The much ballyhooed Super Tuesday Republican primary contest took place yesterday. So what was the big shocker of the night? NOTHING! (yawn)
As expected, Mitt Romney won the majority of the 11 states that were in play. However, this race is not about popularity, but about math. No matter how many states a candidate wins or how many people like him, this is still a delegate race that requires 1144 delegates to win the nomination.
Just as in previous weeks, Romney barely squeaked by with each of his wins last night. But by crawling over the finish line Romney once again ended up splitting the delegates with his closest challenger, which did nothing to set him apart as the presumptive nominee or put him anywhere near the delegates needed to win the nomination. New Republican election rules this year are primarily to blame, since the GOP mostly did away with “winner-take-all” contests in favor of splitting the delegates — a decision many Republicans are now regretting.
Super Tuesday was the opportunity for Mitt Romney to break away from the pack and prove he is a national candidate capable of beating President Obama. But he didn’t. He couldn’t. His consistent wins have been impressive, but winning by only a few thousand votes every time has caused party leaders much concern.
Conservatives continue to be unimpressed with Romney’s candidacy. But Romney can thank his lucky stars that both Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich remain in the race, since they continue to split the conservative vote. If one of those men were to drop out, this would become a one-on-one contest between Romney and one candidate, who could then alter the results by securing the conservative vote exclusively for themselves.
Now that Super Tuesday is over, the Republican primary moves south, where Romney is very likely to go without another win for weeks. Southern conservatives are more apt to back Gingrich or Santorum, which will only further hurt Romney’s delegate count and delay an inevitable nominee.
HERE ARE LAST NIGHT’S RESULTS:
MITT ROMNEY – (415 Delegates won to date)
Won Virginia, Vermont, Massachusetts, Idaho, Ohio and Alaska
(Wyoming was too close to call, although Romney was leading)
RICK SANTORUM – (176 Delegates won to date)
Won Tennessee, Oklahoma, North Dakota
NEWT GINGRICH (105 Delegates won to date)
Won Georgia
RON PAUL – (Won 47 Delegates to date)
No wins last night
FOR A COMPLETE ELECTION CHART WITH ALL RESULTS TO DATE, CLICK HERE.
Your post is spot on DJ. Yes, Romney won last night but he continues to fall short in being able to close the deal in a decisive fashion, spotlighting YET AGAIN his incredibly weak front-runner status. Romney is still most likely to win the nomination but it's going to be a long slog. As one National Review writer put it: "Given his crushing financial advantage, Romney should have done better tonight." The man can only squeak by in crucial states against Santorum!?! But he's going to somehow beat the President???! Okaaaay…lolBtw: Look at the turnout. In Virginia they had a 5% turnout!?! The lowest primary turnout IN VIRGINIA STATE HISTORY! It was reported that "GA, MA, OK and VA all saw a lower turnout than in 2008." I believe the only state that saw a slight increase was Vermont. The obvious and, dare I say, growing DIVIDE in the GOP is …well OBVIOUS. Mitt can't close the deal and angst is rampant within… Read more »