Republicans: Romney On Top, Santorum Hanging In There

With the candidates for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination preparing for the 10-state Republicalooza known as "Super Tuesday," it appears that former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is beginning to put some distance between himself and the other three remaining contenders.

With wins in Arizona, Michigan and Wyoming, Romney is on pace for a first-ballot nomination with over half of the delegates unofficially selected so far. Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum is still running second in the race, though he may have stumbled a bit in the last month with his principled, yet possibly unpopular stands against education and sex.

Meanwhile, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, mired in third place and struggling to remain relevant, repeatedly decried the use of negative advertising in very strong terms in a run-up to the unveiling of his new campaign slogan, "Romney Is A Chucklehead." 

And Texas Rep. Ron Paul...ah, whatever.

"Ha ha ha. Seriously, when you say 'how many wives should
a man have,' do you mean consecutively or concurrently?"

With 437 delegates up for grabs on Tuesday, it is likely the picture will get somewhat clearer, although no "knockout blow" is expected; most predictions are giving Romney the most delegates of any candidate but not an overwhelming number. Polls in roughly half of the states show a race too close to call, and the rest likely will be divided among the top three. Romney is well ahead in his home state of Massachusetts, Gingrich has the lead in his home state of Georgia, and Santorum is currently leading in Ohio, Tennessee and Oklahoma. But none of the states use the "winner take all" format, meaning all delegates will be chosen according to various rules of proportionality.

On April 3, a total of 100 delegates will be chosen in winner-take-all primaries in Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia. And, while the nomination may well be locked up by this time, on June 5 California will choose 172 delegates and New Jersey will chose 50 in winner-take-all primaries.

All four candidates currently trail President Obama in national polls by at least four percent.

Below the fold is the updated delegate count chart.