Preemptive

Romney Goes After Santorum

Ahead of Tuesday primaries.

Mitt Romney isn’t going to give Rick Santorum the chance to surge again. His top aides and Tim Pawlenty—working on Romney’s behalf—launched a string of attacks on Santorum ahead of today’s Republican primaries in Minnesota, Colorado, and Missouri, calling him a “champion of earmarks.” Romney’s campaign also brought back Santorum’s 2008 endorsement of him, when he said conservatives should vote for Romney. The tactic is a treatment the Romney campaign had previously reserved for Newt Gingrich, and Santorum reacted by accusing Romney of throwing “the kitchen sink” at him. Today’s primaries are nonbinding, though they would give the winner some momentum. Recent data from Public Policy Polling shows Santorum in the lead in Missouri and Minnesota, but a large percentage of voters say they could still change their mind.