ILLINOIS: NPR previewed the Illinois GOP primary with Rep. Peter Roskam.

The L.A. Times looks at how a Santorum win in Illinois could change the winds of the race.

The Chicago Tribune says turnout is expected to be low Tuesday. And: “The early voting figures could prove troubling for a Romney campaign that had promoted its organizational strength in Illinois, including its get-out-the-vote efforts. Romney has done well in suburban areas in other major states and had been expected to do the same in the Chicago suburbs while Santorum enjoyed the backing of more conservative rural voters.”

INDIANA: Sen. Richard Lugar was found ineligible to vote in Indiana because of residency issues. He’s appealing the decision.

MAINE: “At least nine candidates will be in the race for retiring Sen. Olympia Snowe's (R-Maine) Senate seat, according to a count by The Hill, including six Republicans, two Democrats and an independent.”

NEW YORK: Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) won’t run for reelection. “[I]n a redistricting map likely to become law, his district was essentially dismantled and his home was drawn into the same district as Rep. Steve Israel, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee,” Roll Call writes.

OREGON: A Republican debate in Oregon has been called off given that Romney will not participate.

UTAH: Sen. Orrin Hatch was encouraged by early signs at yesterday’s precinct caucuses that could determine his fate. “All told, more than 125,000 Republicans flooded into their party caucuses Thursday, more than doubling the record set last year,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports. “After 36 years, Hatch was facing perhaps his gravest political threat, but spent more than a year fighting back, mobilizing supporters to attend the caucuses and by early and anecdotal reports, appears to have fared well.”

TOLEDO, Ohio -- In the White House's most aggressive singling out of its Republican rivals to date, Vice President Joe Biden slammed Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Santorum by name during his first public campaign event of the 2012 cycle.

Addressing more than 500 union members and supporters at United Auto Workers Local 12 here, Biden touted the administration's backing of the auto industry bailout, saying that the GOP presidential candidates were "dead wrong" in their opposition to the measure.

"Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich," he said. "These guys have a fundamentally different economic philosophy than we do."

He specifically noted Romney's 2008 op-ed entitled "Let Detroit go bankrupt" -- greeted with raucous boos -- as well as Gingrich's labeling of the bailout as a "mistake," and Santorum's statement that the measure catered to Obama's political interests.

"Look, I want to tell you what's real bankruptcy," the vice president said. "The economic theories of Gingrich, Santorum, and Romney. They are bankrupt."

Biden dismissed as inaccurate the Republican sentiment that, without government intervention, the private sector would have stepped in to the void to aid the ailing automotive sector. With a particular tweak at Romney, Biden noted that Bain Capital -- the company that Romney once led -- declined an offer from the President's Auto Task Force to invest in GM's European operations.

In contrast, he said the president showed his "spine of steel" by backing the financial rescue of an "iconic industry America invented."

In his characteristic booming voice, Biden stated at the beginning of his remarks, "We bet on American ingenuity; we bet on you; and we won!"

The top surrogate's utterance of the candidates' names is a departure from the president's own rhetoric. The White House has largely avoided specific mention of any of the candidates, even as the DNC maintains a sharp focus on delegate-frontrunner Romney.

The vice president also argued that Democrats represent economic fairness in comparison to what he described as crony-embracing Republicans.

"Stated simply, we're about promoting the private sector," he said. "They're about protecting the privileged sector."

Biden was introduced by Rep. Marcy Kaptur, who just defeated fellow Democrat Dennis Kucinich in a redistricting-fueled primary contest. The event had a notably political feel, with chants of, "Four more years!" and, "Go, Joe, go!" reverberating from the sign-wielding crowd.

This was not Biden's first visit to UAW Local 12; he visited the same venue in October 2010 to stump for then-Gov. Ted Strickland.

GINGRICH: I thought we’d get to see forever… “It's hard to say goodbye in presidential politics,” the AP writes. “Newt Gingrich's campaign pinned his future on two Deep South victories, which never materialized. Yet the former House speaker is pressing on despite a path to victory that seems more improbable by the day.”

The New York Post: “The Republican White House derby now appears to be a two-man race — but Newt Gingrich doesn’t seem to notice.”

ROMNEY: Romney was pressed again on health care on FOX. The interview, which also covered some of his gaffes related to wealth, “clearly set Mitt on edge,” GOP 12 writes.

The Chicago Tribune: “As the Republican presidential contest moves to Illinois, Mitt Romney finds his campaign parked squarely at the corner of perception and reality. … Underscoring the importance of Tuesday's Illinois primary, where 54 delegates are at stake, Romney has moved up plans to campaign here, making his first visit Friday instead of waiting until Monday. With Illinois, Romney again faces a critical battle in a state that once seemed assuredly his.”

