Romney is the favorite for the GOP nomination, and is likely to remain the favorite after Tuesday night. The question is how much the decision is still in play.
Both Santorum and Gingrich have declared they’ll remain in the race, but an unusually strong Romney showing – in which he wins in Tennessee and the caucus states, wins by a lot in Ohio, and has a reasonably strong showing in Georgia despite losing to Gingrich – could go a long way to make his nomination seem all but inevitable.
On the other hand, if Romney underperforms Tuesday – losing in Ohio, Tennessee, Alaska, and North Dakota, and gaining only slightly more delegates than either Gingrich or Santorum – expect the race to continue a lot longer, even if he remains the ultimate favorite for the nomination.
