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Posted: February 6, 2008 12:05 AM
Romney Marches Westward, Slowly Picking up Steam
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In desperate need of some momentum and a cache of delegates, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the Minnesota caucus and several Western states after a disconcerting lull since his early win tonight in Massachusetts.

Romney has now won five states: Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota and two states where hometown loyalty was expected to carry him, Massachusetts and Utah, where he attended college and has a large base of Mormon supporters.

The Minnesota win was a coup for Romney, as Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has been an outspoken supporter of Arizona Sen. John McCain.

“This is a breakthrough for Mitt Romney, let’s give him credit for it,” syndicated columnist Mark Shields said on the NewsHour in response to the Minnesota results.

A Romney supporter Brian Sullivan told the Minnesota Star-Tribune that McCain is too far outside the party’s mainstream because of taxes and immigration.

“He’s constantly gone on the side that alienates the average Minnesota Republican voter,” Sullivan said.

With McCain nearly sweeping the Northwest and Huckabee making unexpected strides in the South, Romney will need the support of more Western states, including Colorado and a good showing in California, to stay afloat.

“As politics is a zero sum game, the better Mike Huckabee does, the worse Mitt Romney does,” wrote Marc Ambinder of the Atlantic Monthly.

Earlier tonight in Massachusetts, Romney implied he would not give up, regardless.