Super Tuesday Indecision

Whew - Super Tuesday is over and the pundits are now doing their instant historical analysis. The main take from it is this: former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney had the big win: Ohio. But it was not the night that the Republican establishment hoped it would be or that Mitt Romney wanted.  Romney remains a flawed front-runner, former Pennsylvania Sen Rick Santorum has risen (somewhat) again, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has enough of a lifeline to hang in there, and Representative Ron Paul isn’t going anywhere.

Every time the smart people try to tell us the race is about over and Romney's finally going to close the deal, he doesn't. Super Tuesday was arguably Romney's worst night yet.  Super Tuesday represented a late chance for Romney to restore his supposed invincibility – and he failed.  In the states Romney won, it wasn't necessarily pretty – Ron Paul got 41 percent of the votes in Virginia, where Newt Gingrich and Santorum weren't even on the ballot. Romney decisively carried Massachusetts – his actual home state – and Idaho, where the electorate is heavily Mormon.  So, Romney is able to win states with a lot of Mormons and states that he's claimed as home, but not much else thus far.

In order for Rick Santorum to wrap up the nomination, he will need to win at least 2/3 of the remaining contests.  While I highly doubt he will be able to do that, Santorum is staying in the race.  Newt Gingrich is done – but he doesn't seem to know it yet.  And Ron Paul, well – he never really got started, but he has a message to share so he’s going nowhere as well.  At the end of Super Tuesday what are we really left with?  More of the same, unfortunately.