Mitt Romney predicts he’ll be the GOP presidential nominee before the convention

GlobalPost

GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney told Wisconsin supporters this afternoon that if he wins the Wisconsin GOP primary on Tuesday, he’ll be chosen as the Republican nominee for president before the GOP convention, the Associated Press reported.

“If I can get that boost also from Wisconsin, I think we’ll be on a path that’ll get me the nomination well before the convention,” he said at an appearance at a Republican call center, the AP reported.

“This was an uphill battle for me if you looked back three or four weeks ago,” he added. “And now we’re looking like we’re going to win this thing on Tuesday.”

Romney was 7 percentage points ahead of rival Rick Santorum in an NBC/Marist poll of likely Wisconsin primary voters released on Friday, the AP reported. He also picked up two high-profile endorsements this week: one from President George H.W. Bush and another from Tea Party favorite Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

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Santorum, campaigning elsewhere in Wisconsin today, wasn’t buying it.

"They put on the facade of inevitability, and they realize – I realize – this is far from over," Santorum told Reuters in an interview.

Santorum told Reuters he was not “unrealistic,” and would step aside if he believed the race had run its course.

"I mean, if that happens – I don't believe it's going to happen, but if it does happen – you know then we'll face it, we'll cross that bridge. But until that point – less than half the delegates have been voted for – I mean, we've got a long way to go in this race," he said.

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