IS THE GOP RACE OVER?

It’s over! Mitt Romney will be the GOP nominee for president.

Well, not really. But that seems to be a growing consensus among the Republican National Committee’s SuperDelegates, who hold the power to make or break the candidacy of anyone they choose.

Many of the RNC elite and even those who support other candidates, have grown tired of the drawn out primary race and debate overkill.  They believe the infighting between candidates has only helped President Obama by weakening the eventual nominee.  They also begrudgingly admit that the math simply doesn’t add up for anyone but Romney. “Look, Gov. Romney’s going to be the nominee, and he’s going to have enough votes,” said RNC member Bob Bennett, who is publicly neutral but supported Romney 4 years ago.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum has vowed to stay in the race, hoping an April 24th win in his home state of Pennsylvania will resuscitate his campaign. But Santorum has fallen far behind Romney in the delegate race and RNC members have taken notice. Also, Santorum’s youngest daughter Bella is ill and has been in and out of the hospital, which could force him out of the race early for family reasons. Many Republicans want to see Santorum step aside and wait his turn in 2016, while others would like to see Newt Gingrich quit the race and thereby allow all conservatives to coalesce around Santorum.

In a recent Associated Press poll of 114 of the 120 RNC SuperDelegates, Mitt Romney has 35 endorsements, Gingrich has 4 endorsements, Santorum has 2 and Texas Rep. Ron Paul 1.  If Newt Gingrich were to drop out, conservatives could flock to Santorum and make it a one on one race with Romney.  But if Gingrich stays, it looks as if the SuperDelegates are prepared to put Romney over the top and avoid a showdown at the RNC convention in August.