Although Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has quickly taken the lead in the opinion polls, students think Mitt Romney will win the Republican Presidential nomination. According to the latest Gallup Tracking poll, Santorum leads Romney by 8 points. Santorum is trailing Romney by 90 delegates.

Adam Nowicki, sophomore paralegal studies major, thinks Romney will make a comeback.

“Santorum got a surprising victory and is riding a wave of popularity,” Nowicki said. “I would hazard to guess that in two or three weeks, Mitt will be back on top of the polls.”

American Politics Professor Richard Stanislaw thinks that Romney will go on to receive the nomination.

“Republicans may not all be excited about Romney, but he still will win. Romney will fight on and go to the Republican National Convention,” Stanislaw said. “Santorum’s popularity will not last, but he has the power to influence and drag out the elections.”

Emily Conrad, freshman exploratory major, believes that a candidate’s appeal to the people is important and said Romney will win because he appeals to more Americans voters than Santorum.

“Santorum is a piece of shit. I don’t like his views,” Conrad said. “Yet Romney also kind of sounds stupid when he talks.”

Freshman Evan Yutzy thinks Santorum doesn’t appeal to most Americans as well.

“Santorum is a racist, a bigot and idiot. If he is elected as the Republican candidate, Obama will win the presidency,” Yutzy said.

While Romney and Santorum are now getting all the media attention, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul are still in the race. Stanislaw does not think Paul will drop out of the race because he is still in only to get out his issues and is no longer running for president.

As of late, Gingrich has been making public statements about how he is not going to drop out of the race.

“I like Newt. He is very smart, super intelligent. His only problem is he doesn’t play well with others,” Nowicki said. “Imagine you’re on the playground. You see little Newt, and he has a ball. Instead of sharing the ball, he would rather pop the ball so you can’t have it. He is not going to get elected because of that.”

But Stanislaw sees all the constant frontrunner change and media attention as a plus for the Republican Party.

“People are talking about the Republicans and not Obama,” Stanislaw said.

No matter who wins the nomination, Katherine Sheppard, a political science major, said that they have no chance of beating President Obama.

“I think all the Republican candidates have been pretty weak this time around,” Sheppard said.

If Santorum receives the Republican nomination Stanislaw doesn’t think he could win the presidency.

“There is no way Santorum will beat Obama,” Stanislaw said.

But Stanislaw thinks Romney has a chance of defeating Obama.

“If the economy is not doing well and the economy likely will not be great next fall, Obama has a problem. If the economy is poor, people are going to just want a change,” Stanislaw said. “Romney has an opening.”

Bryan Staul, the president of the College Democrats, feels good about Obama’s chances being re-elected. Staul said Romney is out of touch with the American people.

“They [voters] are going to see Mitt Romney is woefully out of touch,” he said. “Not every American has an account in the Cayman Islands.”

If Romney does win the Republican nomination, Stanislaw thinks that this election will be an interesting one.

“It’s going to be ugly and fun,” Stanislaw said.

Contact Sade Hale at [email protected].