BELLEVILLE, IL (KTVI) – Tuesday is Primary Day in Illinois for the Republican Party. One of the candidates is in damage-control mode after what some are calling a misstep. Rick Santorum got caught in the ‘soundbite loop’.
That is not a place any candidate wants to be. It’s usually full of bad, or at least questionable, stuff they said on the campaign trail. And if you missed it, frontrunner MittRomney is more than happy to fill you in.
Romney stopped by Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. He held a town hall meeting. The former Massachusetts Governor and businessman defended small government and encouraged students to follow their dreams.
He also brought up Santorum’s visit to Moline, Illinois. Santorum tried to address critics who say it is mathematically impossible to get the nomination.
He ended up saying this:
“I don’t care what the unemployment rate is going to be. It doesn’t matter to me, my campaign doesn’t hinge on unemployment rates.’
Romney ran with that all day.
“I do care about the unemployment rate. It does bother me. I want to get people back to work.”
Add in the fact that a paperwork mistake makes Santorum ineligible for 10 of the 54 delegates, Tuesday could be a tough day for the former Pennsylvania senator. But, the current runner-up points to a little United States — and Illinois — history.
‘Reagan ran that insurgent race in 1976,’ Santorum spoke of the late President Ronald Reagan, who was born in Illinois. ‘People said, `Why don’t you get out of the race?` He won 11 states in 1976, and if we win 11 that will be the 11th state that I’ve won in this election. ‘
Before Tuesday`s Illinois Primary election, Romney already had almost half of the 1,144 delegates he needed for a chance to unseat President Barack Obama. Santorum had half that number.
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