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Cincinnati
Enquirer…
Can
Romney unite Ohio delegation?
Many Buckeyes attending convention originally
were Rick Santorum backers
Aug. 26, 2012
Written
by Paul E. Kostyu
Republicans
trek to Tampa, Fla., for the
Republican National Convention this week for the coronation of Romney
and his
running mate, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., as their presidential ticket.
Smiles
will abound in Tampa, and Ohio
Republicans will unite there behind the Romney-Ryan ticket, but the
convention
is just the start of the final campaign to capture the presidency. No
Republican has won the White House without Ohio.
Romney
won 38 percent of the vote in Ohio’s
Republican primary. So his top challenge may be getting the other 62
percent to
be as enthusiastic about him come election day.
Two
polls released Thursday showed Romney
trailing President Barack Obama by three and six percentage points,
making Ohio
a toss-up.
Ohio
will send 66 delegates and 62
alternatives, among them Ohio Senate President Tom Niehaus, R-New
Richmond, and
Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Hartmann.
Many
of the delegates were one-time supporters
of Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who came within one percentage
point of
beating Romney in the Ohio primary.
Santorum
supporters didn’t trust Romney and
thought him too moderate. Romney supporters said Santorum was too far
to the
right to be electable in November.
Santorum
famously compared Romney to Obama,
saying in Chillicothe: “We don’t need a choice between Tweedledum and
Tweedledee.” Now Santorum is scheduled to speak at the convention in
support of
Romney.
The
tea party, an active force in the state –
particularly in Southwest Ohio – rallied for the more conservative
Santorum by
turning out for his speeches and getting people to the polls to vote.
H.C.
Buck Niehoff, an attorney and former
Hamilton County Republican chairman, said Romney can’t ignore the tea
party,
because he needs to shore up his conservative credentials.
Attorney
General Mike DeWine illustrated the
fickle nature of Republican voters in Ohio. He first endorsed former
Minnesota
Gov. Tim Pawlenty, then Romney, and then Santorum. Now DeWine is headed
to the
GOP convention as an at-large delegate who will vote for Romney.
Enter
Paul Ryan
“Fiscal
conservatives and social conservatives
are really excited about Ryan,” said Lori Viars, a board member of the
Warren
County Republican Party. Viars, who is active in Ohio’s anti-abortion
movement,
campaigned for Santorum before the state’s primary…
Read
the rest of the article at the Cincinnati
Enquirer
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