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Mitt Romney wins Michigan and Arizona primaries – live reaction Mitt Romney wins Michigan and Arizona primaries – reaction as it happened
(about 2 hours later)
4.40pm: The Associated Press is saying that Rick santorum and Mitt Romney did indeed tie the delegate count in Michigan last night, with each winning 15 of the state's 30 delegates. 9.16am: Here's Ryan Devereaux about last night – and with the developments in politics this morning:
Michigan awards most of its delegates based on results in each of its 14 congressional districts — handing out two for winning each district. The other two delegates are awarded proportionally, based on the statewide vote. • Mitt Romney managed to pull off wins in Arizona and Michigan's primaries Tuesday. While his victory in Arizona was substantial, the former governor beat back runner-up Rick Santorum by less than four percentage points in Michigan. In Arizona, Romney was allotted all of the state's 29 delegates (the state was docked half for holding an early primary). Michigan's 30 delegates (also docked half) are awarded by district, meaning Santorum would gather nearly the same number or slightly fewer delegates than Romney. Arizona's official primary results were as follows: Romney 47.3%, Santorum 26.6%, Newt Gingrich 16.2% and Ron Paul 8.4%. And in Michigan: Romney 41.1%, Santorum 37.9%, Paul 11.6%, Gingrich 6.5%.
Each candidate won seven congressional districts, while Romney won statewide with 41% of the vote to Santorum's 38%. • Romney told an election party in Novi, Michigan that his victory was a "decisive moment". "This is a big night," said the candidate. "A week ago the pundits and the pollsters were ready to count us out."
Romney leads the overall race for delegates, with 167. Santorum has 87 delegates, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has 32 and Texas Rep. Ron Paul has 19. • Romney did particularly well among older voters, more educated voters and higher income voters. Exit polls also indicated that he won in large margins, in both states, among voters who felt that the economy was the most important issue and among those who felt the budget deficit was the most important issue. In Michigan, Santorum was more popular than Romeny among union households, Tea Party supporters, white evangelical Christians and those who consider themselves very conservative.
• Yesterday's contests mark the beginning of a week of battles for the Republican presidential nomination. A dozen primaries will be held over the next week and over 400 delegates will be up for grabs on Super Tuesday, March 6.
• Ron Paul has vowed to stay in the race and built an extensive network of supporters at caucuses over the last three months. He and Romney are the only candidates on the ballot in Virginia next week. Gingrich, meanwhile, did not actively campaign in Arizona or Michigan and is counting on a resurgence in southern state contests.
9.52am: What comes around once every four years to correct dysfunction on the highest levels? Nope, not the presidential election. Happy Leap Day, everyone. Tom McCarthy here – this morning we'll be watching as the race for the White House reconfigures itself following last night's twin wins for Mitt Romney.

National Republican chair Reince Priebus is front and center repeating the line about a drawn-out primary being good for the party. "I'm not nervous about this at all," he tells Politico. "I think the drama and the tough primary is a is a good thing for us."
A key stat out of Michigan: Turnout was actually up from 2008, from 869,293 voters to 976,340. That 100K-plus gap is more than can be accounted for by the rogue participation of Democratic spoilers in the open primary. Is the race finally gaining some traction in the way of voter excitement?
A very important announcement this morning: No less than the NFL has decided to rearrange its schedule to accommodate the election cycle. To avoid a scheduling conflict with a planned speech by Candidate Obama at the Democratic National Convention, the first game of the season now will be played on Wednesday, Sep. 5, instead of Sep. 6. It's the first time in more than 60 years that the NFL will hold a game on a Wednesday, the NY Times tells us.
10.04am: Sen. Olympia Snowe's announcement yesterday that she would not seek reelection set off a round of hand-wringing about the partisan bitterness of contemporary American politics. And the hand-wringers aren't wrong: Here's a video posted by Ezra Klein that plots partisanship in Congress beginning with the very first session. The liberal-conservative spectrum is plotted along the "x" axis, left to right; the vertical position of the data points represent the extremity of Congress members' stances on the most divisive issues of the day. Watch what happens after 1970.
10.18am: Everybody knows that Ron Paul has brokered some kind of back room deal with Mitt Romney. The Texas Rep has spent the campaign attacking the front runner's rival du jour in a transparent effort to curry favor for his son, Kentucky Rep. Rand Paul, mentioned in some circles as a possible Romney veep pick. That's certainly how Rick Santorum saw things after last week's Arizona debate.
"You have to ask Congressman Paul and Gov. Romney what they've got going together," Santorum said. "Their commercials look a lot alike, and so do their attacks."
