Ron Paul’s Delegate Haul in Primaries Strengthens Hand at GOP Convention
By Ben Jacobs

The Texas congressman’s second-place finish in the delegate tally in Tuesday’s five primaries bolsters his strategy to gain enough clout to mold the GOP platform to his taste come November.

It’s garbage time in the Republican primary and Ron Paul is getting his layups. Even on the unfriendly turf of the Northeast, Paul managed to pick up a handful of delegates in Tuesday’s Republican primaries. Although Mitt Romney’s nomination is all but a foregone conclusion at the GOP convention in Tampa, the libertarian gadfly is still trying to influence the party’s platform by any means available.

MORE>>

----------

Romney’s Pennsylvania Primary Victory Gives a Preview of November
By Michael Tomasky

Obama will easily win all the states that Romney won Tuesday night, save one—Pennsylvania—where the president will have to fight. Michael Tomasky on the battle to come.     

The only drama about Tuesday night’s voting had to do with November. Tuesday’s results we knew going in. Actually, we mostly know how these states will turn out in November as well. Barack Obama will win all but one of them easily: he’ll sail in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Delaware, collecting those 43 electoral votes without breaking a sweat or spending a dollar.

MORE>>

----------

The Great Primary Pretense
By Howard Kurtz

Five contests, lots of media, zero drama.

It has all the trappings of a big election night: five primaries, live television coverage, pundits telling us what it all means.

But what if it doesn’t mean squat?

MORE>>

----------

Newt Gingrich’s Delaware GOP Primary Strategy Flops as Romney Rolls
By Patricia Murphy

It was supposed to be another Georgia—but instead of springing Gingrich back to relevance, the Delaware primary was the scene of another thrashing. Patricia Murphy on Newt’s stubborn refusals to drop out.

The tiny state of Delaware was supposed to give Newt Gingrich his big comeback. But after weeks of crisscrossing the state with his wife, Callista, Gingrich got trounced in the Republican primary there Tuesday night, losing 56 percent to 27 percent to Mitt Romney and racking up yet another loss in his string of defeats since winning his home state of Georgia six weeks ago.

MORE>>

----------

Mitt Romney Clinches: What We Learned From 2012 Republican Race
By Michelle Cottle

Mitt Romney sealed the deal Tuesday night. Michelle Cottle on what we learned from the 2012 GOP race—and the penguin menace.    

Time to shake that Etch a Sketch! 

With tonight’s batch of primaries, Mitt Romney is finally prying that can’t-close-the-deal monkey off his back. Yes, the Republican battle will technically grind on—although mostly inside Newt Gingrich’s head. The rank and file may not love Mittens. Hell, many of them still can’t stand the sight of him. But, to borrow a line from Donald Rumsfeld, you go to war with the nominee you’ve got.

MORE>>

----------

Paul Begala: Mitt Romney Conquers the Northeast Corridor
By Paul Begala

What’s interesting about Tuesday night’s outcome isn’t that Romney finally locked down the nomination. It’s that he’s now wholeheartedly demonstrating his contempt for the voters.     

Mitt Romney is to be congratulated for finally defeating the weakest field in modern presidential history. Of course, it’s not Romney“s fault that the GOP’s top talent chose not to run. Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, Mitch Daniels, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, John Thune, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump—any one of them would have given Romney a run for his mega-millions; probably would’ve beat him.

MORE>>