Romney downplays expectations for Tuesday voting
Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney sought to tamp down expectations Tuesday as voters headed to the polls in three primary states, a sign he is unsure of sweeping all three, especially considering a late surge in the polls by rival Rick Santorum in Missouri and Minnesota.
The Romney campaign released a statement noting that there are no actual delegates at stake tonight. Both Colorado and Minnesota hold caucuses as a first step toward naming delegates to the party's national convention, and Missouri is conducting a beauty contest primary in advance of its caucuses next month. However, the night's results will go far in determining the relative strength of the candidates going forward, and in some cases, how delegates are awarded down the road.
Romney is expected to do well in Colorado, where he has campaigned for several days. But he has not campaigned in Missouri, and late polls show former U.S. Sen. Santorum of Pennsylvania doing well there.
In his statement, Romney political director Rich Beeson said, "Of course, there is no way for any nominee to win first place in every single contest. John McCain lost 19 states in 2008, and we expect our opponents to notch a few wins too."
He also took pains to note that Missouri's primary "is purely a beauty contest" - a departure from the attention the campaign paid to the Show Me State in November, when it mocked former House speaker Newt Gingrich for failing to get on the ballot there.
Beeson noted that the bigger contest is on March 6, when over 400 delegates are doled out among 10 states voting on Super Tuesday.
Romney, the former Massachusetts governer, often says on the stump that he expects a long race for the nomination, and stresses that it takes time to amass the needed 1,144 delegates. However, he is also often quick to note that he hopes to win every state where his name is on the ballot.
Romney currently has 83 delegates allotted to him. Gingrich has 27, Santorum has 15 and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas has six. (Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who is no longer running, has two).