Image source: The New York Times
BY ZACH TOOMBS
GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney strolled to an easy win Saturday in the Nevada caucuses. The candidate took the vast majority of the vote in a state where his Mormon faith made him a solid favorite.
As always, Romney kept his sights on the president in his victory speech.
“We’re going to build an America where hope is a new job with a paycheck, not a faded word on an old bumper sticker.”
The win was no surprise in a state where Romney carried 51 percent of the vote in the 2008 caucus. But, as POLITICO notes, Nevada could serve as a launch pad for a series of Romney wins sure to damage his opponents.
“For Romney, Nevada and the next string of contests represent an opportunity to deny his opponents political oxygen. In addition to being favored in Nevada, Romney is the front-runner or is strongly competitive in all the other states voting between now and the March 6 Super Tuesday primaries.”
Gingrich also spoke from Nevada in a news conference. The candidate, who finished second in Nevada with 25 percent of the vote, went on the offensive against Romney for what he saw as inaccuracies in prior debates.
“I’ve never had a person stand next to me in a civil engagement and be as substantially dishonest as he was. I mean, go look at what he said. You had Larry Sabato in the middle of the debate Tweeting that Romney was being factually false.”
Finally, on CNN panelist Erick Erickson says Gingrich’s resilience could cause headaches for team Romney.
“This is Mitt Romney’s worst nightmare. You have a candidate who is conveying that he would rather beat Mitt Romney than be president of the United States. And there are a majority of Republicans still who agree with him on that.”
(AOC)
Both Ron Paul and Rick Santorum, who finished third and fourth in Saturday’s caucuses, spent the day away from Nevada, turning their focus to upcoming primaries in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado.
