US election 2012: Mitt Romney clambering for victory in Deep South Yet he later told an Alabama radio station that really he preferred Honey Nut Cheerios. "I try to eat some cold cereal at the end of the day," he said. A full tummy and a long day puts me right to bed. Matt Murphy, an Alabama radio host, declared on Twitter that "no self-respecting Southerner should vote for Romney after what he said," later adding that it highlighted his "southern disconnect." While Mr Romney's 17 wins give him more party delegates than his opponents combined, and he is likely to win the nomination, he has consistently struggled to enthuse the party's Right-wing "base." Many southern evangelical Christians are also concerned by his Mormon faith, an issue that is rarely discussed publicly but which emerged last week during another interview. "Do you, as a Mormon, believe America is the new promised land?" he was asked on the Rick and Bubba Show. "You're going to have to go talk to the Church and ask what they think about that," he replied. Opinion polling in both southern states has been scant, but Mr Romney appears to hold narrow leads over Mr Gingrich. He also leads in Hawaii and American Samoa, which hold caucuses tomorrow. Rick Santorum, the evangelical Catholic who has split much of the anti-Romney support with Mr Gingrich, pledged yesterday to continue battling Mr Romney's lukewarm campaign. "He has all the establishment behind him, has all this quote wind as his back, yet he can't close the deal," Mr Santorum told a television interview. Mr Santorum won a landslide victory in the Kansas caucus over the weekend while Mr Romney was victorious in the US territories of Guam, the Northern Marianas and the Virgin Islands.