SUPER TUESDAY

The Republicans' Super Tuesday was not as "super" as in previous electoral cycles, but it still covered ten U.S. states, ranging from Massachusetts to Georgia, and North Dakota to Tennessee.

Mitt Romney confirmed his status as the front runner, winning six states and the most delegates; he now has 404 to his nearest rival Rick Santorum's 165, and is more than a third of the way to the magic figure of 1,144 that are required to win the nomination. His problem, though, is that he didn't deliver a knockout blow. Mr. Santorum won three states, and almost took the bellweather state of Ohio. Given that he wasn't on the ballot in Virginia, that was enough to convince him that he can still win.

Of the two others, Newt Gingrich won his home state of Georgia. He is probably trying to position himself as the compromise candidate, if the party splits right down the middle between Mr. Romney and Mr. Santorum, even if his temperament makes him an unlikely candidate for compromise and unity. While the quirky Ron Paul, who hasn't won any state to date, will continue to the end, whatever happens.

All of which makes it much more likely that the race will go all the way to the convention in Tampa in August. And so makes it more difficult fior the eventual winner to beat the incumbent Barack Obama in November. All four Republican candidates were smiling on Tuesday, but I suspect that the President's smile was the biggest of the lot. 

Walter Blotscher