Speaking of Illinois, did a Romney backer help out Santorum in the state? Buzzfeed: “Mitt Romney could have assured himself victory months in advance in the now-crucial primary state of Illinois, but instead his Illinois campaign operation chose to allow Rick Santorum's delegates to remain on the ballot despite a failure to meet signature requirements. Santorum, who has also failed to reach the ballot in Washington, D.C., Virginia, and parts of Ohio, fell short of the required signatures in 10 of the state's 18 congressional districts —and didn't submit any in four of them — Romney's campaign confirmed. But Illinois Treasurer and Romney state chairman Dan Rutherford withdrew challenges in those districts, allowing Santorum the opportunity to win 30 delegates he would have missed out on.

The Washington Post looks at how the Seamus story still dogs Romney.

Debates? Count him out. “The organizers of a March 19 presidential debate in Portland, Ore., say they will decide Thursday whether to go ahead with the debate, even without former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney,” the Boston Globe writes. “The debate, which was sanctioned by the Republican National Committee, is being organized by the Oregon Republican Party and produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting and the Washington Times. Romney told organizers on Monday that he will not participate. Instead, his campaign said he will be in Illinois in advance of that state’s March 20 primary.”

“Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney pivoted from talking up cheesy grits and catfish in Dixie to appearing at a sumptuous, fat-cat, four-star luncheon at the opulent Waldorf-Astoria in Midtown yesterday,” the New York Post writes, adding, “Romney was in his element yesterday among well-heeled financiers, and he expected to haul in $3 million at more fund-raisers around town.”

SANTORUM: Santorum said if Puerto Rico wants to be a state, it needs to speak English: "As in any other state, you have to comply with this and any federal law - and that is that English has to be the main language,” Santorum told San Juan newspaper El Vocero, per AP. “There are other states with more than one language as is the case in Hawaii, but to be a state in the United States, English has to be the main language." (Video here.)

And: “It’s important that people of the island are given the gift of English is the language of success in the United States. It is the language of commerce in the largest economy in the world and we are not doing anybody on this island a favor by not following the law, which is that this is a society that will speak English in addition to speaking Spanish. I understand some people see this as a barrier, I see this as an opportunity. … There needs to be proficiency in English, not just a knowledge of English, but proficiency.”

He also talked about how his daughter is in Hawaii and talks to him in Hawaiian. And he derides Quebec for not integrating into the rest of Canada.

More: “I don’t see this as a threat to the culture of the island, I see this as a necessary and important step to confirm your commitment to fully integrate into America and American society as a state and a tremendous opportunity for a people here on the island who in my opinion have been denied a lot of economic opportunities because the government has not emphasized the importance of English that is my understanding required under the law in the first place.”

Reuters: “Santorum to Puerto Rico: Speak English if you want statehood.” And it fact checks Santorum on this: “[T]he U.S. Constitution does not designate an official language, nor is there a requirement that a territory adopt English as its primary language in order to become a state. Congress would have to give approval if Puerto Rico is to become the 51st state. Although Congress has considered numerous proposals to make English the official U.S. language, none has ever passed. However, some states have passed their own laws declaring English the official language, including heavily Hispanic Florida.”

And: “Santorum's statement may fall flat with Puerto Rican Republicans, who have always argued that issues of language and culture should be controlled by state governments and not the federal government. It also could alienate the 4.2 million Puerto Ricans who live on the U.S. mainland, including nearly 1 million in presidential swing-state Florida.”

Santorum leads Romney in Texas, 35%-27%, with Gingrich at 20%, Paul – the native Texan - 8%, according to a Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research poll (conducted via live telephone caller).

“Rick Santorum won Republican presidential primaries in Alabama and Mississippi, but he didn’t gain any ground in the race for delegates against frontrunner Mitt Romney,” the AP writes. “Romney wiped out Santorum’s gains by winning caucuses in Hawaii and American Samoa Tuesday.”

“The plodding Republican presidential nomination fight is grinding forward toward Puerto Rico -- and a two-man race, with Rick Santorum ascendant and Mitt Romney vanquished in the Deep South,” the AP’s Hunt adds. “Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the former Georgia lawmaker whose Southern strategy stalled, was all but relegated to an asterisk in the contest even as he vowed to stay in it.”

GINGRICH: “Even as pressure mounts on Newt Gingrich to drop out of the Republican presidential contest, the former House speaker is preparing to stick it out—with a new short-term goal of keeping Mitt Romney from securing the nomination,” the Wall Street Journal says.

