Romney sweeps 5 states, then attacks Obama
WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney laid claim to a fiercely contested Republican presidential nomination Tuesday with a fistful of primary triumphs, then urged all who struggle in a shaky U.S. economy to “hold on a little longer, a better America begins tonight.”
Eager to turn the political page to the general election, Romney accused President Obama of “false promises and weak leadership.” He said, “Everywhere I go, Americans are tired of being tired, and many of those who are fortunate enough to have a job are working harder for less.”
The former Massachusetts governor spoke as he swept primary victories in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York, the first contests since Rick Santorum conceded the nomination.
“Mitt Romney is going to be the nominee, and I’m going to support the nominee,” the former Pennsylvania senator said on CNN. He added he intended to meet on Wednesday with the winner’s aides.
Romney, speaking to cheering supporters in New Hampshire, said, “The last few years have been the best Barack Obama can do, but it’s not the best America can do.”
He delivered his remarks to a national television audience as well from the state where he won his first primary of the campaign and one of about a dozen states expected to be battlegrounds in the summer and fall campaign for the White House.
Six months before the election, opinion polls show the economy to be the top issue by far in the race. The same surveys point toward a close contest, with several suggesting a modest advantage for the incumbent.
Obama won the presidency in 2008 in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression, and since then economic growth has rebounded slowly and joblessness has receded gradually while housing prices have continued to drop in many areas of the country.
In an indication that Romney was treating the moment as something of an opening of the general election campaign, his speech seemed aimed at the millions of voters — nonconservatives and others — who have yet to pay close attention to the race for the White House.
He blended biographical details, an attack on Obama and the promise of a better future, leaving behind his struggle to reassure conservative voters who have been reluctant to swing behind his candidacy.
“As I look around at the millions of Americans without work, the graduates who can’t get a job, the soldiers who return home to an unemployment line, it breaks my heart,” he said. “This does not have to be. It is the result of failed leadership and of a faulty vision.”
Romney is still hundreds of delegates shy of a nominating majority, although he is far ahead of his most persistent rivals. There were 209 at stake in Tuesday’s primaries, and he won at least 52, with his haul expected to grow significantly.
That left him with 750 delegates of the 1,144 needed for the nomination, compared with 260 for Santorum, 137 for Newt Gingrich and 75 for Ron Paul.
Santorum suspended his campaign two weeks ago rather than risk losing a primary in his home state of Pennsylvania.
Gingrich, too, seemed to be heading toward the sidelines, although he said he intends to complete his plans for several days of campaigning in North Carolina.