Rick Santorum not high on Ohio victory odds GOPer says Ohio is 'a tough state' for his money-challenged campaign

Republican contender Rick Santorum dialed back expectations for a clean win in Ohio as polls had his lead evaporating and Mitt Romney landed a key endorsement. “It’s a tough state for us, only because of the fact of the money disadvantage,” Santorum told “Fox News Sunday.” “We’re running a grass-roots campaign. We’re hanging in there, and we’re going to do very, very well,” he added. “We have the anti-Romney vote, if you will,” he said. Santorum’s blue-collar roots and appeal to Ohio’s evangelicals and social conservatives had given him in some polls a double-digit lead for Ohio, which has 66 delegates. But a Marist/NBC poll released Sunday said the race between Santorum and Romney was a dead heat. GOP strategist Dan Schnur said the stakes are high. “If Romney doesn’t win Ohio, it will become more difficult over time to convince donors he can win a state where he doesn’t have some kind of edge, like his father being an ex-governor,” he said. “For Santorum, a loss in Ohio ends the rationale for an opposition candidate.” Romney got some conservative love this weekend with the endorsement of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who cast an early ballot in Virginia, one of 10 Super Tuesday states. Many Ohio Republicans were still undecided in recent polls, noted Dr. David Westbrock, vice chairman of the Montgomery County GOP. “I think the state establishment is behind Romney, and the Tea Party people are more split between Santorum and Gingrich. But there is a pragmatic streak in both that I think will win out and push for whoever can win in November,” he said. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/election-2012/rick-santorum-high-ohio-victory-odds-article-1.1033085#ixzz1oJ3JfPwG