By Tom Curry, msnbc.com National Affairs Writer
Setting the stage for primary elections Tuesday in Alabama and Mississippi, Kansas Republicans gathered Saturday for their presidential caucuses.
With 40 delegates at stake in Kansas, a victory for Rick Santorum would give him momentum as he and his rivals sprint towards Tuesday’s primaries.
Santorum seeks to squeeze Newt Gingrich out of the race leaving the former Pennsylvania senator as the sole alternative to Mitt Romney, who leads in the delegate tally, with 342 delegates according to the NBC News count, about three times as many as either Santorum or Gingrich.
Earlier this week, as Santorum campaigned in Kansas, he said, “We have to do well here in Kansas, no, we have to win here in Kansas."
Santorum campaigned in the state again on Friday as did Texas Rep. Ron Paul, but both Romney and Gingrich skipped Kansas to woo voters in Alabama and Mississippi.
Romney has the support of conservative leader Kris Kobach, who serves as the Kansas Secretary of State. But Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has not endorsed a candidate, although he did appear at an event with Santorum in Topeka on Friday and also showed up at Paul’s campaign event to welcome him to the state.
In his appearance in Topeka, Santorum lashed out at Romney, saying that the former Massachusetts governor “can't wait” for the primary season to be over so that he can “get back in his comfort zone.” He added, "We already have one president who doesn’t tell the truth to the American people. We don’t need another nominated by our party to do the same. Gov. Romney reinvents himself for whatever the political occasion calls for.”
Asked Friday at his stop in Topeka why he’d showed up in Kansas, Paul replied with a laugh, “Well, because I want to get some votes! I need some delegates, that’s why!” (Paul has won 30 delegates.)
In his speech Paul blasted the other Republican candidates for urging military action against the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria. “Our side of the aisle is beating the war drums,” he said. “I think we’re falling into the trap, we don’t want to have this; we’re going to usher in the peace candidate once again in the election. If we are the pro war candidate, it makes no sense.”
Romney’s allies have been voicing worry that the GOP contest is slogging on without any sign of resolution, even though Romney remains far ahead in the delegate tally. “Every day that goes by is a day that plays to President Obama’s advantage…. because they are fighting against each other, not against their adversary in November,” Romney supporter and 2008 GOP nominee Sen. John McCain told reporters Thursday.
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