WASHINGTON — Republican presidential hopefuls today turn their focus to the biggest contests yet — Ohio and the rest of the 10 states that vote next week on Super Tuesday.
In Ohio, the crown jewel of Super Tuesday, the brawl between front-runners Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum promises to get even bloodier.
Santorum yesterday gave a preview of the fight ahead when he fired back at Romney’s accusations of “dirty tricks” stemming from Santorum’s robo-call appeal to Democrats to vote against Romney in Michigan’s open primary.
“If you want to hit me, hit me. But don’t go out and complain if I hit back,” Santorum said on the Laura Ingraham radio show.
Votes were still being cast yesterday in Michigan and Arizona when Santorum made a quick detour across the Ohio border for a “Rick Rally” in Perrysburg.
The former US senator from Pennsylvania, in a University of Cincinnati poll released yesterday, enjoyed an 11-point advantage over Romney, 37-26 percent.
Romney, the multimillionaire businessman and former Massachusetts governor who has struggled to connect with blue-collar voters, yesterday acknowledged his shortcomings.
“I’m very pleased with the campaign, its organization. The candidate sometimes makes mistakes,” he said at his Michigan campaign headquarters outside Detroit.