The House’s second-ranking Republican is backing Mitt Romney for president. 

Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Va.) endorsed Romney on NBC’s “Meet the Press” two days ahead of the Super Tuesday primaries where some 419 delegates are at stake.

{mosads}Cantor said Romney had the best plan to revive the economy. “We have seen now that the central issue of this campaign is about the economy,” he said. 

“The country has got to make a choice, who is going to best be able to lead this economy back to a growth mode, create jobs so people can feel better about the future.”  

“I just think there’s one candidate in the race who can do that, and that’s Mitt Romney,” said Cantor. “Mitt is the only one in the race who knows how to create jobs and he’s the only one who has put forward a bold plan to do that,” he added.

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Polls released on Sunday show Romney in a dead heat with Santorum in Ohio. Romney had trailed Santorum in the Buckeye state last week, but surged ahead there and in national polls after he swept last Tuesday’s contests in Michigan and Arizona. On Saturday night, Romney added to his tally with a win in Washington state’s caucuses.

Polls show that GOP voters believe Romney to be the most electable candidate in the Republican field, a sentiment shared by Cantor.

“I think he can beat Barack Obama in November,” he said.

The majority leader said he wouldn’t consider being the vice president on the ticket with Romney. 

“This is about Mitt Romney and making sure he is put into office,” he said. “I’m not open to that.”

With his endorsement, Cantor is the highest-ranking Republican member of Congress to announce his support for a GOP presidential candidate. 

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has said he won’t back a candidate before Super Tuesday.

Cleveland Plain Dealer endorses Romney