US election 2012: Mitt Romney steadies campaign with Maine win
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MITT Romney steadied his campaign for the 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 Rick Santorum, secured an important victory in the Maine caucuses, the last state poll before a fortnight-long hiatus.
He also beat Mr Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, to the top spot in the prized annual poll at CPAC, a gathering of Right-wingers in Washington wary of him because of his past moderate stances.
"We stand for conservative principles, liberty and prosperity," Mr Romney said in a statement after his Maine win. "We've had enough. It's time to reverse Barack Obama's legacy of domestic disarray and foreign-policy weakness."
The double win eased nerves in Mr Romney's Boston headquarters, whose attempts to mastermind a straightforward march to facing President Barack Obama in November have been repeatedly thwarted.
However Mr Romney won fewer votes in Maine than four years ago during his unsuccessful first bid for the party's presidential candidacy, reflecting a lack of enthusiasm among activists for him this year.
He edged past Ron Paul, a libertarian Texas congressman, by just 194 votes out of fewer than 6,000, winning 39 per cent of the total to 36 per cent for Dr Paul, the only other candidate to campaign.
The Maine caucuses are “non-binding”, meaning that candidates will actually be awarded the delegates from the state to the party convention in a later process. But the result provides a snapshot of sentiment in the state and gives Mr Romney an important symbolic win.
Mr Romney won 38 per cent at CPAC against 31 per cent for Mr Santorum, a favourite of evangelical Christians and other social conservatives who dislike Mr Romney's record on abortion and gay rights.
However hurdles remain in place for the front-runner, who must now secure a convincing victory on March 6, so-called 'Super Tuesday', when 10 states across the country go to the polls.
A new national survey of Republicans by Public Policy Polling at the weekend put Mr Santorum in the lead with 38 per cent. Mr Romney trailed in second place with 23 per cent.
Most concerning for Mr Romney will be figures showing that if Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker now in third place, were to drop out, Mr Santorum's lead would grow to 22 percentage points.
Tom Jensen, the pollster's director, said Republicans were "significantly souring" towards Mr Romney while Mr Santorum was "completely dominating with several key segments of the electorate".
While Mr Romney's "net favourability" – the difference between the portion of voters who like him and those who do not – stands at just one per cent, Mr Santorum's is now 42 per cent.
"We think this is a two-person race right now," Mr Santorum told a television interview on Sunday.
The race's ongoing uncertainty has led to relentless speculation that the party's convention in August – typically a coronation of the nominee – could be "brokered", leading to frantic horse-trading.
Sarah Palin, the 2008 vice-presidential candidate, fuelled such talk on Saturday by saying that scenario would not be bad for the party, before giving a barnstorming speech at CPAC. "That's part of competition, part of the process and it may happen," she told a newspaper interview.
- Jon Swaine
© Telegraph.co.uk
