rick Santorum has picked up a lot of momentum heading into Arizona,” said GOP consultant Brian Donahue. “If Romney is upset in Arizona, the primary race will draw into states that in the past were inconsequential. The lack of conservative support continues to dog Romney.”
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul will join Romney and Santorum on stage in Mesa Wednesday for what may be one of last Republican debates, which have played a pivotal role in the race by resurrecting candidacies on life support before the nationally televised events.
As seen in the Washington Examiner
