Romney looks to squelch Santorum in 2 states

GOLDEN, Colo. — Republican presidential challenger Rick Santorum is hoping that his weeks of criticism of GOP front-runner Mitt Romney will pay off Tuesday when Colorado and Minnesota hold nominating caucuses. Romney, in turn, is looking to continue his winning streak after back-to-back victories in Florida and Nevada last week.

The outcome of Colorado and Minnesota isn't likely to dramatically change the dynamics of the GOP presidential race. But a Santorum victory in either of them could give him a boost — for a day at least — while shining a light on Romney's troubles with conservative voters who long have been skeptical of his candidacy.

"This is a big day for us to see whether all the work that we put in in the past few weeks, when not so much attention was paid here as to Florida and Nevada, pays off," Santorum said at a Denver rally a night before the contests got under way.

Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator and fierce anti-abortion rights opponent, bypassed Nevada and Florida to essentially camp out in Colorado and Minnesota, spending the past week assailing Romney to lay the groundwork among conservatives who dominate. Santorum has portrayed himself as the only conservative choice in those caucus states.

In recent days, Romney has sensed a Santorum threat and has sought to prove that he, too, has strong conservative stances on social issues, despite a history of reversing himself on abortion and gay rights.

Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul also are on ballots in Colorado and Minnesota, but neither has aggressively competed in the states.

The latest step in the month-old nomination fight comes as President Barack Obama's campaign is asking top fundraisers to support a Democratic-leaning outside group that is backing the president's re-election bid as it works to compete with the tens of millions of dollars collected by Republican-backed outside groups in the presidential race.

It's a reversal for Obama, who has long been opposed to "super" political action committees, which can spend unlimited amounts of cash to influence elections. And it comes at a time when Romney is in a position of strength, after his allied groups successfully beat back challenges by opponents early in the primary season.