Bradley Blakeman: Romney Losses Could Be Fatal Error in November

Mitt Romney made a potentially fatal error of judgment in virtually ignoring the three states that voted in the Republican nomination process on Tuesday night, GOP strategist Bradley Blakeman tells Newsmax.

Even if the former governor of Massachusetts still wins the GOP nomination, voters in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado will not forget how he blew them off when it comes to the general election in November, he added.

“Maybe it was arrogance on behalf of his staff, but there really is no excuse for not campaigning in these states,” said Blakeman.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum handily beat Romney in caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado, and in a “beauty contest” primary in Missouri. Blakeman believes that Romney is still the likely nominee but his strategy will hurt him in the long run.

“Voters in these three states will remember that he blew them off,” said Blakeman, a Newsmax and Fox News contributor. “I’m sure President Obama could not be more pleased with what he saw last night.”

Blakeman, who worked with George W. Bush during his 2000 campaign said Romney needed to learn a lesson the former president had taught after he lost the New Hampshire primary to John McCain by 17 points. “He told me we had to make sure we thanked the voters of New Hampshire, because we’re going to need them in November.

“I hope the lesson that Mitt Romney learned from last night is you cannot take any state for granted; that is not a good strategy.”

Blakeman, who served in Bush’s White House from 2001-04, said he could not understand why Romney, with his huge financial and organizational advantage over his rivals, should decide not to compete.

“If you have the ability, the organization, the finance and the time to implement a 50-state strategy, you should use it. But he took Minnesota and Missouri for granted and got caught flat-footed in Colorado. The voters took notice and supported the campaign of the person who put in the time and had a message that resounded with them.

“Put simply, the man with the organization didn’t organize. The votes proved you don’t win where you don’t campaign.”

Blakeman said Romney now has to go into the Arizona and Michigan primaries on Feb. 28 and the 10 Super Tuesday contests a week later with all guns blazing. “He has to be locked and loaded. There is no point having ammunition left over if you have already lost the battle.

“He has to push back against an opponent who simply does not have the organization or finance that he does.”

Following Saturday’s crushing victory for Romney in the Nevada caucuses, Blakeman told Newsmax that he thought there was no clear path for Santorum to win the nomination. He said he still feels the same way.

“Rick needs to prove himself in both organization and fund raising, and not just that he got a pass from the front-runner in these states. His victories have everything to do with the fact that the Romney campaign was not paying attention.”

Blakeman said former House speaker Newt Gingrich was badly hurt by Santorum’s victories. “Newt has been neutered in his claims that he is the only viable conservative alternative to Romney,” he said. “It’s hard for him to make that case when he had such a dismal showing in states like Colorado and Minnesota and couldn’t even file to get on the ballot in Missouri.”