White House hopeful Mitt Romney set his sights squarely on US President Barack Obama after racking up another victory in a plodding Republican nominating race that may not be decided until June.
Romney’s decisive win in Illinois on Tuesday likely will not help him win Obama’s home state in the Nov. 6 election, but it has brought him closer to clinching the Republican nod.
He used his victory speech to reprise his attacks on Obama’s economic policies and cast the general election as a choice between “economic freedom” and “job-killing regulation.”
“Over the past three years, this administration has been engaged in an all-out assault on our freedom,” Romney told supporters gathered in an affluent Chicago suburb. “It’s time to say these words. This word. Enough. We’ve had enough.”
Underdog Rick Santorum was unbowed by Romney’s widening lead, rallying supporters in his home state of Pennsylvania to help him “close this gap and [move] on to victory.”
His campaign vowed earlier on Tuesday to take the fight all the way to the Republican convention in August, but it is not clear if Santorum can stop Romney from winning the 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the deal before then.
The former Massachusetts governor already had a commanding delegate lead and Tuesday’s resounding win in the midwestern state provides Romney with momentum ahead of polls in Wisconsin, Maryland and Washington on April 3.
It will also provide Romney with a cushion ahead of an expected Santorum victory in Louisiana on Saturday, but with many states awarding delegates proportionally, it could take Romney until May or June to reach the majority needed to knock his rivals out of the race.
“The question isn’t who’s the nominee,” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. “It’s whether Romney soars or limps into [the convention in] Tampa. That’s not determined yet.”
While Romney may have a better chance of winning over the moderates and independents who often decide general elections, he has failed to rally the Republican Party’s conservative base in the grueling state-by-state primaries.
US media exit polls in Illinois showed Romney with a surprisingly solid lead among supporters of the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement, but Santorum was the favorite among evangelicals and the “very conservative.”
A bloody, protracted battle would help Obama and it could also cost Republicans congressional, gubernatorial and state-level seats, especially if Romney is not able to seal the deal by the time delegate-rich California and four other states hold contests on June 5.
“It may not be possible to win the presidency at that point, but they have to keep the race competitive enough so there isn’t a coattail disaster down the ticket,” Sabato said. “If you have an incumbent president winning by a wide margin in this polarized era, the odds are he’s going to be bringing in a lot of Democrats with him.”
Prior to the Illinois vote, Romney had pocketed 516 delegates, while Santorum had won 236 and former house speaker Newt Gingrich had 141, according to the Web site Real Clear Politics.
Texas Congressman Ron Paul, a small-government champion, has about 66.
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