MIAMI, Fla. ? While his rivals will be here for Tuesday?s primary, Rick Santorum is heading west.
Trailing far behind Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich in the polls here, Santorum won?t even be in Florida on primary day as he doesn?t want to waste time in a state he seems to know he cannot win.
Continue ReadingEven if he finishes in the back of the pack in Florida, Santorum says he will continue to run, hitting Nevada, Missouri, Colorado, and maybe Arizona ? cheaper states where delegates are claimed proportionally. And then he says he will go on to super Tuesday on March 6.
?This race is changing every few weeks,? Santorum says in his stump speech. ?It?s going to change again. And what we need to do is to be out there sounding a very strong, consistent message, compete in every state, and that?s what we?re doing.?
?You keep out there, you keep your name out, and lots of things can happen between now and August and we?re going to be in a position to take advantage of that,? he says.
Santorum?s schedule is in flux after his young daughter was hospitalized Saturday night in Philadelphia, and he canceled a Florida campaign appearance scheduled for Sunday morning. But he?s likely to be back in Florida before Tuesday.
After winning the Iowa caucuses, Santorum?s decision to spend time in New Hampshire instead of heading straight to South Carolina, where voters were considered more receptive to his message, puzzled many. But his advisers say there?s a method to such madness. Without the kind of money of some of his competitors, he can still gain earned media in the early primary states and turn in strong debate performances. If he wins delegates in the caucus states and stays focused on his message, eventually Santorum ? not Gingrich ? will prove the stronger alternative to Romney, his advisers hope.
John Brabender, Santorum?s chief strategist, explained the campaign wants a ?clear shot at Romney.?
?That?s ultimately what we?re looking for,? Brabender said.
Brabender said it would have been disastrous to not play in Florida, even if it seemed obvious they couldn?t win the important state. The media would have written Santorum off as unable to run or win a national campaign.
The campaign initially planned to buy advertising time here, but decided to reroute the cash to Nevada instead. Santorum?s first commercial aired in Nevada during Thursday night?s debate.
?If we would have bet the ranch on Florida?and hadn?t won, then we wouldn?t have had very many options,? Brabender said. ?We wanted to be [in Florida] so we were in the dialogue. Instead of targeting by voters, we wanted to target by how much press we could get.?
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