Sunday morning political rewind

(LIN) – On Super Bowl Sunday, it was former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., stealing the buzz after a dominant win in the Nevada Republican caucuses.

“Well Mr. President, Nevada has had enough of your kind of help… America has also had enough of your kind of help,” the former governor said to a roaring group of supporters on late Saturday night after hearing news of his victory. The Nevada win is Romney’s second straight victory following his Florida finish more than a week earlier.

On Sunday, in the Silver State, Romney garnered 48 percent of support in total votes casted.

More good news for Romney is that it seems he's starting to appeal more to the conservative base. According to a poll, three out of four caucus voters described themselves as “conservative.”

In comparison , going back to his Florida and New Hampshire wins, Romney only garnered 40 percent of support from voters who called themselves conservative.

The shift may be in large part due to Romney’s organization and his ability to reach voters, or his experience in Nevada in 2008, where he finished first as well.

His counterparts like to point out that the first five primary states favored Romney regardless.

“This is a state he won last time and he won this time,” said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., on Sunday. “We want to get to Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee…We believe when Texas is over, we’ll be competitive in the delegate count.”

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The former speaker faced criticism Sunday from Gov. Bob McDonnell, R-Va., a Romney supporter. “Gingrich has cozied up with [House Minority Leader Nancy] Pelosi [D-Calif.], called [Rep. Paul] Ryan’s [R-Wis.], budget ‘right-wing social engineering’… It is well-known Speaker Gingrich left his office in the 90’s," he said.

On the other hand, McDonnell said, “Romney is best candidate to talk about the American dream because he’s lived it.”

McDonnell debated Gov. Martin O’Malley, D-Md., on “State of the Union.” O’Malley, like Obama’s re-election team, believes a long, divisive Republican primary season would increase Obama’s chances of being re-elected.

“Clearly former Gov. Mitt Romney has momentum, but people are still shopping,” he said.

Gingrich and the others may have a tough time catching up to Romney in the near future, when Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri hold their GOP caucuses on Tuesday. Romney has positioned himself well enough to be come away with wins in two of those states, Colorado and Minnesota.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., is still in the race despite coming in last in Nevada. Santorum conceded he didn’t spend the time and money in the state and opted to focus on states like Missouri, where in one poll , he is leading Romney 45-34 percent.

“I think we’re going to do very well in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri,” said Santorum Sunday. “I think we’re going to show improvement… this is race is long from being over.”

The former lawmaker has also been touting a poll that shows he’s the only one who can go head-to-head with President Barack Obama in a general election and beat him.

“It’s is not a good sign when the two candidates everyone is talking about are not getting any energy in the primary… We’re the only candidate that defeats Barack Obama,” he said.

Also chugging along is Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas. As Nevada was finalizing results, Paul finished third, behind Gingrich, with 18 percent of the vote. Undeterred, Paul hinted the fight would go on until the end.

“We will still get some delegates,” he said Sunday. “We have three or four caucus states and we believe our numbers are looking good.”

Paul also believes his campaign is picking up grassroots support and is instrumental in changing the conversation to a limited government, pro-liberty discussion.

“There’s been a big change in this country… among these young people, there is an intellectual revolution going on,” he said.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

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