After Illinois Win, Romney Looks to November -- and So Does the DNC

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney scored a big win in Illinois on Tuesday night and looked to focus on Barack Obama instead of his GOP rivals -- and the Democrats are starting to fire back on him.

With 99 percent of the votes in, Romney had 47 percent while Rick Santorum was in second with 35 percent. Ron Paul took third with 9 percent followed by Newt Gingrich with 8 percent.

In his victory remarks on Tuesday night, Romney ripped into Obama.

This administration thinks our economy is struggling because the stimulus was too small.The truth is, our economy is struggling because the government is too big, Romney said. You and I know what President Obama still has not learned, even after three years and hundreds of billions of dollars in spending: The government does not create prosperity; prosperity is the product of free markets and free people.

This November, we face a defining decision. Our choice will not be one of party or personality. This election will be about principle.Our economic freedom will be on the ballot, Romney continued. I am offering a real choice and a new beginning. I am running for president because I have the experience and the vision to get us out of this mess.We know what Barack Obamas vision of America is -- weve all lived it the last three years. Mine is very different.

Democrats fired back, with South Florida U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, releasing a statement slamming Romney.

Mitt Romney and his allies may have bought their way to another victory tonight in Illinois by outspending Rick Santorum and his allies 7-to-1 in the state, but it comes with a heavy price. His pandering to his partys extreme-right flank is hurting him among moderates, independents and women voters, insisted Wasserman Schultz. Romney recently vowed to get rid of Planned Parenthood -- a vital health care provider for 75,000 Illinois women and families that provides affordable access to lifesaving services like breast and cervical cancer screenings.

Romneys embrace of the extreme tea party agenda continued again today when he applauded the new GOP budget, which turns Medicare into a voucher program, increases health care costs to seniors by thousands of dollars, and makes arbitrary cuts to programs essential to middle-class families like education and clean energy, Wasserman Schultz continued. At every turn, and with each new extreme position, Mitt Romney continues to demonstrate he is out of touch with the values and issues that matter most to the middle class.

Santorum and the other Republican hopefuls will still try to slow Romney down -- but it seems like the GOP front-runner and the Democrats are starting to look more and more at November.