Romney’s wins leave leaders unimpressed

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Mitt Romney’s Super Tuesday victories elicited a collective yawn from his party’s superdelegates.

Since Tuesday’s voting, Romney has added only a single endorsement to his total among members of the Republican National Committee, the party leaders who automatically attend the national convention this summer. They can support any candidate they choose, so they can play an important role at the convention.

Some of the undecided superdelegates say they expect the former Massachusetts governor to be the eventual nominee but, like many Republican voters, they’re not quite ready to embrace him.

“Right now, I am comfortable with this going a bit longer,” said Jeff Johnson, a national committee member from Minnesota.

In fact, Johnson has endorsed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and he said he was “hanging tight for now.” But, he acknowledged, “There may be a point where it seems all but impossible for him to win.”

The Associated Press has polled 107 of the 117 Republican National Committee delegates. Romney has 24 endorsements, far more than any other candidate but only one more than he had the previous week. Gingrich has four endorsements and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum has two — unchanged from the previous week.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul lost an RNC delegate, leaving him with just one.