This new Ron Paul ad, then, is a little tricky to explain. It attacks Romney as a "flip-flopper" who "supported TARP bailouts" and "provided the blueprint for Obamacare."
You're on your own, Rand?
10.36am: Will Republicans rally around Mitt Romney after the candidate's victory in his latest do-or-die primary, in Michigan? There's not a lot of noise being made this morning about the resilient virtues of the race's now firm front-runner. But there is a lot of talk about how the Michigan race was Rick Santorum's to lose – and he screwed it up. You can listen to conservative don Charles Krauthammer pick apart what he sees as Santorum's mistakes here.
Krauthammer's pithy formulation of how Santorum stepped in it: "Kennedy, college and contraception."
10.42am: Today in politics, if today were 1968:
Great factoid from @detnews' Finley: "Romney's Michigan win came 44 years to the day that his father dropped his bid for the presidency."
— Tim Alberta (@HotlineAlberta) February 29, 2012
10.43am: Final spread in Michigan remains north of 3 percent.
Final spread in MI seems to be 3.2%. i believe closest in our contest was @MelissaArie w/Romney by 3.5%. Supreme Wolverine Poobah!
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 29, 2012
11.12am: Eric Kleefeld of Talking Points Memo has a good breakdown of the race in Maine to get candidates up and running to replace Olympia Snowe. The deadline to get on the ballot is in two weeks and 2,000 signatures are required.
On the Republican side, initial speculation from GOP sources has been that the party will court state Senate President Kevin Raye, a former Snowe chief of staff who is seen as matching the typical profile for electability in the state. ... On the Democratic side, there was already a primary race going on between state Sen. Cynthia Dill, state Rep. John Hinck, and former Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap. But that could now all change, with an open seat to entice some bigger names in — namely, the state's two-member House delegation, both Democrats, Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree.
11.30am: As somebody said yesterday, the biggest news of last night was that Olympia Snowe was stepping down from the Senate, thus dooming Republicans plans to win a majority there.
Here's my entirely speculative conspiracy theory: Snowe plans to join the shadowy and vaguely suspicious Americans Elect third party platform, run on a presidential ticket with washed-up former Democrat David Boren in November and hive off enough votes from Barack Obama to let the Republicans win the White House. And it's revealed – after years of investigative research by Buzzfeed Politics – that Americans Elect was a mere Super Pac smokescreen front for Foster Friess, Sheldon Adelson and Rupert Murdoch to rig the election.
Pretty good, eh? Perhaps you'd like to subscribe to my newsletter. Flaw in the above reasoning: why would you go to all that effort just to elect Mitt Romney as president?
This is Richard Adams taking over live blogging duties from Tom McCarthy. Happy Leap Day, although I have yet to be visited by Leap Day William. And happy birthday Mrs Ron Paul, Carol.
11.48am: Now that we are totally bored with Michigan after last night – hats off for the efficient vote counting, Michiganders – I leave you with one final Michigan-related thought.
It's true that Mitt Romney racked up a huge vote total in Oakland County. But guess what? He would have won the Michigan primary even if Oakland County didn't exist. That's one to ponder for all of you "Romney can't win Ohio" folks out there.
12.09pm: From now on it's non-stop Super Tuesday speculation, and with that in mind: where are the candidates today?
Rick Santorum: Tennessee
Noon ET: Holds a Rally for Rick, Crown College, Powell
8pm CT: Holds a Rally for Rick, Belmont University, Nashville
Mitt Romney: Ohio
10am ET: Held a rally, Toledo
2.45pm ET: Holding a town hall, Capital University, Bexley
Newt Gingrich: Georgia
1.30pm ET: Holds a rally, Peachtree Academy, Covington
7pm ET: Holds a rally, Gainesville
Since candidates visit their weakest or most critical states first, this tells us a lot. But why didn't Santorum visit Ohio?
12.22pm: If Mitt Romney is elected president, then we can look forward to four years of this stuff.
The "Who let the dogs out?" part of this clip of Romney out campaigning is well known. But this "director's cut" is even grimmer, especially the part where Romney mistakes a girl for a boy.
Mitt Romney Goes To The Parade: The Director's Cut buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynsk… Wow.Just wow.But hey, he's "electable."
Erick Erickson is a big fan.
12.46pm: One of the pieces of received wisdom of the Republican 2012 primaries was that Mitt Romney's campaign had vast sums of money. And it did.
But last night Mitt Romney did something unusual in his victory speech: he mentioned his website and asked for donations. There's a spooky parallel with Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign: the first public sign that her campaign was in financial trouble came when she mentioned her website and asked for donations directly.
