Obama Campaign Turns Attention to Santorum

Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, seen here speaking at a rally in Oklahoma City, Feb. 9, 2012, has emerged as Mitt Romney’s leading challenger for the GOP presidential nomination. (Photo credit: Eric Gay / AP via The Washington Post)

By Sandhya Somashekhar

February 17, 2012

Excerpts

Rick Santorum’s surprising momentum at a critical stage in the presidential race has forced the Obama campaign to reassess its reelection strategy, which for months has revolved around the likelihood that Mitt Romney would end up as the president’s Republican rival.

Obama’s Chicago-based reelection team has begun digging into Santorum’s background, diverting opposition researchers who thus far had been focused on Romney. …

Though campaign officials still view Romney as the likely nominee, they have begun to consider the implications of a Santorum victory. They view him as a weaker general election opponent, but one who has shown an ability to connect with the population that is most disillusioned with Obama: white, blue-collar voters.

“Looking at the way the Republican race is unfolding, we’d be derelict if we didn’t begin looking at Santorum as a real potential opponent,” said Stephanie Cutter, deputy campaign manager for the Obama campaign. “We hadn’t been doing that, but circumstances have changed.”

Santorum … has centered his message on his social conservatism and blue-collar roots. But he has also tried to address his biggest weakness — the perception that Romney would do better against Obama. …

Santorum’s campaign further tried to reinforce his electability message by announcing  Friday that Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, who previously had endorsed Romney, was switching his support to Santorum because he believed he could win against Obama. …

Democratic strategists say they long had prepared for a winding and unpredictable Republican primary race, but Santorum’s surge caught them by surprise, partly because they did not expect Romney to face such a difficult path to the nomination. …

Read the full story at the Washington Post