Discussing the 2012 Primary Season on Sky News and Al Jazeera

From the beginning of the 2012 election process, Mitt Romney has had a great deal of momentum but has failed to generate much in the way of enthusiasm among the Republican electorate. He is singularly unable to win the hearts and minds of the GOP base, enabling Rick Santorum to cling to a remote hope that, just perhaps, he could emerge as the eventual candidate.

Due to Romney’s inability to nail down his advantage, the remaining candidates are refusing to drop out. Rand Paul and Newt Gingrich are only polling at 10% and their support would most likely swing behind Santorum, but his own inability to close the deal with the electorate is increasing pressure on him to withdraw from the race.

The election season turns to Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, and a series of states in New England and along the eastern seaboard. Santorum should be expecting to carry his home state of Pennsylvania, but Romney appears to be ahead with only days to go. Santorum will be working to claw back his advantage as a favorite son in the state, but a failure to do so would be humiliating and effectively end his campaign.

The Republicans face a real problem as Barack Obama's figures are picking up heading into the summer months. The nation’s unemployment figures are improving, along with the rest of the economic numbers, undermining any Republican efforts to challenge him on pocketbook issues. Barack Obama's timing looks impeccable, further exacerbating the expectation that he is set for re-election.