Rick Santorum was the big winner on Super Tuesday despite the headlines trumpeting Mitt Romney’s squeaker of a victory in all-important Ohio, conservative strategist Jennifer Korn told Newsmax in an exclusive interview.
Santorum’s successes show that the former Massachusetts governor has a long way to go before he can claim the nomination, she said.
“Santorum’s wins in Tennessee and Oklahoma and North Dakota were more meaningful than Romney’s,” she said pointing out that his primary victories were in his home state of Massachusetts, its tiny neighbor Vermont, and in Virginia where neither Santorum nor Newt Gingrich were on the ballot.
“Going in, it was a question of whether Mitt Romney could shore it up, win Super Tuesday and put the race to bed,” said Korn, executive director of the Hispanic Leadership Network. “Clearly he hasn’t done that.
“Santorum should be regarded as the winner of the night. With such a lack of funding and organization compared to Romney, the fact that he could still beat him in some major states is a big plus for him.
“I still believe Romney has the upper hand and can move forward, but Santorum’s wins prolongs the situation and allows Santorum to keep picking at Romney, and some would say that will damage him.”
One of the major problems for Santorum was the relative lack of organization — he could lose delegates from Ohio because he did not name enough in six districts, and he could not get enough signatures even to get on the ballot in Virginia.
“Romney was able to get his name on every single ballot, Santorum wasn’t and it showed,” said Korn, who worked as a White House advisor to President George W. Bush. “I have done a lot of grass-roots work and organization matters, especially if you are talking about running against President Obama who has impeccable organization.”
The loser of the night was Newt Gingrich, Korn said, despite his victory in his home state of Georgia.
“It was really embarrassing that he couldn’t get enough signatures to get on the ballot in Virginia, the state he has lived in for 10 years.
“Even in Georgia, he couldn’t get 50 percent, whereas Romney won 72 percent in Massachusetts, so even the people who know him best weren’t so enthusiastic. And if you look at the other states, he should have come second in both Tennessee and Oklahoma, but came in third in both.
“I don’t want to be the one to call on him to drop out and I believe in the wonderful democratic process we have, but it’s very hard to see how he can now get the delegates he needs to clinch the nomination.”
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