It is a less and less "solid" win for Romney in Michigan. He did better in the 2-Cadillac areas of Arizona. "Solid" is what Romney called the vote in Michigan, but the vote was more like "a squeaker." Or "marginal," as the Guardian describes it.
Today he wakes up to the solid evidence that he split his home state with interloper Rick Santorum.
Mitt Romney's marginal primary victory in the Michigan has turned out to be a dead heat after the final count showed rival Rick Santorum still won half the state's delegates.
Romney's result in the state of his birth lost some of its lustre as it emerged he and Rick Santorum each received 15 delegates. The result, despite Romney winning 41% of the primary vote compared with Santorum's 38%, came about because Michigan divides up delegates on a proportional basis.
The outcome muddies the race ahead of 10 key state contests next Tuesday.
A win in Michigan had been crucial for Romney, whose father was governor of the state. He had aimed to overcome the religious conservative Santorum by sticking to his core and mainstream Republican message of fixing the economy and reducing unemployment in a country still recovering from the worst recession in decades.
News that Santorum's narrow loss in Michigan would yield him as many delegates as the winner enabled him to label the result a success on Romney's home turf, putting some wind in his sails ahead of the big contests next week. ...Guardian
What does that mean for Ohio? Well, Romney has the Cleveland/Columbus sections backing him. Santorum tends to attract voters in western Ohio and in the Appalachian areas of the southeast.
The real battle will play out in the exurban “collar counties” in the more rural and small-town center of the state.
“The swing area will be central Ohio,” said former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett.
An added wrinkle: Santorum failed to qualify for delegates for three congressional districts, including one in the Appalachian southeast. Ohio awards delegates on a district level and gives some to the candidate who won the state. Santorum is still on the statewide ballot, but this problem could cost him a few delegates. ...The Hill
We're not looking at shoo-ins here. What we're seeing is more squeakers -- unless Santorum's luck finally runs out.
Or Romney's.
