Former Massachusetts governor treats second-place finish as bump in the road
Rascal Flatt’s rendition of “Life is a Highway” blared out of speakers at Mitt Romney’s election night rally Saturday, but for the former Massachusetts governor, the race for the Republican nomination has felt more like a roller coaster.
After a dominating win in New Hampshire, Romney entered the South Carolina primary the front-runner with a full head of steam. However, Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s dropout and subsequent endorsement of Newt Gingrich, as well as a string of strong debate performances by Gingrich gave the former Speaker of the House enough of a surge to win the nation’s “First in the South” primary election.
And even as the announcement was displayed on large screens all around, the mood at Romney’s rally in the Moore building in the South Carolina Fairgrounds was anything but somber.
Students behind the podium waved signs and American flags that had been distributed to them by campaign aides. They did the wave, which made its way around the room. They chanted “We! Need! Mitt!” and “President! Romney!” as though the night had been a victory for their candidate.
When Romney took the stage, he acknowledged the enthusiastic supporters behind him.
“You should see them when we win,” Romney said to laughs. “It’s really something.”
He then acknowledged that the race has become “interesting,” and congratulated the other candidates.
“We’re now three contests into a long primary season,” he said. “This is a hard fight because there’s so much worth fighting for.”
Columbia resident Phillip Lawson, 68, said he believes Romney will eventually win the nomination and break the Palmetto State’s three-decade record of picking the eventual Republican nominee.
“I’m disappointed in the people of South Carolina for not seeing the real candidate,” Lawson said. “I think Newt has too much baggage to get elected; we’ll see that if he gets the nomination. I pray to God he does not get it.”
His wife Donna Lawson, 57, agreed that Gingrich may have won South Carolina, but Romney will win the nomination.
“I’m disappointed,” Donna Lawson said, “but he’s not going to give up.”
She said Romney’s record in Massachusetts proved he’ll be able to lead the United States.
“Romney is absolutely the man who can scrape this country back out financially,” Donna Lawson said. “He did a lot of great things for Massachusetts. My sister-in-law lived there for 30 years; I went and visited her a lot during that time. He’s a God-fearing man, and he will do the right thing.”
Jillian Wheeler, a 23-year-old student and Romney volunteer who had traveled all the way from Eastern Oregon University to campaign for him, said she thought the results boded badly for the Republican party as a whole.
“It’s sad,” Wheeler said. “It would have been nice to save the Republican party from the embarrassment [of a drawn-out primary election season].”
But championing free enterprise in his speech, Romney indicated that the competition is beneficial.
“I believe competition makes us all better,” Romney said. “I know it’s making this campaign stronger.”
Whether it serves to help or hurt him, Romney’s loss in South Carolina has thrown him for a loop. The upcoming elections in Florida and Nevada will be crucial to his campaign, and as one of the chanting supporters, 23-year-old Columbia resident Brielle Porter said, the race goes on.
“We’re just looking forward to Florida and what we can do there,” Porter said.