Senator Burr: ‘90 percent sure’ Romney will win GOP Nomination

Senator Burr said he's 90 percent sure that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney will win the primary race against former House speaker Newt Gingrich. And that, for all intensive purposes, Romney will be named the GOP nominee by mid-March more than a month before the N.C. May primary, leaving local voters little chance to make a difference in the race. 

"I think either combination of committed delegates or the lack of cash will force this to a fairly predictable end," he said.

In a 40 minutes conversation on Thursday, the Winston-Salem Republican discussed his reasoning behind his opposition of the STOCK Act, which explicitly prevents members of Congress from using non-public information for insider training. He was one of just three Senators to oppose the measure. He said existing laws against insider training already apply to all Americans, including members of Congress.

He also shared his thoughts on the GOP primary and announcement that troops would be pulled out of Afghanistan in 2013.

Unlike some pundits, Burr doesn’t think the brutal personal attacks being lobbed between the two GOP candidates will have a detrimental impact on the eventual nominee’s chances of beating President Obama in November.

“Is it really any different than 4 years ago?” Burr said “I remember the same conversations around the Obama and [Hilary] Clinton primary.”

Burr, who was supporting Senator John McCain in the 2008 Republican primary, said the rhetoric was also strong among McCain, Romney and the other Republican candidates.

“I think our memories as to prior elections sometimes are very short,” he said.

Burr, who has endorsed Mitt Romney in this year's race, said any negative information being used Romney will not be breaking news later. And like Obama did in 2004, Burr said the GOP nominee will probably benefit from the increased national exposure of a close race.

“The fact that this is visible on the Republican side. The fact that its on the news every 30 minutes right now,” he said. “I think that’s probably a net positive.”

And Burr said he was taken back by Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta’s announcement last week that day that American forces would step back from a combat role there as early as mid-2013, more than a year before all American troops are scheduled to come home.

Burr questions whether the decision was budget based and raised concerns of prematurely pulling out of Afghanistan when, he said, the intelligence community is reporting groups connected Iran and others have targeted the U.S. homeland.

“If it is (budget driven), it’s very difficult for me to go down to Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune and tell the guys down there, the service members down there, we’re always going to make sure you have what you need,” he said. “If we’re making decisions to bug out because the budget doesn’t allow us to stay.”