Romney slams Santorum’s ‘dirty campaign tricks’

Mitt Romney accused rival Rick Santorum of dirty tricks, for encouraging Democrats to defeat him in Michigan’s primary as voters determined his fate in his home state.

Romney, running neck-and-neck with rival Republican presidential candidate Santorum in opinion polls, charged that his opponent was trying to “kidnap” the party’s primary process in Michigan by appealing to Democrats to cast their votes in the contest that was open to supporters of both parties.

Romney’s father was a popular Michigan governor and Romney was born and raised in Michigan. But a poll underscored how the former Massachusetts governor is still viewed with suspicion by conservative Republicans.

The ABC News/Washington Post poll showed Romney had fallen to a new low among the most conservative Americans. He is viewed favourably by just 38% among strong conservatives, down 14% from a week earlier. 60% of that group view Santorum positively.

To boost Santorum, supporters paid for an automated “robocall” to Democrats to encourage members of the other party to vote for the former Pennsylvania senator.

Romney was furious. “There’s a real effort to kidnap our primary process, and if we want Republicans to nominate the Republican who takes on Barack Obama, I need Republicans to get out and vote and say no to the dirty tricks of a desperate campaign,” he told a news conference at his headquarters in Livonia.

Next week will see a defining day of the race for the nomination to take on Obama in the Nov 6 general election — the Mar 6 “Super Tuesday,” when voters in 10 states go to the polls.

Plotting a comeback, Newt Gingrich was looking beyond yesterday’s primaries in Michigan and Arizona and counting on Southern voters to rejuvenate his struggling presidential campaign.

Gingrich is pinning his hopes on winning Georgia and showing strength in Tennessee, Oklahoma and other Super Tuesday states.

The former House Speaker was starting a three-day bus tour in Georgia, which he represented in Congress for 20 years, to fend off rivals Romney and Santorum.

By skipping Michigan and Arizona, Gingrich was betting that one of his rivals will emerge from yesterday’s primaries a weaker candidate, giving Gingrich a chance to become the main alternative to the front-runner and claw his way back into the topsy-turvy race.

Gingrich has acknowledged that winning Georgia is crucial to his campaign, but he has stopped short of saying that a loss there would force him out of the race.

Gingrich disputed talk that his campaign is in decline, saying he is working methodically to build up his delegate support. Gingrich said he believed he would do well in the Super Tuesday contests and then win both Alabama and Mississippi.

Asked about speculation that his relatively poor standing could force him to the sidelines, Gingrich said such talk is not new. “I’ve been down this road before,” he said.