Romney's White House bid in doubt after losses
BOSTON (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney has carefully nurtured an image as a turnaround specialist who has revived battered companies to reap big rewards and saved the debt-ridden 2002 Winter Olympics from financial disaster.
But after investing at least $35 million of his own money and more than two years in a hard-fought campaign for the White House, his chances of reviving his candidacy look slimmer than ever after a disappointing "Super Tuesday" in which he failed to win key target states.
"He's a businessman and on a cost-benefit basis it just doesn't look to be in his advantage to continue much longer," said Thomas Whalen, a professor at Boston University who has tracked Romney's political career.
Analysts say the multimillionaire's quest for "the heart and soul of Republican Party" -- as Romney often describes his presidential bid -- is all but over after he failed to place first or second in most of the states where he campaigned in a 72-hour sprint over the past week.
"He can't be the conservative candidate of the Republican Party and not win in any big states," said Julian Zelizer, a professor of politics and history at Princeton University. "It's hard to see why he would go on for too much longer."
The former Massachusetts governor and venture capitalist lost 14 of 21 states on Tuesday, the biggest day of U.S. presidential voting ahead of November's election, as Arizona Sen. John McCain savored coast-to-coast wins and cemented his position as front-runner.
"The constituency that Romney was hoping to get -- the Christian right -- just isn't amenable to his message," added Whalen.
Romney's campaign on Wednesday seized on the positive -- wins in Colorado, Alaska, Montana and Minnesota as well as Utah, the headquarters of his Mormon faith, and Massachusetts where he governed from 2003 to 2007.
"We're No. 2 in delegates. We feel very good about our chances going forward," Romney's traveling spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom, told reporters, adding that Romney would now focus on the March 4 delegate-rich Ohio and Texas primaries.
But Romney, who has a personal fortune of around $250 million, trails McCain badly in the delegate count with 269 to the senator's 613, according to the
'KEEP BATTLING'
Romney said on Tuesday night he would carry on to the Republican nomination convention in September. "We're going to keep on battling. We're going to go all the way to the convention, we're going to win this thing, and we're going to get in to the White House," he said.
His aides say Romney is looking to contests in Louisiana, Kansas and Washington on Saturday and the so-called "Potomac Primaries" in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia next Tuesday.
"This is going to be a contest of state-by-state races," said his spokesman Kevin Madden, dismissing questions on the possibility of Romney dropping out. Fehrnstrom asserted that no single Republican emerged as the nominee on Tuesday.
Just a week ago, after Romney finished second to McCain in Florida's Republican primary despite investing huge sums, Madden had predicted better performances in states that Romney lost on Tuesday.
Polls in states that vote next week have not shown Romney ahead, while former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's strong performance on Tuesday with wins in five states complicates the race and crushes the notion of a two-man contest with McCain.
Huckabee's wins were fueled by strong support from evangelical Christians, and he split votes with Romney among conservatives unhappy with McCain's stances on immigration, tax cuts and campaign finance reform.
"Romney wants to have one big argument against John McCain that he can deliver conservative votes -- and he couldn't do that. I'm not sure how much longer he can realistically continue," said Princeton's Zelizer.
(Editing by Stuart Grudgings and Cynthia Osterman) 