The front-runner was given a further boost yesterday by the endorsement of Jeb Bush, the brother of former President George W Bush.
"Now is the time for Republicans to unite behind Governor Romney and take our message of fiscal conservatism and job creation to all voters this fall," said Mr Bush, a former Florida governor who has himself been touted as a possible future Republican presidential candidate.
His intervention, after months of declining to make an endorsement, was taken as a signal that it was now time to coalesce behind Mr Romney and put an end to a bitterly divisive primary campaign that poll ratings show has damaged both the Republican party and the candidates.
Mr Romney now has 563 delegates, a lead of 300 over Mr Santorum in the race to achieve the "magic number" of 1,144 needed to clinch the nomination outright and face President Barack Obama in November.
"At some point the reality is going to set in that Mitt is the all but certain nominee," Mr Romney's chief spin doctor Eric Fehrnstrom told CNN, adding that no "deus ex machina" was going to come down from heaven and change the outcome of the race. » | Peter Foster | Washington | Wednesday, March 21, 2012
