Presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s three-state victory recently has shaken the campaign for former front-runner Mitt Romney, who is now fighting back.
According to polls, Santorum held a lead with more than 40 percent of the votes in both the Colorado and Minnesota state caucuses and 55 percent in the Missouri primary last week. Romney came in second in two states, with 35 percent in Colorado and 25 percent in Missouri, and earned third place behind Ron Paul in Minnesota with 17 percent.
Watch his victory speech:
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Santorum’s success in recent campaigns has included lumping Romney in with Newt Gingrich as a “long-time Washington insider” making poor decisions on spending without significant returns, according to Bloomberg News.
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“I’m really impressed with Santorum’s victories in Missouri, Colorado and Minnesota,” Nguyen said. “However, I think it’s just a surge, and he will not have the chance to win in the end.”
Josh Flores, a senior from Austin, Texas, majoring in geology, said he felt Santorum’s success was largely due to a split decision among voters.
“Overall I think he may do well because of negative feelings toward Romney,” Flores said. “That’s supported by the fact that he either has a large percent of the popular vote, or almost none.”
According to Flores, many of Santorum’s and Gingrich’s supporters are voters who dislike Romney, which could potentially make it harder for Santorum to sway independent voters should one of his fellow candidates drop out.
“I think Gingrich and Santorum are splitting the vote, so if one dropped out, it would help the other,” Flores said. “I see it as most Americans are trying to pick the ‘lesser of two evils.'”
Regardless of the accuracy of the attacks, many students are turned off by all the bickering and feel all candidates need to focus more on the issues.
“Personally, I think all candidates should focus less on making other candidates look bad,” Nguyen said. “They should focus on their plans to make America a better country.”
As the elections move forward over the next several months, Romney supporters hope he can pull through his recent losses.
“I hope Mitt Romney will win,” Nguyen said. “Not because he’s a Mormon. But because he is a man with knowledge and experience that can help the country to recover.”
