Romney sweeps 3 states, sets sights on Obama

Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney made a clean sweep today as he comfortably won the primaries in Wisconsin, Maryland and Washington DC, tightening his grip on the party's nomination.

Romney's win in all the three Republican primaries put him past the half way mark to the 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the party's nomination to challenge incumbent Barack Obama during the November presidential elections.

"Thank you, Wisconsin! And Maryland! And Washington, DC! We have won a great victory tonight in our campaign to restore the promise of America," 65-year-old Romney said in his victory speech in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Rick Santorum, the former Senator from Pennsylvania, who lost all the three primaries now is pinning all his hopes on the primary in Pennsylvania which is scheduled for April 24.

"I ask you over the next three weeks, this isn't halftime, no marching bands. We're hitting the field. The clock starts tonight. We've got three weeks to go out here in Pennsylvania and win this state and after winning this state, the field looks a little different in May," Santorum said in his speech in Pennsylvania.

In his speech in Milwaukee, Romney continued with his attack on the Obama Administration.

"We all know that President Obama cannot run on his record. We know that he can't run on his broken promises," the former Massachusetts governor said.

"I seem to remember him saying that he was going to be a uniter, not a divider. Frankly I think this is one of the worst of his broken promises. We don't need a campaigner in chief. We need a commander in chief. We need a leader that America deserves," Romney said.

"The presidency is bigger than this. He was supposed to "The presidency is bigger than this. He was supposed to be bigger than this. We need solutions, not excuses. We need a president who takes the lead, not one who spreads the blame. We need someone who appeals to our dreams and our aspirations, not to our fears and our anxieties," Romney said.

"We as Americans deserve to choose what kind of country we want and what kind of people we want to be. And the good news is, it's not too late to get America back on track. It's not too late to put our country back onto a path of prosperity," he said.

If elected in November, Romney vowed to spend the next four years rebuilding the foundation of a opportunity society led by free people and free enterprises.

"In Obama's government-centered society, the government has to do more because the economy is doomed to do less, because when you attack business and you vilify success, you are going to have less business and less success," he said.

"In Obama's government-centered society, government spending always increases because, well, why not? There's always someone who's entitled to something more and who's willing to vote for anyone who will give them something more," Romney said.

"I don't want to transform America. I want to restore to America the economic values of freedom and opportunity and limited government that has made us the powerhouse of the world," Romney said.

Following the three victories, American media was quick to pronounce that Romney has cemented his status as the almost certain Republican nominee and put new pressure on rival Santorum to significantly scale back his campaign.