The Wall Street Journal hears suggestions that Romney – like Clinton in 2008 – may have to dip into his own Cayman Islands account at this rate:
[F]aced with immediate high costs for advertising in multiple states before next week's Super Tuesday contests, Mr Romney may have to write a check from his own personal fortune to tide over his campaign, some Romney allies suggest.
Mr Romney formally entered the race in June 2011 and had raised $63 million through the end of January – far outdistancing his remaining GOP competitors. But he has far outspent all of them, too, burning through $56 million in cash by the end of last month.
At least some of those millions are funds Romney would have been hoping to have used against Obama in the general election. Now he's eating his seed corn to see off Santorum and Gingrich instead.
1.11pm: This morning Mitt Romney was visiting a steel post factory in Toledo, Ohio:
Romney tours plant, fires up a machine saying, "I gotta push a button. That'll be my heavy-lift in terms of manufacturing."
A minor entry in Mitt Romney's Big Book of Campaign Clunkers.
1.29pm: Every vote for Mitt Romney in Michigan cost his campaign $10 in spending, according to analysis relayed by Politico's Dylan Byers:
Late last night, a campaign source sent over the exact totals, showing that Romney campaign and Restore Our Future spent a total $4.27 million on TV and radio spots in the state, while the Santorum campaign, the Red, White and Blue Fund, and the Susan B Anthony list spent $2.27 million.
With 99.9% of the state's votes counted, Romney has received 410,523 votes; Santorum has received 378,142. Per the spending totals, that means that Romney et al spent $10.40 on each vote, whereas Santorum et al spent $6 on each vote.
Bain Capital Romney might tell Presidential candidate Romney that sort of burn rate is not a good investment.
1.53pm: Tennessee Super Tuesday news – a new poll out of the Volunteer State shows that Rick Santorum has a big lead over Mitt Romney.
According to the Middle Tennessee State University poll:
Forty percent of Tennessee Republicans in the poll favor Santorum compared to 19% who prefer Romney. Another 13% support Newt Gingrich, and 11% back Ron Paul.
Caveat: this poll was done over 13-25 February, well before last night's result in Michigan and Arizona.
2.23pm: More big news from the Senate races for 2012: former Nebraska senator Bob Kerrey announces that he has changed his mind and will run for state's vacant Senate seat. AP reports:
Kerrey's announcement Wednesday comes just weeks after he publicly rejected a run to replace retiring Democratic Senator Ben Nelson. It's also just two days before Nebraska's candidate filing deadline.
The 1992 presidential candidate and former Nebraska governor previously said not running was in his family's best interest.
Kerrey's announcement gives new hope to national Democrats desperate to stop Republicans from netting four Senate seats this fall and regaining control of the chamber.
Kerrey is no shoe-in but he has a fighting chance. Between this and the Olympia Snowe news, a hint that the political environment is improving for the Democrats after the disaster of 2010.
2.38pm: Say what you like about Mitt Romney's campaign – for example: cynical, humourless, ethically-challenged, paranoid, pandering, robotic – they are at least quick off the mark.
Here's a new ad from the Romney campaign attacking Rick Santorum over his attempts to round-up Democrat voters in Michigan. There may be some mileage in this, since Republicans in Michigan appear to have reacted with hostility.
Note also the ad closes with a fundraising pitch: suddenly the campaign with all the money seems to need a lot more of it.
2.53pm: Rick Santorum is telling rallies in Tennessee today that the "wind is at our backs," after last night's defeat in Michigan, reports Jamie Dupree:
Santorum also made some news on the delegate front from Michigan, predicting to his backers that he would emerge from last night's vote - along with Mitt Romney - with half of the 30 delegates in the Wolverine State.
"We're going to walk out of Michigan with 15 delegates and he's going to walk out of Michigan with 15 delegates," Santorum said to thunderous cheers.
"We tied!" Santorum said triumphantly.
As Mitt Romney would say: Nice try Rick.
3pm: The Guardian's Adam Gabbatt is with the Romney campaign in Ohio, awaiting the candidate's arrival. And it seems Mitt Romney literally has the wind at his back:
Mitt Romney is expected any minute here at Capital University, a Lutherian liberal arts college in the Columbus suburb of Bexley, Ohio. Capital is in Franklin county, where John McCain won 65% of the primary vote in 2008, beating Mike Huckabee into second place with 26%.
Gentle country rock is streaming into the hall here, where about 300 people are neatly sat in seats pointing at the stage, but outside it's a different story – central Ohio was placed under tornado watch by the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center, less than an hour ago, and it's blowing a gale. Romney might not be too keen to stick around longer than he has to.
3.10pm: On Fox News, Shepherd Smith is interviewing Carl Cameron at the Mitt Romney event in Bexley, Ohio, while Romney is speaking.
