Mitt Romney brought his bid for the Republican presidential nomination to Atlanta on Wednesday, but a trio of defeats a day earlier reshuffled the race as the campaign rumbles its way toward the March 6 primary in Georgia.
Romney, the presumed front-runner for the GOP nomination, was trounced Tuesday by former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri. All were essentially beauty contests, as no delegates were committed, but Santorum's performance left Romney scrambling to reassert his influence on the race.
But in an interview before a rally at a marble counter and tile gallery in northeast Atlanta, Romney would not commit to going "all in" in Georgia.
"We want to compete and get support from every possible state that's up for grabs," Romney said. "Hopefully we can win Georgia. I'm not making any predictions."
Asked whether he would be back to the state before March 6, Romney demurred.
"We've got a lot of states on Super Tuesday," he said, "and I'm happy to be here today."
Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, was headed from the event to a fundraiser at the W Hotel Midtown. Romney has raised more money in Georgia than any other candidate. His supporters have told reporters Romney would love to win the state that for 20 years was home to rival candidate Newt Gingrich.
Before Tuesday Gingrich was considered to be Romney's chief competition, and the former Georgia congressman and U.S. House speaker was not ceding his territory to Romney.
"Swing away," Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond said when asked whether Romney would try to sink Gingrich's bid in Georgia.
Gingrich will spend Feb. 17 and 18 in Georgia, and he's bringing friends. Texas Gov. Rick Perry and McDonough resident Herman Cain, both former candidates for the GOP nomination, will campaign in Georgia with Gingrich, as will former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson.
Romney has yet to put much financial muscle behind his Georgia operation. No campaign, or supporting super PAC, has bought television time in Atlanta, leaving reason to doubt how engaged the Georgia campaign will be.
But Kennesaw State University political scientist Kerwin Swint, a former GOP strategist, believes it's just a matter of time.
"I really think the Romney people want to fight here and at least come close to winning," Swint said.
At least Swint thinks Romney should do so.
"He's got to," Swint said. "If he can do well in Georgia, that really hurts Gingrich. It's a state where Romney has to fight, he has to put a lot of money here.."‘
Camille Sherrill of Woodstock is glad Romney decided to focus on Georgia on Wednesday. She and her husband, Jake, and their three kids made the trip to Atlanta to see their preferred candidate.
"He seems like most genuine and honest of all the candidates," she said.
Romney had seemed ready to roll into Georgia after consecutive wins in Florida and Nevada. But Santorum changed that Tuesday.
State Rep. Buzz Brockway, R-Lawrenceville, who has endorsed Santorum, said his candidate committed to returning to Georgia before his wins Tuesday night. Santorum last visited Georgia in November.
"We expect to fight hard in Georgia," Brockway said, noting that because Georgia Republicans will award 76 delegates on a proportional basis, a candidate can pick up delegates without winning the entire state.
Romney still leads the delegate count -- the only count that truly matters -- with 107, to 69 for Santorum, 32 for Gingrich and 9 for U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. It takes 1,144 to win the nomination.
In Atlanta, Romney mostly focused on President Barack Obama during his speech before about 300 supporters at Bottega Stone. He did, however, take swipes at Santorum and Gingrich.
"You’ve got people running in this race who likewise have spent their entire career in politics," he said.
Romney deplored the state of Georgia's economy, noting its unemployment rate of nearly 10 percent, and vowed he could do better.
Georgia is one of 10 states voting March 6, and its 76 delegates will be the biggest prize of the day. Gingrich's stated strategy has been to make it to Super Tuesday, win Georgia and Tennessee, do well in Ohio and a few other states that day and build momentum to Alabama and Mississippi on March 13.
Hammond, Gingrich's spokesman, said Romney will have to explain himself in Georgia. On gun rights, health care, taxes and abortion, Hammond said Georgians will have trouble with Romney's past.
"I'm very confident in the good people of Georgia being able to sniff out exactly what it is he's shoveling," Hammond said.
Romney, meanwhile, this week dumped on Gingrich a daily dose of opposition research, including accusations Gingrich lobbied state officials on behalf of companies he represented.
“The devil is in the details, and the details suggest that Newt was lobbying for a whole host of clients, despite his claims to the contrary," Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said.
Still, in a primary season where super PACs have spent more than $56 million so far, there is no sign that spending is coming to Georgia.
As recently as two weeks ago Georgia television stations were expecting a tsunami of spending similar to that seen in the South Carolina ($14.5 million) and Florida ($15.8 million) primaries. There’s no telling who will spend how much in the final 10 days before the Georgia primary, which is when the bulk of ads will air, WXIA general manager John Deushane said Wednesday.
“If you had asked me the same question yesterday before Santorum won [in Colorado, Missouri and Minnesota], I would have had a different answer,” he said. “Campaigns buy in critical states. Will Georgia be a critical state? If it’s a close race, they’ll be spending.”
Staff writer Daniel Malloy contributed to this article.
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