After 3 wins, Romney eyes Obama

Reuters, Milwaukee : Mitt Romney made a big leap toward winning the Republican US presidential nomination with a clean sweep of three primaries on Tuesday that handed a stinging defeat to chief rival Rick Santorum.
The victories in Wisconsin, Maryland and Washington DC will increase appeals from Republican party leaders for Santorum to quit so that Romney can gird for a difficult fight against president Barack Obama in the November 6 election.
In his victory speech in Milwaukee, Romney ignored Santorum and gave voters a sense of what the general election campaign will be like, sharply criticizing Obama for his handling of the US economy and high gasoline prices. “It’s enough to make you think that years of flying around on Air Force One, surrounded by an adoring staff of true believers telling you what a great job you are doing, well, that might be enough to make you a little out of touch,” Romney said.
In a clear sign that Obama sees Romney as his chief obstacle to re-election, the president singled him out by name and criticized him in a speech on Tuesday.
The trio of defeats puts Santorum’s campaign in serious trouble. He is badly trailing Romney in both delegates and fundraising. “I think it’s lights out for Santorum,” said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean.
“He can run a sideshow campaign for the next couple of months, but the spotlight is on Romney.”
Santorum vowed to stay in the race at least until April 24 when his home state of Pennsylvania votes and where he is hanging on to a lead in the polls over Romney. The New Nation.