Romney supporter: ‘My guy has a hard time’ connecting with people

by Cameron Joseph - 02/22/12 2:26 PM ET

A top Mitt Romney supporter in Arizona said he’s worried the candidate’s difficulty in connecting with voters will cost him on Election Day.

Randy Pullen, a former Arizona Republican Party chairman who has endorsed Romney, said Rick Santorum was much better at connecting with people and said that Romney needs to focus more on direct appeals to voters.

{mosads}”Santorum connects with people,” Pullen told CNN on Tuesday evening after watching Santorum speak. “Unfortunately, my guy has a hard time doing that.”

Romney had double-digit leads in the two latest polls of Arizona, which votes next Tuesday. But he’d led in the state by wide margins before Santorum won three states earlier this month, and some polls in the last week have shown Santorum within a few points of him there.

Pullen said Romney had done well by securing major donors and top endorsements, but “somehow forgot that these people are the ones that vote.”

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“My guy needs to come out and connect with the people and just lay it out there,” he added. “Mitt gets too concerned about what he is saying and how he is saying it as opposed to connecting with people. I know he can do it, he just has to make the effort.”

Pullen predicted a Romney win in Arizona, but said that things had tightened considerably in recent weeks. He said Santorum is likely to win more votes on Election Day than Romney, but that early balloting would favor Romney and that would be enough for him to carry the race.

“He is certainly not ahead by 20 points like he was a few weeks ago after Florida,” Pullen said. “On Election Day, I think Rick Santorum is going to win. But I think early balloting is going to Mitt. I think enough votes have already been cast.”

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