Super Tuesday fails to produce decisive victory

Mitt Romney reached out to conservatives suspicious of him and sought to assert himself as the inevitable Republican US presidential nominee, despite failing to deliver a knockout blow to his rivals in the biggest round of nominating contests.

Romney won in six of the 10 states holding “Super Tuesday” primaries and caucuses, including a narrow victory in the most closely watched contest in Ohio. But rival Rick Santorum won in three states and Newt Gingrich captured one, raising the chances that the divisive Republican fight could drag on for months.

The results firmed up Romney’s front-runner status for the party’s nomination to challenge President Barack Obama, a Democrat, in the Nov 6 US election. But the strong showing by Santorum underscored Romney’s continued inability to win over large swathes of the Republican base, who question the moderate former Massachusetts governor’s conservative credentials.