[Steelfish]

According to the poll, without Gingrich in the race, Santorum's lead skyrockets to 21 points.

[Yaelle]

We need to unite and fight Romney. He needs to have his coronation stopped.

[2ndDivisionVet]

If Ricky were running for Jeff Davis’ job, this’d be great news! Unfortunately, he’s running for Barack Obama’s position!

[napscoordinator]

I am just glad that Romney is below 50 percent tonight. Also only 600K out of 12 million voted in Illinois? That is the big problem that needs addressed.

[Mariner]

It's a 3-man race in LA now and some of Santorum's support could shift to either/both Romney and Gingrich.

Nothing suppresses a vote more than then belief of loss.

[Sun]

Rick Santorum usually wins in the conservative states; Romney wins in the liberal states.

Why is that? LOL

[bigbob]

Right now - Rick has 35% to Romney’s 47% in IL, that’s pretty impressive. He’ll have some tailwind even if not a victory...

[Clintonfatigued]

Here’s a little good news to cheer you up.

[lightman]

I needed some good news tonight!

[Fred]

Aftermath with Santorum Ill. Primary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-lE4xEkwNM&feature=related

[sefarkas]

Have you noticed Romney trails by double-digits every week before every primary and in most cases comes away with a double-digit win? Say what you want (and I am no fan), but that is a talent. Santorum has proven he cannot close the deal. Santorum ought to drop out and stop taking votes away from Gingrich.

[CharlesWayneCT]

It doesn’t matter much, because Louisiana has so few delegates, and they are all “unbound” to the convention, but to the degree you trust the selection of delegates, the goal in Louisiana is to keep ROmney below 25%, which is the cutoff for proportional assignment.

So in this case, we want Gingrich to stay in the race, and to take a few percent from Romney.

What isn’t helpful is Gingrich taking votes from Santorum, if it helps Romney get over 25%. If Romney ends up below 25%, conservatives win.

[Proud2BeRight]

Face it, the low Illinois turnout is now showing a “none of the above” attitude of GOP voters. In a time that the worse White House resident in US history should be defeated in a record landslide, the establishment GOP has systematically undermined every conservative candidate while offering a lackluster Massachusetts liberal as their anointed one.

[Lazlo in PA]

Santorum for President Ping List.

FReepmail “Antoninus” to be added or removed.

[hinckley buzzard]

Well good for Rick. This last three/four days have been a total catastrophe for him, between PR and IL. It's all over but the shouting. Rick has lost. You guys keep up the rain dance though. Ya never know, right?

[Wolfstar]

According to the poll, without Gingrich in the race, Santorum's lead skyrockets to 21 points.

It's fine that Santorum has a big lead in Louisiana, but Romney isn't campaigning there. Santorum and Gingrich are contesting LA. If Gingrich does take a drubbing there and still refuses to pull out, it will just prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that his is just a vanity campaign.

[WFTR]

If the current numbers hold, there’s a chance that Rick Santorum gets all 20 delegates on Saturday. To qualify for delegates in Saturday’s primary, a candidate must get 25% of the vote. With both Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney below 25%, only Rick Santorum would receive delegates. If the 6% undecideds split evenly, all three will be over 25% and the delegate split is likely to be Santorum 8, Gingrich 6, and Romney 6. If Gingrich got out the race, the split would likely be Santorum 13 and Romney 7. If we are truly at the point where every delegate counts, then the extra delegate for Mitt Romney is probably more important than the increased margin for Rick Santorum. I’m sure that the Gingrich and Santorum campaigns are hoping that the final numbers are something like Santorum 40, Gingrich 27, and Romney 24. That ending would keep Mr. Romney from receiving any delegates. In this primary, Dr. Gingrich’s presence in the race certainly has the chance of taking delegates from Mitt Romney.