Santorum, Romney Face Off In High-Stakes Appeal

Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum will appear in the same venue Friday for the first time since Santorum handed Romney a three-pronged defeat earlier in the week.

Both will be competing for the support of the same cluster of die-hard conservatives — more than 10,000 in total — who have amassed for the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

Addressing the annual convention of party faithful is a rite of passage for presidential candidates, but for Santorum and Romney, the stakes are much higher.

Still reeling from his bruising Tuesday loss to Santorum in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri, Romney must convince activists he’s the bona fide conservative he claims to be. For Santorum, the challenge is to win over those whose doubts about his electability against President Obama make them reluctant to bet on a losing horse.

“Romney’s real mission is to win the soul of his party,” said Alex Castellanos, a GOP strategist who advised Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign. “Santorum doesn’t even need to run negatives against Romney, which is telling.”

An informal survey of a few-dozen conference attendees conducted by The Hill on Thursday found about equal excitement for Romney and Santorum. Almost no one said they were waiting to hear Newt Gingrich or Ron Paul, who are also speaking Friday.

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