Emily Schulteis from Politico tells us that Huckabee's comments on Fox News that Romney's momentum in Ohio suggests that the GOP is beginning to fall behind Mitt Romney. What she did not write about was the recent improvements in Net Gingrich's numbers. While only garnering approximately 6.5% in both Maine and Michigan, Gingrich has picked up his vote percentage to 16.2% in Arizona and 10.3% in Washington. Since Gingrich is widely considered to be the other social conservative in the race, and this is assuming that Ron Paul's supporters are split between social conservatives and liberals, it is reasonable to conclude that its Gingrich's rise that explains Romney's recent movement in the polls. This race is slowly becoming a two man race and Gingrich appears to be playing spoiler
Despite the fact that polling shos Romney and Santorum are split in Ohio, some are saying Santorum has a real advantage in Ohio because absentee voting is highly in his favor. If this is true it does not change the possibility that Romney's support is growing. However, the real issue being batted around is whether newt should back out of the race. In the last six contests Newt has taken 10.5% of the vote, largely from Santorum. Is Newt staying in due to his conviction that he still has a chance or is Newt another establishment politician more interested in what he considers the electable candidate? I hold out hope that Newt Gingrich is in it for the right reasons but I understand to well the effects of the will-to-power on human motivation. The fate of this election rests in the coming decisions of Newt Gingrich to stay in the race or not but even his decision to stay in will only harden the opposition to the disconnected establishment.
I believe the populist base is slowly moving toward Santorum. I have spent a fair amount of time knocking on doors in the past week and speaking to folks on the street. The majority in my Missouri country town voted for Santorum but many Republican voters are on the fence about who to vote for. There are to things that are clear about those still on the fence: they don't want Romney and they like Santorum's message. The longer this race drags on the more clear it becomes to many that Romney is not a conservative and the more readily they acknowledge that Santorum's message is rooted in a solid conservative philosophy that addresses their values. The job that must be done is clear. Get the message out because when folks hear it they like it!
Michael Voris is a commentor that can really destroy the target when he hits the mark. He hits the mark in this video capturing the odd dynamic of this election. The momentum has not left Santorum.
