Posted on 02/28/2012 7:48:25 PM PST by Red Steel
DETROIT, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Mitt Romney was a double winner Tuesday, capturing the Michigan and Arizona Republican presidential primaries, results showed.
The Detroit Free Press declared Romney the victor over his GOP rivals in Michigan.
With about 74 percent of the precincts counted, Romney had 317,258 votes (41 percent) to Rick Santorum's 286,530 (37 percent), results posted by the Free Press showed. Ron Paul was third with 88,521 votes (12 percent) and Newt Gingrich followed with 50,726 votes (7 percent). Another 2 percent voted "uncommitted" and a handful of votes went to several other Republicans who are no longer contenders.
CNN called Romney the winner in Arizona. With 71 percent of the vote counted, Romney had 191,182 votes (48 percent) to Santorum's 101,232 votes (25 percent). Gingrich was third with 65,182 votes (16 percent), with Paul bringing up the rear with 33,505 votes (8 percent).
Exit polls in the two states Tuesday had indicated electability was the top priority among Republican primary voters.
Thirty-three percent of Michigan voters said beating President Obama is the top priority when selecting a GOP nominee, while 38 percent of voters in Arizona said the same, CBS News exit polls indicated.
Romney and Santorum slashed at each other ahead of the Michigan primary, which was too close to call. The contest in his home state is seen as crucial to Romney and his claim of the front-runner's mantle.
Despite the closeness of the Michigan race, the Post said Romney was expected to win about three times as many convention delegates as Santorum Tuesday. Arizona is a winner-take-all primary. Michigan's 30 delegates are allotted proportionately to the primary winner in each of the state's 14 congressional districts. Arizona's winner picks up all of its 29 delegates.
The Washington Post said Romney was expected to garner 45 delegates from both contests, with Santorum picking up about 15.
Gingrich and Paul were not expected to win any delegates, and did not seriously campaign in the two states.
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, and Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, have been shooting fireballs at each other in recent days.
Romney blasted Santorum's use of robocalls urging Democrats, who can vote GOP in Michigan, to vote for Santorum.
"I know why [President] Obama doesn't want me to face him but I just think it's outrageous and a terrible dirty trick at the last hour, by the way, late in the afternoon on the day before the election, maybe hoping no one would notice, they start sending out calls to Democrats, union members telling them to go into the Republican primary and vote against Mitt Romney," Romney told Fox News.
"This is a new low for his campaign and that's saying something," he added.
Santorum told Fox News Monday night he's just trying to attract the Democratic voters he'll need in November.
"When he runs a robocall of my voice from four years ago saying good things about him, that's not a low moment, and when I run a call basically saying, calling Democrats that are eligible to vote here, to vote for us, that's a low?" he said.
WINNER IN BOTH AZ AND MI:
THE DAILY KOS !!!!
communist vote trampling machine
sent communists out to vote for mintromneymormon
No big surprise. The shocker would have been if he lost MI growing up there and with the 3 times governor father.
Arizona was worse than I thought, but I figured he would win there. Michigan was very close, but overall, if you combined Santorum’s percentage with Gingrich’s, the conservative vote did beat Romney. Romney didn’t win his boy state by the margin that he expected he would; that’s for sure. Hopefully Santorum can do really well next Tuesday.
i’m so depressed. God help us.
I know several of us are feeling discouraged about this primary season. I have finally had to surrender and “give it to God”. Every night I pray that the Lord will give us a strong Christian president in 2012 that will follow bibilical principles when it comes to the unborn, marriage and poverty.
I think that all we have left is a miracle.
I don’t care if they put the pope on the ticket NO ROMNEY, NO WAY,
I was fooled with Sarah, I LOVED Sarah they destroyed her and McCain
did NOTHING!!!!! GOP can eat dirt!!!!!
In Michigan, anything less than a landslide for Romney is simply proof that he is not electable in the general election.
His margin of victory here is damning, IMO. Like the difference between kissing your sister and getting laid by a hot chick. Romney got kissed by his sister.
That leaves the personal. He is a Mormon finance guy at a time when either is going to be a big hill to climb. His statements show he is seriously out of touch with most of the US, and the MSM will not protect him like they do Obama.
Time to focus on the down ticket races.
I won’t be falling for it this time....the GOP is dead to me now.
See my post #47.
You really think Romney would do any better in that department?
Oh, one more thing....I also will not vote for Romney if he is the nominee.
STOP IT
“Time to focus on the down ticket races.”
Cheese eating surrender monkey. These are historic times and now is the time to stand our ground. The Kenyan gets another 4 years in the White Hut over my dead body.
With regard to Mitt and electability: It’s really stupid politics to nominate a (ahem) moderate like Romney rather someone like Rick or Newt. Here’s why:
Typically, a party’s nominee is chosen from their base. During the general election they move toward the center to win more of the centrist vote. The problem with nominating someone like Romney is the same problem that we have with nominating someone like McCain. They have to move to the right in the general election to shore up an untrusting and dispirited base. This keeps them from courting the center.
If someone like Rick were nominated, he could move toward the center in the general without concerning his base so much, because they would understand what was going on. If Romney (or McCain) moves toward the right, however, conservatives still don’t trust him, and the center becomes even more alienated than ever against him.
I don’t see this strategy working any better in 2012 than it did in 2008.
Right - conservatives have no one to blame but themselves for splitting the vote. So you can thank santorum and gingrich for helping mitt get in.
Sucks, but Bishop Willard is as repugnant and unacceptable as Lightworker Hussein.
Even if RINOmney would win, America loses. We would get Obama lite instead of a conservative leader.
I’m equally disgusted with Santorum supporters who have savaged Newt. I can’t believe supporters of BOTH candidates can’t lay off this stuff. I’m with Newt and have been since long, long before anyone though he had a chance to ever get a delegate. But I also recognize that the enemy is Myth.
Santorum and Newt supporters need to work TOGETHER, not snipe at each other.
Hank
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