STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
And I'm Renee Montagne.
So you're a presidential frontrunner, still your party's presumed nominee, and yet of eight states to vote so far, you've lost five. That's the position Mitt Romney finds himself in this week, as he prepares for the next round of voting.
INSKEEP: To be clear, Romney is not yet in mortal danger. He still has the most money and the biggest organization among the candidates. And he did win Florida, which is the only really big prize so far in terms of awarding convention delegates needed for the Republican nomination.
MONTAGNE: But he faces a lengthening contest against Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, who won three state contests on Tuesday.
NPR's Kathy Lohr followed Romney to Georgia, the home state of one of his rivals.
KATHY LOHR, BYLINE: It was a bold move: Romney heading into Gingrich country to get some renewed campaign energy. Before a packed crowd at a local tile and flooring company, Romney talked about creating jobs and reducing government spending. And he also took aim at his GOP opponents.
(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)
(SOUNDBITE OF BOOING)
(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)
LOHR: Romney said Santorum voted to raise the debt ceiling five times, and he said he would be different.
(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)
(SOUNDBITE OF CHEERING)
LOHR: Despite Romney's failure to win in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri this week, there was no lack of enthusiasm for him here. Billy Hill is an antique dealer who says the losses are just a blip.
BILLY HILL: If you look at the numbers, the low turnouts, there was weather factors involved. And in the Missouri case, that was a straw poll. A lot of people didn't bother to mess with that. When that comes around, I think everybody's going to see that Romney, he'll be our next president.
LOHR: Hill made a homemade yellow sign, and he was thrilled that it caught Romney's eye.
(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)
(SOUNDBITE OF CHEERING)
LOHR: Romney's message of changing Washington appealed to Stewart Wright, who runs a home renovation business in Atlanta. He says the former governor is doing just fine at this point in the GOP race.
STEWART WRIGHT: He did really well in Florida. He did really well in Nevada. You can't win every state. You pick your battles. I think Santorum being involved, winning as well as he did actually takes a lot of the thunder away from Newt Gingrich.
LOHR: There's no doubt Gingrich needs to do well in his home state of Georgia next month on Super Tuesday. The former speaker didn't mention his losses or his challengers yesterday while campaigning in Ohio. But he did mention Chrysler's "Halftime in America" Super Bowl ad, the one featuring Clint Eastwood.
(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)
LOHR: The former speaker himself may be regrouping. He's planning several appearances in Georgia next week, well ahead of the Super Tuesday vote.
Kathy Lohr, NPR News, Atlanta. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.