Roseville Professor Sees Romney The Republican Nominee Despite Surging Santorum

Despite Rick Santorum's strong victory Tuesday night in Minnesota's Republican precinct caucses, a Roseville communication professor is predicting that Mitt Romney will still emerge as the GOP's national presidential nominee. 

"I think Romney will be the nominee, but it won't be smooth sailing," Kent Kaiser, an assistant professor of communication at Northwestern College in Roseville, told Roseville Patch. 

Kaiser, a fourth-generation Republican, explained, "I think people are viewing him as the most electable" candidate to oppose President Barack Obama in the November general presidential election. The issue of electability will probably come a bigger issue in upcoming weeks in states scheduled to hold primaries, events that usually draw many more voters than precinct caucuses, he said.

Kaiser contended, "People going to these primaries will probably think about it (the presidential nomination) more strategically with their ultimate goal to beat the incumbent president."

That's a view shared by John Kysylyczyn, a Roseville Republican and former city mayor. A Romney supporter, Kysylyczyn said he isn't focusing on the candidate's ideaologies but how they stand on the economy. That narrows the field down to 
Romney and Paul and for Kysylyczyn that choice, he said, then becomes Romney.

"I think Romney winds up with the ability to get the support" of most American voters, said Kysylyczyn, who attended the House 54A precinct caucuses.   

Kaiser credited the strong showing of Santorum and second-place finisher Ron Paul in Minnesota (including Roseville state House Dlstrict 54A) to those two politicians making appearances in the state and energizing their supporters.

With nearly 400 participants turning out for the House District 54A Republican precinct caucuses, Santorum garnered 159 votes. Ron Paul placed second with 111 votes followed by Mitt Romney, 75 votes, and Newt Gingrich a distant fourth with  35 votes. 

House District 54A is comprised mostly of Roseville (eight precincts) with the territory also including two precincts from St. Anthony Village and one from Lauderdale. The district's GOP caucuses were held at Roseville Area Middle School.

Meanwhile, as of Wednesday after, it was clear that Santorum had an unassailable lead throughout Minnesota.

With 98 percent of the ballots counted, Santorum had 21,908 votes, or 45 percent. That was about the same percentage of the vote he’d maintained throughout the ballot counting Tuesday night. Paul came in a strong second, with 13,185 votes, or 27 percent.

Romney, the presumed front-runner going into Tuesday night, got only 8,207 votes, 17 percent. And Gingrich, who won in South Carolina last month, got 5,254 votes, or 11 percent.