With an endorsement from Gov. Nikki Haley, Mitt Romney couldn't win South Carolina. With an endorsement from former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney couldn't win Minnesota. With an endorsement from Donald Trump ... well ...
The three-for-three trouncing the GOP establishment candidate took Tuesday in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri seems unlikely to keep him from getting his party's nomination. But the depth of distaste the Republican base has for him was on full display last night as county after county across three states chose the last remaining candidate who can claim the title of Not-Romney, Rick Santorum. Only in Colorado did Romney manage to eek out half as big a percentage of the vote as he got in his unsuccessful quest for the nomination in 2008.
While that may turn out to be only a bump on the road to Super Tuesday, it was one that produced a lot of droopy expressions in the Romney camp Tuesday night, starting with the candidate himself.
In a memo to reporters, Romney Political Director Rich Beeson tried to paste a smiley face on the situation:
"As our campaign has said from the outset, Mitt Romney is not going to win every contest. John McCain lost 19 states in 2008, and we expect our opponents will notch a few wins, too," Beeson wrote. "But unlike the other candidates, our campaign has the resources and organization to keep winning over the long run."
True enough. Romney, as he proved with his tsunami of spending in Florida, has vaults full of resources. But with Newt Gingrich a clear has-been with his blast in South Carolina now proved a one-off, the social conservative vote and the tea party vote can now swing fully behind Santorum, the true believer. No more getting the jitters from backing someone with the baggage of three marriages, ethics challenges and unfettered boastfulness. No need to fall into line to give the okay to Mitt the Moderate, whose shape-shifting views on every issue that matters to them ensures a lack of trust.
While there is every possibility that the establishment will rally for Romney and, a month from now, yesterday will be remembered as Rick Santorum's high point, every minute this goes on widens the smiles in the Obama campaign with good reason. While the half-billion-dollars reportedly being put together by SuperPacs against Obama's reelection is a formidable war chest, it is hard to imagine how the GOP base's lack of enthusiasm can be transformed into even a dutiful vote in November for Mitt Romney if he does get the nomination. They don't like him and for many of them, it's more than a matter of merely holding their nose in the voting booth.