Overnight, the speed bumps on Mitt Romney's road to the White House may have turned into a road block. Suddenly, Rick Santorum is in his rear view mirror, and gaining ground. Says Santorum: “I don't stand here to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama."
In fact- Santorum is just the newest Republican trying out for the role of "anybody-but-Romney", following the rise-and-fall of Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry and Herman Cain.
And Santorum is clearly ready to rumble with Romney, insisting that on issues of "health care, the environment, cap-and-trade, and on the Wall Street bailouts, Mitt Romney has the same positions as Barack Obama."
All the attacks have hurt Romney. After he won the nasty, negative Florida primary, he lost nearly half of his support among Independent voters, according to an NBC poll. And now, Romney seems so off his game, he's actually trying to package himself as the son of a blue collar worker, rather than the son of a former Michigan governor, who ran an automobile company and once ran for president himself. "My father never graduated from college. He apprenticed as a lath and plaster carpenter. And he's pretty good at it. He actually could take a handful of nails, stick them in his mouth, and then, you know, spit them out, pointy end forward."
If Romney sounds a little desperate, maybe that's because he should be. After Rick's revenge last night, Florida and New Hampshire seem like a long, long time ago. All Romney could say was, “I want to congratulate Senator Santorum…wish him the very best. We'll keep on campaigning down the road, but I expect to become our nominee, with your help."
Romney is looking in the wrong place for help. The voters aren't the problem- he is! After years of campaigning, people say they still don't know him, and aren't sure where he stands.
The only person who can help Romney change that is Mitt Romney.
(Copyright (c) 2012 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)