Free Republic

According to ABC, campaign manager Matt Rhoades told Romney: 'We would rather lose with you than win with anyone else.' Colleagues also stood and clapped for Rhoades and Mitt's 'Body Man,' Garrett Jackson who often tweeted behind-the-scenes pictures during his many hours at Romney's side on the campaign trail. The defeat was a stunning blow to the Republican camp who had been confident they would win even in the last few hours of the campaign.

Mitt Romney's march to a possible Republican presidential nomination just got a lot longer and harder. Front-runner Romney left Tuesday's round of three nominating contests with another reminder of his own shortcomings, after a two-state winning streak that had placed him firmly in the driver's seat in the nomination race. Bad losses to rival Rick Santorum in Colorado, Missouri and Minnesota raised more questions about whether conservative Republicans are ready to give their hearts to a millionaire former Massachusetts governor who once supported abortion rights and a government requirement that people have health insurance.

Whatever your perspective on how likely Mitt Romney was to lose the Republican nomination race prior to Tuesday evening, it should be acknowledged that he had about the worst results conceivable. In Minnesota, a state which Mr. Romney carried easily in 2008, he has so far failed to win a single county — and got just 17 percent of the vote. That put him 27 points behind Rick Santorum, and 10 points behind Ron Paul, who finished in second. Missouri is a less important result since its beauty contest primary did not count for delegate selection and since turnout was...