Mitt Romney faces enormous pressure Wednesday night in the only Republican debate before next Tuesday’s primaries in Michigan and Arizona – and the 10 on Super Tuesday a week later.

It’s Mr. Romney’s biggest chance to get his campaign back on track since Rick Santorum shot to the top of national polls after his stunning sweep of Missouri,Minnesota, and Colorado on Feb. 7. If Romney loses in Michigan (Feb. 28) and then Ohio (March 6) – two big heartland contests, including his native state – the political universe will be turned on its head.

But the stakes are just as high for Santorum – and arguably higher. Even with key losses, Romney will remain the best organized candidate in the race, with the biggest war chest and his name on the ballot in all remaining contests.  Santorum is still the underdog in all those spheres, and he needs to win Michigan to show that he can succeed in a big, hotly contested race.  

And to win Michigan, where the polls show Romney rising back into a dead heat, Santorum has to reassure voters.

“Santorum’s job tonight is to quell fears about his general-election electability,” says Republican strategist Ford O’Connell. “Taking on social issues to differentiate himself from [Newt] Gingrich and Romney is a good strategy, but it’s high risk. He’s been over-talking.”

Santorum’s first task, Mr. O’Connell says, is to take his strong views on social issues – a plus with the so-called “values voters” in the Republican base – and turn them into a discussion on limited government and strong families, not about telling individuals what to do. In recent days Santorum has been all over birth control, women’s role in society, and same-sex marriage.

Read more from Linda Feldmann at The Christian Science Monitor

Enlisting Donald Trump — best known for the catchphrase “You’re fired!” — in Michigan is a risky move in a state ravaged with 9 percent unemployment, but the reality TV star’s straight talk could be just what Mitt Romney needs to sideline the surging Rick Santorum, pundits told the Herald.

Trump has been booked for radio interviews in the Wolverine State every day this week to promote Romney as his campaign struggles to close a gap with Santorum a week before the must-win primary.

Whether Romney’s Trump card will be a bold success or a colossal failure is as unpredictable as a “Celebrity Apprentice” boardroom outcome, political observers said.

“Trump does one thing that Romney does not — exude passion and charisma,” said unaligned Republican strategist Ford O’Connell, who worked on the 2008 John McCain/Sarah Palin campaign. “Romney needs Trump right now because he needs someone to throw the whole kitchen sink at Santorum.”

The arrangement seems to at least work out well for one party — Trump.

“With The Donald, you’re always playing with fire,” O’Connell said. “Trump wants to keep one political foot in the door.”

Read more from Chris Cassidy at the Boston Herald

According to conventional wisdom, it is former Gov. Mitt Romney who can't afford anything but a clear victory in the Michigan primary on February 28.

If the polls are any indication, Michigan is certainly going to be an uphill battle for Romney. If he loses, it will undoubtedly be a major setback in his quest to be his party's standard-bearer. But the truth is, Michigan is not "Gettysburg" for Romney—he can survive a setback there. But a loss in Michigan very well could be the end for Santorum.

To this point, Santorum's campaign has accumulated the second-most delegates despite the fact it runs on a shoestring budget, doesn't employ a pollster, and doesn't even have an official campaign headquarters.

Read more from Ford O'Connell at U.S. News & World Report

In a move that could again dramatically shake up the Republican primary race, billionaire and major Republican donor Sheldon Adelson is expected to donate an additional $10 million to the super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich, Winning Our Future, a source with knowledge of the donation told CNN.

That contribution is expected soon, before the end of the month, the source said. The timing is important because Gingirch, whose campaign has been lagging, is hoping to do well in several of the upcoming Super Tuesday states that vote on March 6 to boost his effort. His allies will need that money to be in a position to help. Because ten states go to the polls on that one day, money is key in order to do well.

Adelson, a Nevada casino mogul, and his extended family have already given $11 million to that PAC.

"Adelson is certainly giving Gingrich one more chance. But given Gingrich's poll numbers, Adelson's cash infusion is more about knocking Santorum from the top of the polls than it is about boosting Gingrich's chances. While Adelson supports Gingrich, he is concerned that Santorum could win the nomination over Romney," said Ford O'Connell, a Republican strategist who is not backing any candidate in the primary.

O'Connell worked for Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign.

Read more from Kevin Bohn at CNN

There’s talk that it’s Rick Santorum who is currently under the gun, not Mitt Romney.  He can write a check to himself, if need be, while Santorum must win Michigan and Ohio to make the case that Romney has a mid-West problem which warrants additional support for Santorum as a preferred alternative.

Erick Erickson reported on Twitter that Romney will not participate in the CNN debate in Georgia before Super Tuesday.

The big money players behind the Super PACs of all the candidates have agreed to come together to fund a general election PAC, regardless of the nominee.

The general election could come down to the GOP winning Ohio, Virginia and Florida.

Polling suggests Ohio Senator Portman wouldn’t generate enough of a boost to warrant selection as Veep. While Rubio in Florida and McDonnell in Virginia would benefit the nominee, especially if it’s Romney,  there’s thought that McDonnell would be the better choice.  His addition might also help win a Senate seat by helping to support George Allen simply by being on the ticket.

Yet, on the conservative front, some suggest McDonnell isn’t quite the conservative he’s often made out to be, which could prove to be a problem with the base, nationally.

One of the sources consulted for the above is friend and analyst Ford O’Connell, who worked on the 2008 McCain campaign.

Read more from Dan Riehl at BigGovernment

If Mitt Romney wins the Republican presidential nomination, he will have the backing of several wealthy donors who together have contributed millions of dollars to his rivals in the race.