"I'm looking at him over your shoulder Carl," says Smith, "Do you think he's aware he's wearing Mom jeans?"
Jeans belong "lower on the waist," Shep later tells Campaign Carl, who seems non-plussed.
They look like bootcut Levis to me, known in Britain as "Jeremy Clarksons".
3.19pm: Apologies to everybody – I was distracted by the "mom jeans" controversy – but right now Ana Marie Cox is webchating live politics and the GOP primaries with Jim Geraghty, the acceptable face of the National Review Online.
3.30pm: The ancient British pastime of "Shag, marry, kill" has been made-over in a marginally more polite fashion for this political website, allowing you to choose between "bang, marry, boot" for the GOP candidates Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum.
And no, you can't choose "boot" for all three.
3.36pm: Oh, Mitt. Why say things like this:
Romney: "My religion is an unusual religion in a number of respects" #Ohio #SuperTuesday
This is what poker players call a "tell". It means his subconcious doesn't want him to be president and so he keeps betraying himself with gaffes.
4pm: Proof of a vengeful God: Bristol Palin is doing a reality TV series for Lifetime.
The title of the series is not, as you might think, Shit My Mom Says – in fact it's Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp. Lifetime describes it thus:
With never-before-granted access to Bristol's real-life experiences growing into womanhood, Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp will reveal how she adjusts to her life in Alaska, where daily she faces the many pressures of raising her toddler son Tripp alone and maintains the close relationship she holds with her parents, former Alaska Governor and Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin and Todd, and siblings.
I think Entertainment Week poster commentor speaks for all of us when he/she says: "Barf. Why?"
Now, if Andrew Sullivan had a cameo role as Bristol's wacky sidekick, that would be something.
4.20pm: Mitt Romney is in full-swing campaign mode today in Bexley, Ohio.4.20pm: Mitt Romney is in full-swing campaign mode today in Bexley, Ohio.
The Guardian's Adam Gabbatt hears Romney explain to the crowd why he does have a heart and explain why his religion is "unusual in a number of respects":The Guardian's Adam Gabbatt hears Romney explain to the crowd why he does have a heart and explain why his religion is "unusual in a number of respects":
Mitt Romney, clad in his campaign-casual uniform of open-necked shirt and blue jeans, was introduced by his wife Ann, who talked at length about the couple's grandchildren and how she was fearful for them being saddled with debt. As his wife stepped down from the stage to widespread applause, Romney quipped: "She's not running, you have to vote for me to get her, right?"Mitt Romney, clad in his campaign-casual uniform of open-necked shirt and blue jeans, was introduced by his wife Ann, who talked at length about the couple's grandchildren and how she was fearful for them being saddled with debt. As his wife stepped down from the stage to widespread applause, Romney quipped: "She's not running, you have to vote for me to get her, right?"
Referencing his victories in Michigan and Arizona, Romney said the reason he won "is because I am talking about the issue people care about most and because I understand that issue personally".Referencing his victories in Michigan and Arizona, Romney said the reason he won "is because I am talking about the issue people care about most and because I understand that issue personally".
Playing up his track record in business, running the Winter Olympics, and balancing the budget as Massachusetts governor, Romney directly criticised his main rival over his record: "Rick Santorum is a nice guy, but he's an economic lightweight," Romney said, adding that understanding job creation "takes a lifetime".Playing up his track record in business, running the Winter Olympics, and balancing the budget as Massachusetts governor, Romney directly criticised his main rival over his record: "Rick Santorum is a nice guy, but he's an economic lightweight," Romney said, adding that understanding job creation "takes a lifetime".
With the speech over, Romney took a wide range of questions from a friendly crowd – including one which asked Romney to "show America you have a heart".With the speech over, Romney took a wide range of questions from a friendly crowd – including one which asked Romney to "show America you have a heart".
Romney reasoned that "people don't get to know you very well through debates", before earnestly picking up the baton and rattling through an "I do have a heart" checklist.Romney reasoned that "people don't get to know you very well through debates", before earnestly picking up the baton and rattling through an "I do have a heart" checklist.
"By far the most important thing in my life is my wife," he said. "Probably the greatest challenge I had, given that fact, is when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis." Luckily Ann's condition has improved since diagnosis, Romney said, before moving onto "my five sons"."By far the most important thing in my life is my wife," he said. "Probably the greatest challenge I had, given that fact, is when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis." Luckily Ann's condition has improved since diagnosis, Romney said, before moving onto "my five sons".
