Is Mitt Romney addressing his Ohio problem?

Last week, we shared with you how Mitt Romney may have given himself a bit of a handicap with Ohio conservatives.

Make no mistake. Conservatives and Tea Party members are actively engaged in Ohio state politics. With such an intense focus on Ohio’s GOP primary, there is no doubt they’ll play a huge part in who ends up with Ohio’s massive number of delegates on Super Tuesday.

By working with Buerck and DeWine , Romney is making it crystal clear where he stands when it comes to wooing Ohio’s conservative base. In fact, by allowing Buerck and DeWine to lead his Ohio effort, Romney is effectively aligning himself against the very people he needs if he wants to win the nomination and the general election in November.

In other news last week, Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine was excited to announce an "ORP Super Tuesday Debate" taking place in...Georgia?

Chairman Kevin DeWine is pleased to announce the Ohio Republican Party's partnership with the Georgia Republican Party for CNN's 2012 Super Tuesday Republican Presidential Debate in Atlanta, Georgia.
"The Ohio Republican Party is very pleased to take part in this special partnership with Chairwoman Everhart and Georgia Republicans," Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine stated.

How are the two subjects related? Guess who just pulled out of the debate?

Mitt Romney will skip the CNN Republican debate scheduled for March 1, just days before Super Tuesday.

"Gov. Romney will be spending a lot of time campaigning in Georgia and Ohio ahead of Super Tuesday," Romney press secretary Andrea Saul said in a statement. "With eight other states voting on March 6th, we will be campaigning in other parts of the country and unable to schedule the CNN Georgia debate. We have participated in 20 debates, including 8 from CNN."

Aside from using party resources to protect his own chairmanship, and undermining Governor Kasich, this so-called "ORP Debate", if you can call it that, this has been Kevin DeWine's latest pet project. It has to be a big embarrassment that Mitt Romney has now pulled out, and the whole event has been cancelled.

Without full participation of all four candidates, CNN will not move forward with the Super Tuesday debate.

Ouch. Maybe Mitt Romney is starting to question his reliance on DeWine for advice and council on how to win Ohio.

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