Chris Wallace Asks Panel: If Mitt Romney Loses Michigan, Will Another Candidate Enter The GOP Contest?
Is the almost-assured Republican primary contest victor no longer as assured? That seems to be the general consensus going around about Mitt Romney recently, as his polling numbers have dropped in the wake of a powerful Rick Santorum wave that has completely eclipsed the GOP field. On Fox News Sunday today, Chris Wallace asked his panelists what will happen to Romney’s candidacy if he loses Michigan, an important state for him to snatch in the primary season.
One of Romney’s ads says that “this is personal,” but his appeal to the state that he used to call his home has been for naught, as Santorum currently leads him by eight points in the latest statewide polls. The Wall Street Journal‘s Kimberley Strassel argued that Romney’s whole case at this point is electability, and if he can’t win Michigan it will undermine his whole argument in the facce of two strongly social conservatives. She added that the only problem with Santorum plowing on ahead is that he doesn’t have the kind of money the other candidates do to press on, but all Romney is doing is “running on biography.”
Might speaking at the stadium where the Detroit Lions play help Romney’s campaign? Wallace and Strassel said it was doubtful, with Wallace saying he has been told Romney has no plans to make an economic announcement of any kind at the event, contrary to prior reports. Kirsten Powers pointed to not just Santorum’s resurgence as hurting Romney, but millions of dollars flowing into Newt Gingrich‘s campaign of late.
Karl Rove was the most blunt in his assessment of what would happen if Romney loses Michigan. He said it would be “damaging,” and acknowledged that because the state has an open primary, unions will likely try to cause mischief in the primary by voting against Romney. Wallace asked Rove what the chances would be of a late entry into the race. Rove previously dismissed the idea, but given what has happened in the last week, coupled with the fact that several key states have ballot deadlines down the road, and Rove admitted that this race was getting stranger by the second, with a late entry most definitely coupled with a brokered convention in the fall.
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But Rove doubted a late entry would even happen, calling it “as remote as having life on Pluto.” Joe Trippi predicted a “trainwreck” if it actually happened, which he thought was incredibly likely in this race. Strassel asked who the GOP “savior” would be. Rove and Wallace went down a list of names, which shows even if a late candidate did emerge, there might still not be enough to satisfy voters.
Watch the video below, courtesy of Fox News:
