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WASHINGTON, May 29 (Reuters) - Mitt Romney clinched the Republicanpresidential nomination on Tuesday with a resounding victory inTexas and now faces a five-month sprint to convince voters to trusthim over Democratic President Barack Obama in the Nov. 6 election. Although the race has been essentially over for weeks, Romneyfinally cleared the necessary benchmark of 1,144 delegates forbecoming the Republicans presidential candidate after a long,bitter primary battle with a host of conservative rivals. He will be formally nominated at the Republicans convention inFlorida in late August. In a statement, Romney said he was humbled to win enough of Texas 155 delegates to secure the nomination. Our party has come together with the goal of putting the failuresof the last three and a half years behind us. I have no illusionsabout the difficulties of the task before us. But whateverchallenges lie ahead, we will settle for nothing less than gettingAmerica back on the path to full employment and prosperity, hesaid. While the milestone should create positive buzz for his campaign,Romney s big day was overshadowed by his appearance with realestate tycoon and reality TV star Donald Trump, who organized amajor fund-raiser for Romney in Las Vegas. Trump has been fixatedover whether Obama was born in the United States despite clearevidence that he was born in Hawaii. Romney endured serious threats from Republican opponents from RickPerry to Rick Santorum to reach a goal that his late father, formerMichigan governor George Romney, fell short of achieving -- win hisparty s stamp of approval as its presidential candidate. He is considered the underdog in his battle with the Democraticincumbent but all indications are that Americans face thepossibility of a cliffhanger election in November that will bedecided by relatively small percentages of voters in as many as adozen battleground states. The former Massachusetts governor now faces a lengthy to-do list togird for his duel with Obama, from picking a vice presidentialrunning mate to raising hundreds of millions of dollars for anational campaign. In the immediate weeks ahead, his goal is to bolster his case thatObama has been ineffective in handling the sluggish U.S. economyand hostile to job creators. This argument will move soon to the energy industry, which Romneythinks Obama has bungled by not ramping up domestic production ofoil and natural gas. Romney in weeks ahead will turn to Obama s 2010 healthcareoverhaul. The U.S. Supreme Court is to decide in late June on theconstitutionality of the law s requirement that all Americanspurchase health insurance. Romney has vowed to repeal the law if elected, citing it as anexample of too much government under Obama. He has faced criticismfrom Republicans for the healthcare overhaul he developed forMassachusetts that Obama has called a model for revamping the U.S.system. Romney will also need to limit distractions such as that presentedby Trump. Trump in recent days has resurrected the issue of Obama s birthcertificate to raise questions about whether the president meetsthe constitutional requirement of being a natural-born citizen ofthe United States. The topic had seemed to run out of steam a year ago when the WhiteHouse produced the president s detailed certificate of livebirth from Hawaii, but Trump told CNN he is not convinced of thedocument s authenticity. Obama s re-election campaign was all too eager to lump Romney inwith Trump s fixation with the fringe birther movement to tryto damage the Republican with independent voters. Romney aides did not like the distraction but would rather haveTrump helping Romney raise money for an expensive battle againstObama rather than sitting on the sidelines. Romney himself did not address the issue head-on, instead issuing astatement through his campaign spokeswoman that said Romney hassaid repeatedly he believes Obama was born in the United States. Romney refused to condemn Trump. You know, I don t agree with all the people who support me. Myguess is they don t agree with everything I believe in. But I needto get 50.1 percent or more, and I m appreciative to have the helpof a lot of good people, he told reporters. Romney also was meeting billionaire casino owner and Republicanfinancial backer Sheldon Adelson in Las Vegas, a campaign aidesaid. Adelson and his family gave $21.5 million to a Super PAC group that supported Newt Gingrich during the Republican primaries. Winning the nomination put to rest any lingering suggestion thatRomney could face a conservative challenge at the Republicanconvention in Florida in late August as Gingrich had threatened todo when the race was still close. CONSERVATIVES WARINESS Romney is trying to overcome wariness among conservatives, whomistrust his record in Massachusetts where he introduced ahealthcare reform that they say was a blueprint for Obama s 2010U.S. healthcare overhaul program that was approved in Congressdespite heavy Republican opposition. I was looking forward to voting for Rick Santorum, said voterDan Cortez in San Antonio. He said he would now back Romney, for hebelieves it is important to elect anybody who can beat Obama. Texan Republicans on Tuesday also choose their candidate for a U.S.Senate race in November. Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst facesformer state Solicitor General Ted Cruz in the primary. It will endup in a July runoff if neither man can reach 50 percent support. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China Lace Nail Stickers , Glitter Nail Sticker Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Lace Nail Stickers.
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