Don't end GOP race before it gets to Ohio …

By the time Ohio holds its presidential primary election on March 6, will the Republican nomination already be decided? Let's hope not, for two reasons.

Ohio is truly representative of the nation as a whole, and one of the most politically contested of all states. Its voters deserve to have their preferences count for something.

And GOP front-runner Mitt Romney, despite his advantages in organization, money-raising, and endorsements, has a lot more work to do to close the sale -- among Republican voters and everybody else, in Ohio and everywhere else.

The former Massachusetts governor and business executive already is running against President Obama as if he were his party's nominee. And while that likely will be the ultimate outcome, Mr. Romney might not want to write off his GOP competitors just yet.

It's risky to assign too much importance to what 122,000 folks did last week in Iowa. But the results of that state's caucuses affirmed what recent national polls suggest: Three out of four Republican voters still say they want someone other than Mr. Romney as their nominee.

Jon Stainbrook, chairman of the Lucas County Republican Party and a staunch Romney supporter, says he's confident his candidate will wrap up the GOP nomination by Super Tuesday, when nine other states as well as Ohio will hold primaries.

"He is the Republican candidate who will make Barack Obama a one-term president," Mr. Stainbrook told me. "He has the organization, the money, the winnable message, the whole ball of wax.

"There's a lot of ground noise now, but a lot of people who say they are undecided will do what they need to do to see Barack Obama defeated," he said. "This is who it is -- [Mr. Romney] is going to be the nominee."

The Blade is not yet ready to endorse anyone in the Ohio Republican primary, much less in the general election. So far, though, Mr. Romney offers more strengths than most of the other GOP candidates.

Despite his initial cheerleading for the bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler, Mr. Romney now concedes that the financial bailout that began under Republican President George W. Bush in 2008 was necessary. He even has acknowledged the importance of government regulation to an efficient free market.

More disappointing are Mr. Romney's pandering -- and reversals -- on such issues as man-made global warming, immigration, and abortion rights, and his absurd suggestions that Mr. Obama apologizes for this country and wants to turn it into Europe. The debate I'd like to see would be between the Mitt Romneys of 2012 and, say, 2004.

Even so, those heresies in which Mr. Romney is willing to engage account for his continued unpopularity among hard-right Republicans. Although former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania finished behind Mr. Romney in Iowa, by all of eight votes, he was the big winner of the caucuses. Relegated to the second tier of contenders just weeks ago, he leapfrogged other candidates to become the leading choice of GOP social conservatives.

Mr. Santorum's message -- yes to guns, no to abortion and gay rights and even contraception -- resonates with large numbers of Republican voters. As the primary season proceeds and the number of candidates dwindles, not-Romney sentiment could coalesce behind him and make him a formidable candidate for the nomination.

Or, as happened to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, he could wilt under the inevitable barrage of attack ads focusing on such things as his appetite for budget earmarks. In any event, whether Mr. Santorum could broaden his appeal beyond the party base to win the support of independent voters in the general election is more doubtful.

Although Texas Gov. Rick Perry has shown some courage on the immigration issue, his dismal performance in the Republican debates raises the question: Why would someone who says he hates Washington so much want to be president? Political hit squads allied with Mr. Romney have done such an effective job of reminding voters of the baggage that Mr. Gingrich struggles with that it would seem almost cruel to cite it again here.

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who was Mr. Obama's ambassador to China, may be the best qualified of all the Republican candidates. But if he does poorly in this Tuesday's primary in New Hampshire, where he has gone all in, he could quickly follow Rep. Michele Bachmann into campaign oblivion.

Rep. Ron Paul of Texas offers a message of isolationism and 19th-century economics that appeals to lots of libertarian voters. Despite his disclaimers, it would not be surprising to see Mr. Paul mount a third-party campaign for president if he is not the Republican nominee -- a development that would benefit Mr. Obama.

If the nomination remains in play by the time the GOP caravan hits Ohio, there will be plenty to talk about here. National and state Republican leaders blame Mr. Obama for Ohio's miseries -- job losses, an economy that has yet to recover, high medical bills, just about everything except the defection of LeBron James.

Last November, nearly two-thirds of Ohio voters approved a ballot proposal aimed at repudiating President Obama's health-care reform law. That might cause problems for Mr. Romney, whose health-care plan in Massachusetts was a model for ObamaCare. The distinctions Mr. Romney makes between the two plans haven't been especially persuasive.

At the same time, nearly the same percentage of Ohio voters -- not all of whom were Democrats -- repealed a state law that gutted the collective-bargaining rights of public employees. Mr. Romney declined to endorse the measure during a visit to the state last fall, then reversed course the next day, burnishing his flip-flop reputation.

So it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if Mr. Romney's ascent gets delayed at least until he can return to our state. And if Ohio voters actually were to decide the Republican nominee, they could contribute a healthy dose of common sense to the process.

David Kushma is editor of The Blade.

Contact him at: dkushma@theblade.com