Desperately seeking a leader

Even after Super Tuesday, the Republican Party is still without a leader. It has a frontrunner – former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney – but even though 20 percent of the total delegates were allocated on Super Tuesday, those who thought the picture would become clear were disappointed. The Super Tuesday results only made the candidates hungrier. Both Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, who won in the more conservative southern states, do not intend to give up.

Romney’s most important victory was in Ohio (a key election state), but even better for him was Gingrich’s victory in Georgia – with the largest number of delegates (76). This big boost will keep Gingrich in the game and take votes away from Santorum – Romney’s chief threat.

Though Romney did emerge the big winner, the problem is that Santorum, who won in Oklahoma, Tennessee and North Dakota, did not really lose. The Republican Party will keep chugging along looking for a worthy leader with the best chances of defeating U.S. President Barack Obama in November.

Romney, who won in six of the ten Super Tuesday states (including his home state of Massachusetts), is now focused on accumulating delegates rather than winning states, much like Obama did during the 2008 Democratic primaries. Romney had hoped to speed ahead like a hare and command a big lead, but reality has forced him to rethink his strategy and act like a tortoise. He does not really have a choice. From Vermont to Alaska – Super Tuesday showed Romney that he is incapable of dealing a knock-out blow to Santorum. All he can do is win – and in certain places not even that. Romney's compass, for example, is unfamiliar with the south - he seems to be unable to find his way there.

One thing is definite: the Republican Party has room for concern. Romney is still far from convincing the party’s conservative voters in the south. They do not see him as a natural candidate to represent them. Romney really wanted to win in Georgia and Tennessee, after his loss to Gingrich in South Carolina in January. But Santorum, and Gingrich too, are still a far cry from being the candidate who can win a general election. After more than 20 debates, and primary votes in more than 20 states, the Republican ranks are suddenly thinking about introducing a new candidate – maybe Florida Governor Jeb Bush, for example.

But Obama is convinced that he will be facing off with Romney come November. He is probably tickled pink over the difficulties Romney has been facing in various regions of the United States, and this does not bode well for Romney. But there is still the possibility that things will change once Romney wins the nomination, the same way things changed for Obama when he was selected by the Democrats in the 2008 primaries.

The battle over Ohio was the most pivotal one for Romney in this round, much like Michigan was last week. Romney needed to prove to the Americans and to himself that he has a strong following in the middle class – a class which is gaining more and more political clout around the world. This group of average Republicans with average incomes is becoming more and more of a deciding factor in determining the outcome of the primaries. Romney and Santorum are stubbornly fighting over the same voters. In Tennessee it was Santorum who won the middle class over, but he also enjoys more and more of the Evangelist vote as well. It is no wonder that he thinks he has a shot at winning the nomination in Tampa this August.

Former first lady Barbara Bush said this week that the 2012 Republican race was the ugliest she had ever seen. But she, too, supports Romney. Is that a sign of things to come-

After Super Tuesday failed to clearly crown a winner, Romney should hope that the next stops – Mississippi, Alabama, Kansas and Missouri – will work out better for him. He may have to adopt a thick southern accent.

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