Anti-Romney, with a Side of Grits

prospect.org — The implications of Mitt Romney's Michigan win are still being parsed, but the calendar leaves little time for the campaigns to rest. Super Tuesday is in less than a week, and a total of 437 delegates in 10 states is at stake. The media have coalesced around the idea that Ohio is the only race that matters. The candidates have followed their lead. To a certain degree, the focus on Ohio is understandable. It's a general-election swing state, and polls indicate it's also teetering between Santorum and Romney ahead of Super Tuesday. I'm far more interested to see how things play out in the three Southern states holding primaries next Tuesday. The Bible Belt is the traditional anchor of Republican politics, defining the identity in the party much in the way Northeastern liberals influence the policy agenda of Democrats. How Romney is received in the South on Super Tuesday will have implications for how the candidate maneuvers the primaries and fares in the general election.

more »