"I thought with five boys my heart couldn't get bigger in terms of loving family members," he said. "And the they got married and I loved their wives. And then they started having grandkids. Grandkids are fabulous. You don't have to change their diapers, and they love you.""I thought with five boys my heart couldn't get bigger in terms of loving family members," he said. "And the they got married and I loved their wives. And then they started having grandkids. Grandkids are fabulous. You don't have to change their diapers, and they love you."
Romney said he also cares about "the community at large and the nature of America and the people of our nation", before a rare public discussion of his faith.Romney said he also cares about "the community at large and the nature of America and the people of our nation", before a rare public discussion of his faith.
"My religion is an unusual religion in a number of respects," he said."My religion is an unusual religion in a number of respects," he said.
"But one in particular, which is that we don't have a paid ministry in our church. So we don't have a minister that's full time. Instead the church headquarters asks various members to serve as the pastor of a congregation."But one in particular, which is that we don't have a paid ministry in our church. So we don't have a minister that's full time. Instead the church headquarters asks various members to serve as the pastor of a congregation.
"I was asked to do that for about 10 years," he said, adding that he would sometimes spend up to 40 hours a week in the unpaid position which gave him the opportunity to pastor "people of different backgrounds, nationalities and circumstances in life.""I was asked to do that for about 10 years," he said, adding that he would sometimes spend up to 40 hours a week in the unpaid position which gave him the opportunity to pastor "people of different backgrounds, nationalities and circumstances in life."
Romney was also asked what would be his foreign policy priority – the biggest threat to America is Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon – and gun law – where the former Massachusetts governor said he will protect the 2nd amendment and even has guns himself, although he added: "I'm not going to tell you where they are."Romney was also asked what would be his foreign policy priority – the biggest threat to America is Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon – and gun law – where the former Massachusetts governor said he will protect the 2nd amendment and even has guns himself, although he added: "I'm not going to tell you where they are."
Mitt Romney has guns? Nerf guns don't count.Mitt Romney has guns? Nerf guns don't count.
4pm: Proof of a vengeful God: Bristol Palin is doing a reality TV series for Lifetime. 4.40pm: The Associated Press is saying that Rick santorum and Mitt Romney did indeed tie the delegate count in Michigan last night, with each winning 15 of the state's 30 delegates.
The title of the series is not, as you might think, Shit My Mom Says – in fact it's Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp. Lifetime describes it thus: Michigan awards most of its delegates based on results in each of its 14 congressional districts — handing out two for winning each district. The other two delegates are awarded proportionally, based on the statewide vote.
With never-before-granted access to Bristol's real-life experiences growing into womanhood, Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp will reveal how she adjusts to her life in Alaska, where daily she faces the many pressures of raising her toddler son Tripp alone and maintains the close relationship she holds with her parents, former Alaska Governor and Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin and Todd, and siblings. Each candidate won seven congressional districts, while Romney won statewide with 41% of the vote to Santorum's 38%.
I think Entertainment Week poster commentor speaks for all of us when he/she says: "Barf. Why?" Romney leads the overall race for delegates, with 167. Santorum has 87 delegates, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has 32 and Texas Rep. Ron Paul has 19.
Now, if Andrew Sullivan had a cameo role as Bristol's wacky sidekick, that would be something. 6.30pm: That's it for today. Here's a summary of the main developments.
3.36pm: Oh, Mitt. Why say things like this: Mitt Romney moved quickly to build on the momentum of his wins in Michigan and Arizona primaries. After declaring in Novi, Michigan last night that the wins were a "decisive moment", the former Massachusetts governor has been campaigning in Ohio, one of the key states to vote in Super Tuesday next week. Romeny won big in Arizona, but in Michigan he beat Santorum by less than four percentage points.
Romney: "My religion is an unusual religion in a number of respects" #Ohio #SuperTuesday Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney tied the delegate count in Michigan, each winning 15 of the state's 30 delegates. Rick Santorum attempted to put a gloss on his defeat by telling rallies in Tennessee that the "wind is at our backs". He is ahead in the state: a Middle Tennessee State University poll puts him on 40% with Romney trailing on 19%.
This is what poker players call a "tell". It means his subconcious doesn't want him to be president and so he keeps betraying himself with gaffes. There are signs that money is starting to run tight for the Romney campaign, which has had to spend millions fending off rivals. The former governor solicited donations to his website for the first time in his victory speech last night. And a new attack ad directed at Rick Santorum ends with a fundraising pitch.
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/>The former Nebraska senator Bob Kerrey has declared that he will run for the state's vacant Senate seat. Kerrey's announcement gives new hope to Democrats desperate to stop Republicans from regaining control of the Senate in the fall elections. Following the news that moderate Republican Maine senator Olympia Snowe is not seeking re-election, it is a sign that the political environment is improving for the Democrats after the disaster of 2010.
