The New Indian Express, Washington, Associated Press: Mitt Romney clinched the Republican presidential nomination with a win in the Texas primary, a triumph of endurance for a candidate who fought hard to win over skeptical conservative voters he must now fire up for the campaign against President Barack Obama. According to the Associated Press count, Romney surpassed the 1,144 delegates needed to win the nomination by winning at least 97 delegates in Tuesday's Texas Republican presidential primary. Romney, who came up short in the Republican presidential race four years ago, outlasted a carousel of Republican rivals who dropped out of the state-by-state primary contest. None of his former rivals actively campaigned in Texas. The former Massachusetts governor has reached the nomination milestone with a steady message of concern about the U.S. economy, a campaign organization that dwarfed those of his Republican foes and a fundraising operation second only to that of Obama. Romney would be the first Mormon to be nominated for president by a major party. His religion has been less of an issue than it was during his failed bid four years ago. Romney must now energize conservatives who still doubt him, while persuading undecided voters that he can do a better job fixing the nation's struggling economy than Obama. "We did it!" Romney proclaimed in a message to supporters, noting that "it's only the beginning." But Romney's triumph was partially overshadowed by celebrity real estate mogul Donald Trump, who has tried to stoke doubts about whether Obama was born in the U.S. As the primary votes were tallied in Texas, Romney was at a fundraiser in Las Vegas with Trump on Tuesday night where about 200 people paid thousands of dollars to attend the event at the Trump International Hotel. Romney will continue his push to raise money with fundraisers this week in wealthy California enclaves like Hillsborough, near San Francisco, and Beverly Hills. He has at least one major fundraising event every day for the rest of the week, as well as a series of smaller events. In Obama, Romney will face a well-funded candidate with a proven campaign team in an election that will be heavily influenced by the economy. Romney's campaign went on the attack over the economy Tuesday, releasing a Web video citing the Obama administration's loan-guarantee investments in four renewable-energy firms that lost money and laid off workers. The message — "President Obama is fundamentally hostile to job creators" — has been a theme of the Romney campaign since he launched his presidential bid. "We need to have presidents who understand how this economy works," Romney told reporters Tuesday. "Sometimes I just don't think he understands what it takes to help people. I know he wants to help, but he doesn't know what he's got to do." But the focus Tuesday was on Trump, who once led polls of Republican primary voters while he was toying with running for president. Trump endorsed Romney just before the February Nevada caucuses. On Tuesday, Trump introduced Romney. He steered clear of the "birther" issue as he spoke to donors, though just hours earlier he had repeated his doubts about the authenticity of the birth certificate that shows Obama was born in Hawaii. Such allegations have been repeatedly proven false. The state of Hawaii recently re-affirmed that Obama was born there. Romney hasn't condemned Trump's assertions. On Monday night, he told reporters aboard his campaign plane that Trump is entitled to his opinion. Even as Trump-related criticism from Democrats and Republicans intensified in recent days, Romney showed no sign of distancing himself from the polarizing figure. "I don't agree with all the people who support me. And my guess is they don't all agree with everything I believe in," Romney said. "But I need to get 50.1 percent or more." Trump remains popular among the conservative base and boasts ties to deep-pocketed donors. He has recorded automated phone calls for Romney, hosted a fundraiser with Romney's wife, Ann, in New York, and pressed the candidate's case as a television surrogate. The Obama campaign released a video Tuesday criticizing what it considers Romney's unwillingness to stand up to Trump and the more extreme elements in his party. "If Mitt Romney lacks the backbone to stand up to a charlatan like Donald Trump because he's so concerned about lining his campaign's pockets, what does that say about the kind of president he would be?" Obama's deputy campaign manager, Stephanie Cutter, said in a statement. Republicans won't officially nominate Romney until late August at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida. Romney now has 1,183 convention delegates. He won at least 97 delegates in Texas with 33 left to be decided. The 152 delegates in Texas are awarded in proportion to the statewide vote. The other delegates were sprinkled among several candidates. Texas Republicans also voted in a Senate primary to choose a candidate to run for the seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. The party establishment choice, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, and state Solicitor General Ted Cruz, supported by the small government, anti-tax tea party movement, were headed to a runoff in July. The nominee will be strongly favored to win in November in heavily Republican Texas. Romney, 65, is clinching the presidential nomination later in the calendar than any recent Republican candidate — but not quite as late as Obama in 2008. Obama clinched the Democratic nomination on June 3, 2008, at the end of an epic primary battle with Hillary Rodham Clinton. Four years ago, Sen. John McCain reached the threshold on March 4, after Romney had dropped out of the race about a month earlier. Several other Republican contenders — including Newt Gingrich, a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Rick Santorum, former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania — earlier dropped out of the race as Romney's well-financed campaign gained momentum. Libertarian-leaning Texas Rep. Ron Paul said on May 14 he would no longer compete in primaries, though his supporters are still working to gain national delegates at state conventions. Source: The New Indian Express, Image: flickr.com
