The race for the Republican nomination turned even more in the favor of Mitt Romney on Tuesday night, as he swept to victory in Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Wisconsin, winning most of the 95 delegates at stake.
"Thanks for the victory in Wisconsin! And Maryland, and the District of Columbia!" Romney said to cheering supporters in the Badger State, as the band played "On Wisconsin" to the delight of Romney backers.
As of 1 am, Romney looked like he would pick up 86 of the 95 delegates at stake on Tuesday, with Rick Santorum getting the other 9 delegates - over 90 percent of the delegates for Romney.
That's not exactly a formula for Santorum to either win the GOP nomination or to deny Romney a majority of delegates.
Romney used his election night speech to once again try to pivot to November, as he focused much of his remarks on President Obama.
"In Barack Obama’s Government-Centered Society, the government must do more because the economy is doomed to do less," Romney told cheering supporters in Wisconsin.
"When you attack business and vilify success, you will have less business and less success," he added, sprinkling Obama jabs throughout that speech.
Romney will have a chance to repeat some of those stingers Wednesday in Washington, D.c. when he addresses a conference of newspaper editors - the same ones who heard on Tuesday from President Obama.
As for Romney's opponents on the GOP side, there was no white flag on Tuesday night.
Rick Santorum was the only one making a televised statement, as he said only half the GOP delegates have been awarded and now was not the time to quit.
"Half the delegates in this process have been selected, and who's ready to charge out of the locker room in Pennsylvania for a strong second half?" Santorum said to yells of approval at his election party in Mars, Pennsylvania.
Santorum though faces a very difficult road ahead in coming weeks; there are no more primaries for three weeks, and on April 24 he likely only has a chance to win in Pennsylvania.
Again, that doesn't seem to be a formula for winning a majority of delegates or keeping Romney from that position.
As for Newt Gingrich, he did not do any campaign events on Tuesday, but he was ready with a big time jab for Romney:
"To defeat President Obama and change Washington, our party must commit itself to a bold, conservative platform. We cannot win on an etch-a-sketch platform that shows no principle or backbone. The Washington establishment wants to declare this race over, but I am committed to carrying the banner of bold conservative colors all the way to Tampa to ensure the Republican Party never abandons the timeless conservative principles of Ronald Reagan and the Contract with America.”
Gingrich again won no delegates; the same zero was on the scoreboard for Ron Paul as well.
That meant it was a big night for Mitt Romney, who still seems to be slowly moving his way towards the Republican nomination. We'll see what he says in Washington later today.