3.30pm: The ancient British pastime of "Shag, marry, kill" has been made-over in a marginally more polite fashion for this political website, allowing you to choose between "bang, marry, boot" for the GOP candidates Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum.
And no, you can't choose "boot" for all three.
3.19pm: Apologies to everybody – I was distracted by the "mom jeans" controversy – but right now Ana Marie Cox is webchating live politics and the GOP primaries with Jim Geraghty, the acceptable face of the National Review Online.
3.10pm: On Fox News, Shepherd Smith is interviewing Carl Cameron at the Mitt Romney event in Bexley, Ohio, while Romney is speaking.
"I'm looking at him over your shoulder Carl," says Smith, "Do you think he's aware he's wearing Mom jeans?"
Jeans belong "lower on the waist," Shep later tells Campaign Carl, who seems non-plussed.
They look like bootcut Levis to me, known in Britain as "Jeremy Clarksons".
3pm: The Guardian's Adam Gabbatt is with the Romney campaign in Ohio, awaiting the candidate's arrival. And it seems Mitt Romney literally has the wind at his back:
Mitt Romney is expected any minute here at Capital University, a Lutherian liberal arts college in the Columbus suburb of Bexley, Ohio. Capital is in Franklin county, where John McCain won 65% of the primary vote in 2008, beating Mike Huckabee into second place with 26%.
Gentle country rock is streaming into the hall here, where about 300 people are neatly sat in seats pointing at the stage, but outside it's a different story – central Ohio was placed under tornado watch by the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center, less than an hour ago, and it's blowing a gale. Romney might not be too keen to stick around longer than he has to.
2.53pm: Rick Santorum is telling rallies in Tennessee today that the "wind is at our backs," after last night's defeat in Michigan, reports Jamie Dupree:
Santorum also made some news on the delegate front from Michigan, predicting to his backers that he would emerge from last night's vote - along with Mitt Romney - with half of the 30 delegates in the Wolverine State.
"We're going to walk out of Michigan with 15 delegates and he's going to walk out of Michigan with 15 delegates," Santorum said to thunderous cheers.
"We tied!" Santorum said triumphantly.
As Mitt Romney would say: Nice try Rick.
2.38pm: Say what you like about Mitt Romney's campaign – for example: cynical, humourless, ethically-challenged, paranoid, pandering, robotic – they are at least quick off the mark.
Here's a new ad from the Romney campaign attacking Rick Santorum over his attempts to round-up Democrat voters in Michigan. There may be some mileage in this, since Republicans in Michigan appear to have reacted with hostility.
Note also the ad closes with a fundraising pitch: suddenly the campaign with all the money seems to need a lot more of it.
2.23pm: More big news from the Senate races for 2012: former Nebraska senator Bob Kerrey announces that he has changed his mind and will run for state's vacant Senate seat. AP reports:
Kerrey's announcement Wednesday comes just weeks after he publicly rejected a run to replace retiring Democratic Senator Ben Nelson. It's also just two days before Nebraska's candidate filing deadline.
The 1992 presidential candidate and former Nebraska governor previously said not running was in his family's best interest.
Kerrey's announcement gives new hope to national Democrats desperate to stop Republicans from netting four Senate seats this fall and regaining control of the chamber.
Kerrey is no shoe-in but he has a fighting chance. Between this and the Olympia Snowe news, a hint that the political environment is improving for the Democrats after the disaster of 2010.
1.53pm: Tennessee Super Tuesday news – a new poll out of the Volunteer State shows that Rick Santorum has a big lead over Mitt Romney.
According to the Middle Tennessee State University poll:
Forty percent of Tennessee Republicans in the poll favor Santorum compared to 19% who prefer Romney. Another 13% support Newt Gingrich, and 11% back Ron Paul.
Caveat: this poll was done over 13-25 February, well before last night's result in Michigan and Arizona.
1.29pm: Every vote for Mitt Romney in Michigan cost his campaign $10 in spending, according to analysis relayed by Politico's Dylan Byers:
Late last night, a campaign source sent over the exact totals, showing that Romney campaign and Restore Our Future spent a total $4.27 million on TV and radio spots in the state, while the Santorum campaign, the Red, White and Blue Fund, and the Susan B Anthony list spent $2.27 million.
With 99.9% of the state's votes counted, Romney has received 410,523 votes; Santorum has received 378,142. Per the spending totals, that means that Romney et al spent $10.40 on each vote, whereas Santorum et al spent $6 on each vote.
Bain Capital Romney might tell Presidential candidate Romney that sort of burn rate is not a good investment.
1.11pm: This morning Mitt Romney was visiting a steel post factory in Toledo, Ohio:
Romney tours plant, fires up a machine saying, "I gotta push a button. That'll be my heavy-lift in terms of manufacturing."
