PHOENIX — The Republican presidential contenders square off in their 20th debate Wednesday night as they prepare for one of the most consequential stretches of a tumultuous primary season, a two-week, 13-contest marathon that may finally put one of the four remaining candidates on the track to the GOP nomination.
The debate in Mesa — the last before Tuesday’s primaries in Arizona and Michigan and so-called Super Tuesday primaries the following week — will showcase just the latest incarnation of one of the wildest and most fluid presidential primaries in recent memory.
Since just last month’s Florida debate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum has morphed from afterthought to bonafide challenger, while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who seemed to regain his footing after his Sunshine State showing, now faces an avalanche of questions from party kingmakers and establishment figures that raises doubts about what was assumed to be his greatest strength — his electability.
