John Hood isn’t the only one talking about the “math behind Mitt.” Jim McTague of Barron’s covers similar territory in his latest column.
There are headlines and there is reality. The GOP horse race is not nearly as close as it looks. Mitt Romney will occupy the winner’s circle when the primary season ends in Utah on June 26.
“If you look at the math, Santorum needs to win 67% of the remaining delegates to defeat Romney. He’s won 27% of the delegates this far,” points out Jim Talent, a Romney advisor. Santorum, desperate to improve his odds, has been agitating for long-shot Newt Gingrich to withdraw from the contest. Santorum has no chance in a contest with Newt in the race. Gingrich has won 107 “bound” delegates to Santorum’s 95. Romney has 339. …
… The headlines likely will favor Santorum for the rest of this month. From March 10 through March 24, 376 delegates are up for grabs in seven caucuses and five primaries. Santorum seems to have an edge in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
But Romney, for all his on-camera equanimity, has a knack for bare-knuckle brawling in the contests that matter most to him. He won in Florida and Michigan when the chips were down. Most impressively, Romney came from behind in the polls Tuesday night to beat Santorum by an unofficial 10,508 votes in Ohio.
