Santorum looks to Louisiana to revive campaign

Underdog Rick Santorum is fighting for a big win in Louisiana as rival Mitt Romney gets closer to locking in the Republican nod to take on President Barack Obama in November. But even an expected knock-out performance in the southern state of Louisiana on Saturday will not help Santorum make much of a dent in Romney's commanding lead in all-important delegates. Romney has now won 21 out of 33 nomination contests, while former Pennsylvania senator Santorum has notched up 10 wins -- largely with the help of evangelical Christians and the party's most conservative members. Pressure is increasing for Republicans to rally behind Romney and end the bloody and divisive primary battle before it hurts the party's chances of defeating Obama and winning the White House. The party found unity in raining criticism upon Obama on the second anniversary of his landmark health care reform Friday. But that criticism was drowned out of the news cycle after Santorum told supporters "we might as well stay with what we have" if the best the Republican Party can do is nominate someone "who's just going to be a little different than the person in there." Romney immediately pounced on the remark, saying he was "disappointed" Santorum would "rather have Barack Obama as president than a Republican." "This election is more important than any one person," he added. While Romney focused his campaign appearances on attacking so-called Obamacare as an "unfolding disaster for the American economy," his surrogates were deployed to pound Santorum. "Senator Santorum is going off the rails," Ted Kanavas, a former state senator and chair of Romney's Wisconsin campaign, said in a statement. Jim Roddey, a party county chair from Santorum's home state of Pennsylvania, disparaged the candidate's "arrogant remarks," calling them "the most inappropriate comments made by any Republican candidate for president in recent history." Santorum shot back by insisting it was "preposterous" to say he would support Obama. "I was simply making the point that there is a huge enthusiasm gap around Mitt Romney," Santorum said. "Voters have to be excited enough to actually go vote, and my campaign's movement to restore freedom is exciting this nation. If this election is about Obama versus the Obama-Lite candidate, we'll have a tough time rallying this nation." Such "outbursts" will only weaken the party in an election where turnout will be crucial, said conservative blogger John Hayward. "It is absolutely unacceptable for the Number Two candidate to tell his supporters they might as well stay home if the other guy wins the nomination," he wrote on the Human Events news website. Santorum had a 14-point lead over Romney in Louisiana in a survey released by Public Policy Polling, thanks in part to conservatives abandoning former House speaker Newt Gingrich. But the victory could be one of Santorum's last as the race heads to states where Romney has the advantage. The former Massachusetts governor was ahead by 13 points in a Rasmussen survey of voters in the midwestern state of Wisconsin, which heads to the polls on April 3 along with Maryland and the US capital Washington. While Santorum is expected to carry his home state of Pennsylvania in the following contest on April 24, the victory will be overshadowed if Romney is able to sweep New York, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island, which also vote that day. Santorum's campaign said earlier this week that it is looking ahead to May, when the southern states of North Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky, Arkansas and Texas vote. It has also vowed to take the fight all the way to the Republican convention in August if Romney is not able to win the 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the nomination. But if enough of the party's "super delegates" throw their weight behind Romney, the race could be essentially over long before then. Romney currently has an estimated 560 delegates, while Santorum has won 246, according to the website Real Clear Politics. Gingrich, who has won two states, has 141 delegates, while Texas Representative Ron Paul, who has not won a single contest, has 66 thanks to the proportional distribution of some delegates. Since many states award delegates at state conventions, the results of nominating events do not translate easily into an exact delegate count.