A minor entry in Mitt Romney's Big Book of Campaign Clunkers.
12.46pm: One of the pieces of received wisdom of the Republican 2012 primaries was that Mitt Romney's campaign had vast sums of money. And it did.
But last night Mitt Romney did something unusual in his victory speech: he mentioned his website and asked for donations. There's a spooky parallel with Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign: the first public sign that her campaign was in financial trouble came when she mentioned her website and asked for donations directly.
The Wall Street Journal hears suggestions that Romney – like Clinton in 2008 – may have to dip into his own Cayman Islands account at this rate:
[F]aced with immediate high costs for advertising in multiple states before next week's Super Tuesday contests, Mr Romney may have to write a check from his own personal fortune to tide over his campaign, some Romney allies suggest.
Mr Romney formally entered the race in June 2011 and had raised $63 million through the end of January – far outdistancing his remaining GOP competitors. But he has far outspent all of them, too, burning through $56 million in cash by the end of last month.
At least some of those millions are funds Romney would have been hoping to have used against Obama in the general election. Now he's eating his seed corn to see off Santorum and Gingrich instead.
12.22pm: If Mitt Romney is elected president, then we can look forward to four years of this stuff.
The "Who let the dogs out?" part of this clip of Romney out campaigning is well known. But this "director's cut" is even grimmer, especially the part where Romney mistakes a girl for a boy.
Mitt Romney Goes To The Parade: The Director's Cut buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynsk… Wow.Just wow.But hey, he's "electable."
Erick Erickson is a big fan.
12.09pm: From now on it's non-stop Super Tuesday speculation, and with that in mind: where are the candidates today?
Rick Santorum: Tennessee
Noon ET: Holds a Rally for Rick, Crown College, Powell
8pm CT: Holds a Rally for Rick, Belmont University, Nashville
Mitt Romney: Ohio
10am ET: Held a rally, Toledo
2.45pm ET: Holding a town hall, Capital University, Bexley
Newt Gingrich: Georgia
1.30pm ET: Holds a rally, Peachtree Academy, Covington
7pm ET: Holds a rally, Gainesville
Since candidates visit their weakest or most critical states first, this tells us a lot. But why didn't Santorum visit Ohio?
11.48am: Now that we are totally bored with Michigan after last night – hats off for the efficient vote counting, Michiganders – I leave you with one final Michigan-related thought.
It's true that Mitt Romney racked up a huge vote total in Oakland County. But guess what? He would have won the Michigan primary even if Oakland County didn't exist. That's one to ponder for all of you "Romney can't win Ohio" folks out there.
11.30am: As somebody said yesterday, the biggest news of last night was that Olympia Snowe was stepping down from the Senate, thus dooming Republicans plans to win a majority there.
Here's my entirely speculative conspiracy theory: Snowe plans to join the shadowy and vaguely suspicious Americans Elect third party platform, run on a presidential ticket with washed-up former Democrat David Boren in November and hive off enough votes from Barack Obama to let the Republicans win the White House. And it's revealed – after years of investigative research by Buzzfeed Politics – that Americans Elect was a mere Super Pac smokescreen front for Foster Friess, Sheldon Adelson and Rupert Murdoch to rig the election.
Pretty good, eh? Perhaps you'd like to subscribe to my newsletter. Flaw in the above reasoning: why would you go to all that effort just to elect Mitt Romney as president?
This is Richard Adams taking over live blogging duties from Tom McCarthy. Happy Leap Day, although I have yet to be visited by Leap Day William. And happy birthday Mrs Ron Paul, Carol.
11.12am: Eric Kleefeld of Talking Points Memo has a good breakdown of the race in Maine to get candidates up and running to replace Olympia Snowe. The deadline to get on the ballot is in two weeks and 2,000 signatures are required.
On the Republican side, initial speculation from GOP sources has been that the party will court state Senate President Kevin Raye, a former Snowe chief of staff who is seen as matching the typical profile for electability in the state. ... On the Democratic side, there was already a primary race going on between state Sen. Cynthia Dill, state Rep. John Hinck, and former Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap. But that could now all change, with an open seat to entice some bigger names in — namely, the state's two-member House delegation, both Democrats, Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree.
10.43am: Final spread in Michigan remains north of 3 percent.
Final spread in MI seems to be 3.2%. i believe closest in our contest was @MelissaArie w/Romney by 3.5%. Supreme Wolverine Poobah!
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 29, 2012
10.42am: Today in politics, if today were 1968:
Great factoid from @detnews' Finley: "Romney's Michigan win came 44 years to the day that his father dropped his bid for the presidency."
