(Joshua Lott / Reuters)
If Mitt Romney and the Republican establishment hoped last night would end the Republican nomination battle, they were sorely disappointed. The good news is that it is still impossible to imagine anybody but Mitt Romney winning the nomination. The bad news is that it's equally hard to imagine Romney winning it.
Here's my quick thoughts on yesterday:
- Romney: Mitt Romney is winning a majority of Republican delegates, but not the hearts and minds of a majority of Republican voters. Romney did what he needed to do last night in terms of delegates, but outside of Massachusetts and Virginia (where neither Santorum nor Gingrich were on the ballot), he and Rick Santorum ran neck-and-neck, with Romney getting 32 percent of all votes compared with Santorum's 31 percent—even though Romney has a massive spending edge.
- Santorum: Rick Santorum is for real. He won three states and finished second in four, including a narrow loss in Ohio where Newt Gingrich's presence on the ballot denied him a win. As long as Newt Gingrich is in the race, he's got no shot at the nomination, but he's winning the not-Romney primary. That might not be enough to deny Romney the nomination, but it's enough to force Romney to continue hewing to the right and will prolong the primary battle.
- Gingrich: Going forward, Newt Gingrich is Mitt Romney's best friend. Gingrich won Georgia, but finished in third or last place in every other contest. At this point, the main impact of his campaign is to steal votes from Rick Santorum.
- Paul: Ron Paul had his best night, yet his relevance will continue to fade. Debates at least gave Paul the opportunity to help out Mitt Romney by attacking Romney's rivals, but if you set aside Virginia (where Paul picked up votes from Santorum and Gingrich backers), Paul got just 9 percent of the total vote.
What are you thinking?