The Independent
Newt Gingrich is a loser in Las Vegas as Mitt Romney romps in
Questions also raised over source of candidate's funds as Republican primary circus rumbles on
A combative and increasingly confident Mitt Romney swaggered into Las Vegas last night, after securing victory in a one-sided Nevada caucus which has tightened his command of the Republican Presidential race.
Buoyed by what was his second straight win, following Tuesday’s success in Florida, the former Governor of Massachusetts devoted most of his celebratory speech to attacking what he described as the “failed” economic policies of President Barack Obama.
With just under fifty per cent of precincts reporting, Romney had secured 43 per cent of the vote, well clear of Newt Gingrich, on 25 per cent, Ron Paul on 19 per cent, and Rick Santorum, on 12. The remaining precincts are mostly in and around urban Las Vegas, a part of the State where he is thought to be strongest.
The US television networks duly declared him the winner at around 8pm. Shortly afterwards, he addressed a crowd of roughly 600 supporters who had been shoehorned into the ballroom of a casino resort on the outskirts of town.
“Four years ago, candidate Obama came to Nevada, promising to help," Romney recalled. "Today, Nevada unemployment is over 12%, home values have plummeted, and Nevada's foreclosure rate is the highest in the nation.”
“This week, I walked in Nevada neighbourhoods, blighted by abandoned homes, where people wonder why Barack Obama failed them,” he continued. “Well, Mr President, Nevada has had enough of your kind of help!"
The polished and sometimes humorous remarks included almost no mention of Romney’s Republican rivals, who are all struggling to keep pace with a candidate who has now won two elections in a row, and three out of the five states that have so far been contested.
Instead, wearing a suit and tie for one the first times this week (blazers, jeans, and an open-neck shirt have been his more casual uniform of choice), Romney attempted to adopt a more presidential aura, serving notice of the avenues of attack he will pursue should he contest November’s election.
He criticised “Obamacare,” the President’s health reform package, and promised to simultaneously cut taxes, reduce spending, and rein in the country’s budget deficit. He also pledged to invest heavily in the US military – in stark contrast, or so he claimed, to a Democratic rival whose foreign policy revolves around “apologising for America.”
The meat of Romney’s speech revolved around jobs, which are likely to be front and centre of the election battle. Once elected president, he declared that his top priority would be: “worrying about your job.”
Romney was introduced by his wife, Ann, and accompanied on-stage by several children and grand-children. They were cheered by jubilant supporters who waved placards bearing his unofficial slogan “Believe in America” and danced to everything from the Elvis Presley song “A Little Less Conversation” to the patriotic country number “Born Free.”
It was a world away from the moribund scene 20 minutes drive away, at the Venetian resort on the Las Vegas strip, where Newt Gingrich decided to forego the traditional election night party in order to hold an extended press conference.
Speaking to a half-empty room, Gingrich denied rumours that he was on the verge of quitting, saying that he would remain in the race until the GOP convention in Tampa this August, and is confident in being able to “achieve parity” with Romney by the end of the Texas primary next month.
He said that he was never likely to be competitive in Nevada because Romney had out-spent him by a margin of five to one, most of which had been invested in negative TV adverts. In addition, he claimed that his rival had enjoyed a huge advantage because he is a Mormon and Nevada is a “very heavily Mormon state.”
That comment marked one of the first times Romney’s faith has been raised by a rival this election season. It was seen by some as a dog-whistle effort to raise the issue in advance of Super Tuesday next month, when candidates will contest several states dominated by Christian evangelicals, many of whom regard Mormonism as a cult.
Asked whether, after four defeats (and just one victory) he had given thought to the possibility that Republican voters simply don’t like him very much, Gingrich said he was confident that a conservative candidate such as himself could still win the nomination against a “pro-abortion, pro gun control, pro tax, George Soros approved candidate of the establishment” such as Mr Romney.
If those remarks made Gingrich appear rattled, he has good reason to be that way: the race now moves to Minnesota, Colorado, and Missouri, which hold elections on Tuesday. He is trailing badly in the first two, and will not even be on the ballot in the third, because his campaign failed to register correct paperwork.
It will be March, at the earliest, until the battleground shifts to States where Gingrich is strong. That may leave him struggling to raise funds – particularly given uncertainty over the future of his relationship with major financial backer Sheldon Adelson, the Vegas casino magnate, who is reported by today’s New York Times to be developing tentative ties to the Romney camp.
Neither of the other two remaining major candidates was in Nevada last night. Ron Paul had travelled to Minnesota, where he hopes to again challenge for second place. Santorum was in Colorado, where he expects to attract strong support from evangelical Christians. Romney will join them after taking today off to watch the Superbowl in Las Vegas with his family.
Despite this weekend’s events it still promises to be some time until the race is mathematically over. And opponents of Romney can draw at least some comfort from the fact that his share of the Nevada vote was marginally down on 2008, when he secured 51 per cent. Overall turnout was also down (by about 20 per cent in counties that reported earliest) suggesting that the negative tone of the campaign may be denting the enthusiasm of some voters.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/newt-gingrich-is-a-loser-in-las-vegas-as-mitt-romney-romps-in-6393429.html
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