— Tim Alberta (@HotlineAlberta) February 29, 2012
10.36am: Will Republicans rally around Mitt Romney after the candidate's victory in his latest do-or-die primary, in Michigan? There's not a lot of noise being made this morning about the resilient virtues of the race's now firm front-runner. But there is a lot of talk about how the Michigan race was Rick Santorum's to lose – and he screwed it up. You can listen to conservative don Charles Krauthammer pick apart what he sees as Santorum's mistakes here.
Krauthammer's pithy formulation of how Santorum stepped in it: "Kennedy, college and contraception."
10.18am: Everybody knows that Ron Paul has brokered some kind of back room deal with Mitt Romney. The Texas Rep has spent the campaign attacking the front runner's rival du jour in a transparent effort to curry favor for his son, Kentucky Rep. Rand Paul, mentioned in some circles as a possible Romney veep pick. That's certainly how Rick Santorum saw things after last week's Arizona debate.
"You have to ask Congressman Paul and Gov. Romney what they've got going together," Santorum said. "Their commercials look a lot alike, and so do their attacks."
This new Ron Paul ad, then, is a little tricky to explain. It attacks Romney as a "flip-flopper" who "supported TARP bailouts" and "provided the blueprint for Obamacare."
You're on your own, Rand?
10.04am: Sen. Olympia Snowe's announcement yesterday that she would not seek reelection set off a round of hand-wringing about the partisan bitterness of contemporary American politics. And the hand-wringers aren't wrong: Here's a video posted by Ezra Klein that plots partisanship in Congress beginning with the very first session. The liberal-conservative spectrum is plotted along the "x" axis, left to right; the vertical position of the data points represent the extremity of Congress members' stances on the most divisive issues of the day. Watch what happens after 1970.
9.52am: What comes around once every four years to correct dysfunction on the highest levels? Nope, not the presidential election. Happy Leap Day, everyone. Tom McCarthy here – this morning we'll be watching as the race for the White House reconfigures itself following last night's twin wins for Mitt Romney.

National Republican chair Reince Priebus is front and center repeating the line about a drawn-out primary being good for the party. "I'm not nervous about this at all," he tells Politico. "I think the drama and the tough primary is a is a good thing for us."
A key stat out of Michigan: Turnout was actually up from 2008, from 869,293 voters to 976,340. That 100K-plus gap is more than can be accounted for by the rogue participation of Democratic spoilers in the open primary. Is the race finally gaining some traction in the way of voter excitement?
A very important announcement this morning: No less than the NFL has decided to rearrange its schedule to accommodate the election cycle. To avoid a scheduling conflict with a planned speech by Candidate Obama at the Democratic National Convention, the first game of the season now will be played on Wednesday, Sep. 5, instead of Sep. 6. It's the first time in more than 60 years that the NFL will hold a game on a Wednesday, the NY Times tells us.
9.16am: Here's Ryan Devereaux about last night – and with the developments in politics this morning:
• Mitt Romney managed to pull off wins in Arizona and Michigan's primaries Tuesday. While his victory in Arizona was substantial, the former governor beat back runner-up Rick Santorum by less than four percentage points in Michigan. In Arizona, Romney was allotted all of the state's 29 delegates (the state was docked half for holding an early primary). Michigan's 30 delegates (also docked half) are awarded by district, meaning Santorum would gather nearly the same number or slightly fewer delegates than Romney. Arizona's official primary results were as follows: Romney 47.3%, Santorum 26.6%, Newt Gingrich 16.2% and Ron Paul 8.4%. And in Michigan: Romney 41.1%, Santorum 37.9%, Paul 11.6%, Gingrich 6.5%.
• Romney told an election party in Novi, Michigan that his victory was a "decisive moment". "This is a big night," said the candidate. "A week ago the pundits and the pollsters were ready to count us out."
• Romney did particularly well among older voters, more educated voters and higher income voters. Exit polls also indicated that he won in large margins, in both states, among voters who felt that the economy was the most important issue and among those who felt the budget deficit was the most important issue. In Michigan, Santorum was more popular than Romeny among union households, Tea Party supporters, white evangelical Christians and those who consider themselves very conservative.
• Yesterday's contests mark the beginning of a week of battles for the Republican presidential nomination. A dozen primaries will be held over the next week and over 400 delegates will be up for grabs on Super Tuesday, March 6.
• Ron Paul has vowed to stay in the race and built an extensive network of supporters at caucuses over the last three months. He and Romney are the only candidates on the ballot in Virginia next week. Gingrich, meanwhile, did not actively campaign in Arizona or Michigan and is counting on a resurgence in southern state contests.