Romney jabs Obama after inmate tops 40 percent in W.Va. primary

Mitt Romney jabbed President Obama over his performance in the West Virginia primary Tuesday night, noting a man serving a 17-year sentence for extortion took a sizable portion of the state's voters in the Democratic presidential primary.

Romney was asked about lukewarm endorsements from former rivals Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, but argued that Republicans had coalesced around his campaign.

"If theres a rift in the party, I think it's his. I saw in West Virginia an inmate got nearly 40 percent of the vote," Romney told KOA radio in Denver.

Keith Judd, a federal inmate convicted of extortion, captured 42 percent of the vote in Tuesday's primary. According to Democratic National Committee rules, the prisoner could qualify to assign at least one delegate to the national convention in Charlotte, N.C., this September.

Romney went on to note that polls showed more than 90 percent of Republicans were willing to vote for him, and said, with regard to the Obama administration, "people are recognizing it's been a disappointment."

President Obama also regularly polls above 90 percent among Democratic voters, although he has struggled in West Virginia, where conservative social politics and the dominant coal mining industry have made gaining traction difficult. Earlier this year, Gov. Earl Ray Tombin and U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin — both Democrats — said they weren't sure whether they would vote for the president in November.

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