Home Sweet Dixie

Update (3:57 PM): So Gingrich is open to the possiblity of teaming up with Santorum after all

Yeah, I have to grade some tests, but I want to type up a political commentary post first.  In the aftermath of Super Tuesday, the race for the Republican nomination takes a swing south this week with contests in Mississippi and Alabama, with nearly 90 delegates at stake between the two solidly Republican states (including smaller caucuses in Hawaii and American Samoa).  On Super Tuesday, pretty much every candidate did exactly what they said they wanted to do to keep their campaigns alive.  Newt Gingrich won Georgia (his only win on the day and only his second overall).  Rick Santorum won Tennessee and Oklahoma (albeit nearly splitting the delegates with Romney and Gingrich).  Romney won all the rest, including a very close contest in Ohio in which he trailed nearly the entire time.  Thanks to some organizational bumbling, Santorum blew an opportunity to secure even more delegate by not being on the ballot in Virginia (won easily by Romney over just Ron Paul) and by not following Ohio rules resulting in being inelible for 16 of the 66 total delegates available. 

Over the weekend, Santorum won in Kansas while Romney won smaller contests in US Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam (What up, KSo?!). 

Ummmmm...the territories don't vote in the general so why do they get a say in the primaries?  Just me opining...

In any event, Santorum failed to gain any ground despite his Kansas win so that leaves us pretty much at where we were coming out of Super Tuesday.  Romney has a nearly 200 delegate lead over Santorum with Gingrich trailing the field.  The objective for Gingrich today is simple: win or go home.  Despite his bravado, Gingrich needs to realize that his "Southern Strategy" is one misstep away from complete collapse.  If Gingrish loses both states today (and it doesn't matter if it's to Romney or Santorum), he has to call it quits.  At this point, he even realizes himself that his best chance is to get enough southern state delegates to force a brokered convention and swing some superdelegate votes his way, and THAT is unlikely.

If Romney is to not win the nomination, the conservative bloc HAS to unite behind either Santorum or Gingrich, and at this point, Santorum has far more national viability than Gingrich ever will.  Despite losses, he was very competitive in states like Ohio and Michigan and has scored wins in the midwest (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota), west (Colorado), and south (Oklahoma and Tennessee).  The latter is bad news for Gingrich, who was completely off the grid in the aforementioned states.  If the conservatives unite behind Santorum, there is still a decent chance Romney will lose, as he has yet to crack 50% in any of these races.  The results of Alabama and Mississippi will go a long way to seeing if that will in fact happen.  Stay tuned.....