Republicans look for new momentum in the South

CBS

The race to collect enough delegates to capture the Republican nomination for president has been proceeding slowly as the candidates trade wins ahead of the national convention in Tampa in August, but the candidates are looking to this week's Southern primaries to kickstart the process.

Three states vote on Tuesday: Alabama, Mississippi and Hawaii. In a race where GOP voters have so far been ambivalent about the candidates, the two Southern contests give the nominees an opportunity to claim the support of a conservative base that will be key for any nominee to garner enthusiasm for his candidacy.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whose two primary victories so far have come in South Carolina and his home state of Georgia, is seeking to lock up the Deep South and carry that key region to the Tampa convention in August.

For former Sen. Rick Santorum, victory in the South on Tuesday could help solidify his standing as the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, who currently leads in the delegate count. The former Massachusetts governor, meanwhile, needs to win in solid red states like Alabama and Mississippi to prove he can win over stalwart conservatives.

Poll: Most GOP voters expect Romney nomination

Recent polls out of Alabama and Mississippi suggest the top three candidates are in a tight race in both states while Rep. Ron Paul trails in fourth place. The most recent polling, from American Research Group, shows Romney and Gingrich statistically tied in both states. In Mississippi, Romney leads with 34 percent, followed by Gingrich with 32 percent and Santorum with 22 percent. In Alabama, Gingrich leads with 34 percent, while Romney takes 31 percent and Santorum 24 percent. Both polls, conducted over the weekend, have a margin of error of four points.

Romney today made one campaign stop in Mobile, Alabama with comedian Jeff Foxworthy, where he told voters he's about "two and a half times" ahead in the delegate race but that a good night in Alabama could help him lock up the nomination "at a very fast pace."

Romney acknowledged on a Birmingham radio show Thursday that Alabama is an "away game" for him, but for a once-moderate governor from the northeast, Romney is performing better than some might have expected in the Southern states. He's gotten a boost from the endorsements of the Mississippi governor and a number of other local lawmakers.

Romney clearly has the best chance to win the 1,144 delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination in Tampa. As CBS News political director John Dickerson notes, the other candidates practically have no chance, in part because only four of the remaining contests are winner-take-all. The rest of the states divide their delegates proportionally.

Still, the fight isn't over. On NBC's "Today Show" Monday, Santorum suggested he could keep Romney from winning 1,144 and then beat the former governor in a brokered convention.

"We're going to see very shortly that the conservative in this race is going to rise... If we go to the convention, this is a conservative party," he said. "The issue is not math, the issue is vision."

Santorum similarly said in Tupelo, Mississippi on Sunday, "The establishment is trying to force a moderate Republican from Massachusetts down the throats of the American people, and if we have to go to a convention, we'll win at a convention. I have no doubt about that."

Santorum has five appearances in Mississippi and Alabama slated for Monday. Both Santorum and Gingrich are speaking at the Gulf Coast Energy Summit in Biloxi, Mississippi on Monday -- a prime venue for Gingrich, who has focused his campaign message in recent weeks on bringing down oil prices. Polling shows the issue is a potent one, particularly in the South.

Speaking to a crowd of several hundred in Brandon, Mississippi on Sunday, Gingrich said he was in the race all the way to Tampa for a practical reason: Because the "non-millionaire, non-Wall Street, non establishment wing of the Republican Party deserves to have somebody who is a Reagan protege who thinks in terms of vision."

Full coverage: Campaign 2012

[artnorthrop]

is "new momentum" the same as "same ol' hate?"

[artnorthrop]

Paul, Gingrich, Santorum. Under no circumstances should you release any of your delegates to Romney ever after the dispicable way he tried to ruin each one of you and mock what you did and do stand for. And insist that states that were winner-takes-all delegates be made proportional states. That way, your delegate counts will be much higher.

[artnorthrop]

Well let's see. The major criticism of Yahoo News is that they continue to count Romney's chickens before they hatch and try to win people and delegates over to him using this approach. To my surprise CBS News is in the same mode... I can almost hear your staff shouting "did we do good Mitt?" Also, your predictions of him as the clear victor are a disgrace to responsible news reporting. Oh! and where is Paul in your reporting? Just like with Yahoo News, he is scarcely mentioned. The youth of America see what you are doing and are not one bit happy about it.

[artnorthrop]

Notice how the one pictured on the left looks out-of-place in the photo about appealing to the South. That is because he is and is worried that those southerners might be able to see through his utterances for what the man really is: someone who never before in his life showed any interest in the South. For the sake of the nation, many of us hope the South will see through his facade, and not be fooled like those elsewhere were.

[artnorthrop]

Notice how the one pictured on the left looks out-of-place in the photo about appealing to the South. That is because he is and is worried that those southerners might be able to see through his utterances for what the man really is: someone who never before in his life showed any interest in the South. For the sake of the nation, many of us hope the South will see through his facade, and not be fooled like those elsewhere were.

[norcalruss]

I am surprised that Sick Rick Saint-Moron isn't doing better in the redneck states. It seems like the demographics should bode well for him: low IQ ***********, bible-thumpers, Obama haters, and bigots.

[occupy_cbs]

ariz_1944: The GOP "Momentum" is ALL DOWN HILL!!! and gettin FASTER every time these POS open their mouths!!!



Yep....faster and faster and completely out-of-control!

[occupy_cbs]

"Republicans look for new momentum in the South"



Heck no, the republicans already had millions of voters in the deep RED south that continuously vote against their best interests!

[occupy_cbs]

88Ronin: "Inbreeding causes Republicanism."


Very true!

[kevjustice]

"the night they drove old dixie down"- great song.

[skyk801]

Well DUH!! The Republiklan Party looking for Momentum in the South! LMAO A Place that, regardless of where you are in the world the mention of most of the states will bring NOTHING but RACISM to mind. Yeah that's the ticket! LMAO