Rick Santorum: If I Win The Illinois Primary, I Win The Nomination

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/17/10737243-rick-santorum-if-i-win-the-illinois-primary-i-win-the-nomination ^ | Andrew Rafferty and Alex Moe

[Steelfish]

Rick Santorum: If I Win The Illinois Primary, I Win The Nomination

By Andrew Rafferty EFFINGHAM, Ill. -- Rick Santorum on Saturday guaranteed that a win in the Illinois primary will result in his nomination as the Republican presidential nominee.

"This is a primary, and turnout is everything. You do your job, you do your job, then this is the pledge," Santorum said. "If we're able to come out of Illinois with a huge or surprise win, I guarantee you, I guarantee you that we will win this nomination."

Illinois has largely been predicted to favor Mitt Romney for Tuesday's primary. The vote is expected to be driven by Chicago and its surrounding suburbs, pegged as unfavorable territory for the former Pennsylvania senator's brand of conservatism. But in areas like Effingham, hours south of the Windy City, Santorum hopes to fire up a Republican base that is often overshadowed by its Democratic counterparts to the north.

"You know you don't get a chance to out-vote your friends up in the Chicago-land area very often, but this is a primary and turnout is everything," he said, standing in a warehouse of a local business specializing in kitchen equipment. While stumping in the Land of Lincoln, Santorum said he feels like he's already running in the general election.

“People ask me why I’m the best candidate to run against Barack Obama," said Santorum. "It’s because I feel like, in many respects, I am running against Barack Obama here in this primary because Mitt Romney has the same positions as Barack Obama in this primary.”

The health care bill that Romney signed as governor of Massachusetts is the issue Santorum has been hammering him on most frequently. Santorum says the legislation laid the groundwork for the health care bill Obama signed in 2010....

[Theodore R.]

Saint Rick should have borrowed and adjusted Reagan’s old line from the 1976 IL primary: “We are fighting hard, but it would be a miracle to win 35 percent in a state so liberal as Illinois.”