The donors, some of the big-money players behind the unprecedented spending in the state-by-state race for the Republican nomination, quietly have pledged to back Romney if their initial choice isn't the nominee, one donor himself and sources close to other donors said.

The donors include Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons and Houston homebuilder Bob Perry, supporters of Texas Governor Rick Perry before he dropped out of the race last month. Also pledging conditional allegiance to Romney: Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, whose family has donated nearly $11 million to support Newt Gingrich; and Foster Friess, a Wyoming investor who is Rick Santorum's chief benefactor.

Sources close to each donor say that in accepting Romney as a consolation candidate, the financiers are united by one idea: a desire for the Republican nominee to defeat Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 6 election.

The conditional commitments to Romney also could help the former Massachusetts governor match the fundraising firepower of Obama, who will face the Republican nominee in the November 6 elections.

Obama's campaign had raised almost $97 million by the end of last year, far more than any of the Republican campaigns. However, Priorities USA, the PAC that supports Obama, had raised a relatively paltry $4.2 million.

Most wealthy Democratic donors have yet to kick in donations because Obama was slow to encourage such contributions and has not had an opponent in the primaries.

"When they see what the eventual (Republican) nominee's Super PAC can do, they'll step up," said Republican strategist Ford O'Connell, who worked on the 2008 presidential campaign of Republican Senator John McCain against Obama. "The Obama campaign realizes they need a Super PAC because it's a weapon and he really needs every weapon in his arsenal."

Read more from Alina Selyukh at Reuters

Mitt Romney could be in trouble in his native Michigan, where the latest polls give a surging Rick Santorum a surprise lead, a turn of events that suggests the erstwhile front-runner is having trouble selling his message while the once back-of-the-pack contender could be about to turn the GOP primary race on its head, political observers said.

A Public Policy Poll released yesterday shows the former Bay State governor barely in eyeshot of the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania. Santorum took 39 percent to Romney’s 24 percent in the Wolverine State, where Romney was raised and where his father served as governor. A Pew Research Center poll released yesterday also showed Santorum a nose ahead of Romney nationally, by 30 percent to 28 percent.

With two weeks to go ahead of the Michigan primary on Feb. 28, Romney, who bested John McCain there in 2008 with 39 percent of the vote, is still the favorite, experts said, but the state is now in play.

“Santorum doesn’t have the resources to go toe-to-toe with Romney at this point,” said Washington, D.C.-based strategist Ford O’Connell. “But if he wins Michigan, it’s a two-man race.”

Read more from Katy Jordon at the Boston Herald

US presidential hopeful Mitt Romney receives a sorely needed boost in the rocky race for the Republican presidential nomination, winning a non-binding contest in Maine and a straw poll among conservatives after a trio of unnerving losses.

The former Massachusetts governor edged out Texas congressmanRon Paul by fewer than 200 votes in the Maine caucuses Saturday, and outpolled former senator Rick Santorum in the straw poll at theConservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

Though largely symbolic, those wins spelled relief for a candidate whose frontrunner status was again put in question Tuesday when Santorum scored upset victories in Colorado, Missouri and Minnesota.

Despite Romney's wins, however, the Republican race to pick a standard bearer to run against Obama in November remained unsettled.

The state's delegates to the Republican National Convention will be decided later, but with the next contests in the race taking place February 28 in Arizona and Michigan the results will likely reverberate for weeks.

Republican strategist Ford O'Connell told Fox News that Romney could not afford to lose four in a row going into Michigan and Arizona, with Santorum on the rise and the Super Tuesday primaries looming.

Read more at Yahoo News

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney looked to right his faltering campaign with a victory in Maine on Saturday, but he faced a race to the wire against long-shot Texas congressman Ron Paul.

Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, on Friday announced an 11th-hour trip to nearby Maine in a last-ditch push for support, after a trio of stinging defeats dented the sense of inevitability surrounding his nomination bid.

Paul is currently in fourth place nationwide, though his feisty campaign has gained traction among young voters, and a victory in Maine would provide a substantial boost.

But experts dismiss his chances of winning the nomination or the national election.

"Ron Paul will not win the nomination," Republican strategist Ford O'Connell told Fox News.

"This is all about Mitt Romney. He can't lose four in a row going into Michigan and Arizona, which are must-wins because Super Tuesday follows that, and Rick Santorum is on the rise and he (Romney) needs to stop that."

Should Romney lose to Paul, a libertarian-leaning champion of small government and reduced foreign aid and military action, it would deal a worrying setback for the frontrunner in his own backyard.

Read more at AFP

To borrow a headline from Matt Drudge, former Gov. Mitt Romney got "Rick Roll[ed]" on Tuesday night, thanks to decisive victories by Rick Santorum in the Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado Republican presidential nominating contests.

Romney's strategy of going negative on his primary opponents while touting his extensive business experience might have worked if both the economy and Romney's opponents kept collapsing. Both have proven to be more resilient of late, and Team Romney still has yet to figure out how to successfully win over both establishment Republicans and conservatives with a conviction that he can successfully take the fight to President Obama in the fall.

I have said it before, and I will say it again, Romney is dearly in need of a "big idea" to help generate passion so that Republican primary voters en masse will back his candidacy. Team Romney needs to go back to the drawing board and give conservatives a better reason to vote for him because, trust me, slogans like "Believe In America" and off-key renditions of "America The Beautiful" just won't cut it.

Read more from Ford O'Connell at U.S. News & World Report