Romney wins Maine contest and high-profile straw poll
MITT Romney steadied his campaign for the US Republican presidential nomination over the weekend, winning his fourth state contest and a high-profile straw poll of conservative activists.
The former Massachusetts governor, who last week suffered a triple defeat to his main rival, Rick Santorum, secured an important symbolic victory in the Maine caucuses, the last state poll before a two-week break in the campaign.
The caucuses are "non-binding", meaning that candidates will be awarded the state's delegates in a later process. But they provide a snapshot of sentiment. Mr Romney also beat Mr Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, to the top spot in the prized annual poll at CPAC, a gathering of right-wingers.
"We stand for conservative principles, liberty and prosperity," Mr Romney said after his Maine win. "It's time to reverse Barack Obama's legacy of domestic disarray and foreign-policy weakness."
The successes eased nerves in Mr Romney's headquarters, which has failed to mastermind a straightforward march to facing Mr Obama in November.
But a lack of enthusiasm among activists for him was plain. Mr Romney won fewer votes in Maine than four years ago during his unsuccessful first bid for the party's presidential candidacy, edging past Ron Paul, a libertarian Texas congressman, by just 194 votes.
The CPAC poll gave Mr Romney 38pc against 31pc for Mr Santorum, a favourite of evangelical Christians and other conservatives who dislike Mr Romney's record on abortion and gay rights.
The front-runner must now secure a convincing victory on March 6, "Super Tuesday", when 10 states go to the polls.
A survey of Republicans at the weekend gave Mr Santorum 38pc, with Mr Romney second on 23pc. Tom Jensen, the poll's director, said Republicans were "souring" on Mr Romney.
Jobs
Meanwhile, Mr Obama will today submit the fourth budget of his presidency, a package that calls for $350bn (€265bn) in short-term spending to create jobs and a $476bn (€360bn) highway bill, while saying it will cut $4trn (€3trn) from the deficit over a decade, partly by raising taxes on the wealthy.
White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew yesterday said hundreds of billions of dollars in spending for roads and bridges, education and manufacturing were necessary to keep the U.S. economy growing. (© Daily Telegraph, London)
- Jon Swaine in Washington
Irish Independent
