GOP

With the Alabama and Mississippi primaries now complete, and with the Hawaii caucuses counted, more than half of the states (accounting for 41 percent of the delegates) are now in the books in the Republican presidential race. Through these first 26 states, Mitt Romney has won 52.7 percent (496 of 942) of the available delegates, a shade over the 50 percent rate he must eclipse in order to secure a majority of the delegates (1,144 of 2,286) before the GOP convention.

“Senator Santorum is at the desperate end of his campaign,” Mitt Romney told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday. Oops. For weeks, Team Romney and many of its allies have been eager—one might even say desperate—to end this campaign. The Republican primary electorate has been resisting this, and the voters in Alabama and Mississippi engaged in massive resistance yesterday, giving Romney less than a third of their votes.

Nate Silver: "The G.O.P.’s Fuzzy Delegate Math"

Politico: "Koch brothers fire back at Obama"

Hot Air: "Dem Rep booed by constituents over HHS mandate"

As the nomination battle on the Republican side drags on, with no ostensible end in sight, I can’t help but ask myself: Who is responsible for the Republican party? What person or group is out there to make sure that the GOP does not shoot itself in the foot before November? Who is there to guarantee that the disputes between different factions are resolved amicably and efficiently? Who is looking out for the long-term prospects of the Grand Old Party?

The latest Public Policy Polling survey shows Rick Santorum leading Mitt Romney by 15 percentage points in the Republican presidential race.

ABC News: "Senate Democrats Say Obama ‘Reinforced’ His Stance on Contraception Mandate at Democratic Retreat"

Jake Tapper: "The White House Has No Opinion About Whether the Senate Should Pass a Budget"

When Mitt Romney won the Florida primary last Tuesday by 14 percentage points, how many people in America imagined that when Colorado, Missouri, and Minnesota were contested just seven days later, he would fail to win in any of them?

Was yesterday Super Tuesday? Only three states had contests, and one was a beauty primary commanding no delegates. On the other hand, it was the first day in which there were races in more than one state, more delegates were selected yesterday than on any day of the primary season so far, and about 365,000 votes were cast.

A week ago in the pages of THE WEEKLY STANDARD, I wrote about the special congressional election in Oregon's first congressional district. The Republican candidate, businessman Rob Cornilles, appeared to have forced Democrats into making millions in ad buys, suggesting it was close race. However, in last night's election Democrat Susan Bonamici won —convincingly:

Thomas Friedman, apparently trying to top his many previous attempts to convincingly demonstrate coherence is just beyond his grasp, opens his column today thusly:

Washington Times: "Issa calls for second prosecutor to testify about ‘Fast and Furious’"

Michael Barone: "Lots of military; one sentence on Obamacare"

The Hill: "Grassley: Author of legal opinion on recess appointments may have seen her last Senate confirmation"