Romney Wins Michigan by 'Enough,' But Santorum Still a Winner in Tight Race

Mitt Romney may have won two state primaries Tuesday night, but Rick Santorum is a winner just for putting up a strong fight in Michigan.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, easily won the Arizona primary with 47.3 percent of the vote and took all 29 of the state's delegates. Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania, earned 26.6 percent of the vote, while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich came in third with 16.2 percent and Ron Paul came in fourth with 8.4 percent.

Michigan, however, was a nail-bitingly close race until the media called it a couple of hours after the polls closed. Romney won with 41.1 percent of the vote, while Santorum trailed behind with 37.9 percent. Ron Paul came in third with 11.6 percent and Newt Gingrich, who campaigned little in either state, came in fourt a 6.5 percent.

Romney's camp celebrated a victory Tuesday night, but Santorum's headquarters did as well.

We didn't win by a lot, but we won by enough, joked Romney as he took the stage in Michigan.

Won by enough is hardly the phrase of a champion. The fight in Michigan means a number of things, but overall, it's a sign that the Republican Party is more fractured than ever before.

A Huge Embarrassment for Romney

In theory, Michigan should have been an easy victory for Romney, like it was in Arizona. Michigan is the state where his father, George, was a popular three-term governor from 1963-1973. George Romney was also the president of the American Motors Corporation, which the Washington Times' Brett Decker described as the closest one gets to royalty in the world's largest car making region.

The former Massachusetts governor won Michigan in 2008 with 38.2 percent of the vote over Sen. John McCain's 29.68 percent. The simple fact that the race was so close and so unpredictable, despite Romney's family history and past popularity, is embarrassing for the campaign.

Prepare for a Very Long Primary

In most presidential elections, the party-either Republican or Democrat-has usually rallied around a single candidate at this point in the primary. Nine contests into the race, and no clear front-runner has risen above the current crop of candidates. Instead, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain and most recently Santorum have had their moment in the spotlight as the alternative to Romney.

There has already been some talk about a brokered convention in which no candidate has gained the support of the 1,144 delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination before the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida on August 27.

So far, Republicans have both dismissed the possibility and warned of its increasing odds. In an interview with CNN last week, former presidential candidate Rick Perry told CNN a brokered convention was a real possibility, but remained optimistic about it.

The process of how we get there and the process of how we choose this person is substantially less of concern to the American people, Perry said.

As long as the primary might drag on, however, Romney is determined not to reach that point. The GOP hopeful and a surrogate of his, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, have both claimed a brokered convention is exaggerated doomsday banter.

I can't imagine the four candidates saying after a long process of fund-raising and campaigning for one to two years, that we are all going to step aside and give the nomination to someone else, Romney told Fox News. We will surely find a way. The four of us would have to find a way to make it work amongst ourselves because we are going to hand this off to someone else after all the work we have done.

Is Santorum's Momentum Over?

The close battle in Michigan is a clear sign that the Republican Party is too fractured to unify their base around a candidate any time soon. Romney has been running for president for six years now, and he still hasn't been able to win over the GOP 100 percent. After a number of awkward verbal faux pas, he's still hammered for not being relatable or easy to connect to.

This is good news for Santorum. Romney's two victories may have been a blow to the Pennsylvania Republican, but the Michigan race was too close to bury Santorum's momentum. The fact that the Republican Party is failing to rally around a candidate this late in the game is also good news for Gingrich and Paul, and it gives them more time stay in the race.

Super Tuesday next week, when ten states hold their contests, is Romney's last chance to put an end to Santorum's momentum once and for all.

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