For first time in a while, Romney’s closing the gap with Santorum. 47% precincts in: Santo 38.3%, Romney 36.4%.

Even by the standards of political campaigns, Newt Gingrich’s bogus attack on President Obama tonight was breathtaking.

Another round of exits just came in in Ohio. And it’s dead even.

For context, first round was Romney +4, just before 8 PM it was Romney +1.

AP still shows a Santorum lead of just under 3,000 votes. But live reports from the counters in the key counties seem to suggest Romney can pick up enough to pull it out.

Mitt Romney has now moved into a tiny lead in Ohio, the first time since early this evening. But here’s another thing to watch. In Ohio, a candidate has to win by more than .25% of the vote to avoid a mandatory recount. In practice that means the victory has to be more than about 2,000 votes. That’s just about where Romney is right now.

So there’s who has the most votes tonight but there’s also the margin the candidate needs to avoid a mandatory recount.

Always controversial Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) goes down to unexpected primary night defeat.

Kucinich defeated in primary by fellow incumbent Marcy Kaptur.

I noticed on twitter that David Frum, an unenthusiastic but genuine Romney supporter, said that whenever he sees Romney talking about something he clearly cares about he’s reassured by the thought of his being president. It’s when he’s talking about things that clearly aren’t big issues for him that he worries. And the problem is that it’s those issues that cable TV and the political scrum get most focused on.

This reminded me of a general theory of Romney that I’ve had since the latter days of the 2008 race; and it’s key from the point of view, I suspect, of many of Romney’s most enthusiastic supporters. Read More

Romney says his new tax plan cannot be scored.

How do you gently suggest to Newt Gingrich that it’s time to get out of the race? Hard for me to figure. But if you’ve got an idea, tell Rick Santorum. He’s trying.