The Boston Globe’s Johnson: “With back-to-back losses in the Deep South Tuesday night, Newt Gingrich suffered a third defeat: He lost any of the remaining logic behind his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination.”

Bloomberg/Business Week: “Rick Santorum’s wins in Mississippi and Alabama may have done more damage to Newt Gingrich than to front-runner Mitt Romney. Santorum affirmed his status last night as Romney’s main challenger….”

NPR’s Ron Elving: “It is time for the much-winnowed field of Republican presidential contenders to shrink a little further. It is time for Newt Gingrich to bid adieu and wrap up his bid for the nomination.”

Byron York: “With losses in Alabama and Mississippi, Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign has changed.  In the past, the campaign was about winning, or trying to win, or at least claiming to be trying to win.  Now, it's about keeping Mitt Romney from winning.” And: “None of [Gingrich’s logic] will stop Republicans from calling on Gingrich to get out of the race. After Tuesday's results were clear, the prominent conservative PR man Keith Appell sent out an email saying Gingrich had ‘given it a great run,’ but that Santorum ‘has earned a mano-a-mano shot at Mitt Romney.’ … [T]he Washington establishment, or more accurately the East Coast establishment, is about to declare Gingrich dead.”

ROMNEY: AP’s Peoples: “Mitt Romney's losses in Alabama and Mississippi underscore a stark reality: The core of his party does not want him.” 

The Honolulu Star Advertiser: “Hawaii Republicans side with Romney.”

Did you know that American Samoa is 25% Mormon? Buzzfeed’s McKay Coppins wrote about this a few days ago: "[T]here are more Latter-Day Saints per capita in American Samoa than almost any other country or territory in the world, according to statistics published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. … it seems clear the Romney campaign has connected the dots. At a strategy briefing earlier this week in Boston, an aide specifically cited the South Pacific as a place where they expected their candidate to perform well. The Mormon Church first sent missionaries to the region in 1843, just 13 years after it was organized. A century later, LDS chapels dotted the islands, and American Samoa was home to a rapidly expanding congregation — infusing the territory's culture with distinctly Mormon (and American) practices. In 1938, for example, the church organized the island's first Boy Scout troop. But the cultural exchange has gone both ways over the years. The football program at Brigham Young University, where Romney attended, is famous for recruiting heavily from American Samoa and its surrounding islands. And BYU's Hawaii campus owns the Polynesian Cultural Center, a widely-visited museum/theme park that includes a large Samoan section." 

National Review’s Walsh: “[T]he losses in Alabama and Mississippi — a state that some Romney supporters were convinced they were going to win — ought to give the Massachusetts governor pause.”

SANTORUM: The New York Times: “Rick Santorum captured twin victories in the Alabama and Mississippi primaries on Tuesday, overcoming the financial advantages of Mitt Romney and the Southern allegiances to Newt Gingrich on a night that amplified his argument that the Republican nominating fight is becoming a two-man race with Mr. Romney. The triumphs by Mr. Santorum elevated and strengthened his candidacy as the Republican campaign rolls ahead into a state-by-state battle for delegates. An aggressive push by Mr. Romney to try and capitalize on the divided conservative electorate failed to take hold, and he finished third in both states.”

The Birmingham News front page: “Santorum surges.” (By the way, it looks like Roy Moore once again for Alabama Supreme Court chief justice, and Rep. Spencer Bachus avoided a primary runoff, gaining 57% in his bid for reelection to Congress.)

“Rick Santorum won a pair of momentum-changing Deep South primary victories Tuesday — ensuring that the bloody GOP Civil War will continue,” the New York Daily News writes. “Santorum captured narrow wins in both Alabama and Mississippi, cementing his status as the conservative alternative to GOP front-runner Mitt Romney, who again struggled to win in his party’s spiritual home.”

The New York Post: “Rick rolls to 2 wins in South.”

The Huntsville Times: “Santorum sweeps.”

In Mississippi, the Jackson Clarion Ledger’s front page: “Santorum by a hair.”

The Sun Herald: “Santorumx2.” (Also on that front page, that an abortion bill passed the state House that would require doctors to be certified in OB/GYN “and have privileges to admit patients to local hospitals” in order to perform an abortion at “Mississsippi’s last remaining abortion clinic.”)

National Review headlines: “Santorum’s Big Night.”

ILLINOIS: “Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney might not be campaigning in Illinois until Monday, but he's poised to saturate the state's airwaves during the final week before the Illinois primary,” the Chicago Tribune reports.

NEBRASKA: Bob Kerrey went up with his first ad.

PENNSYLVANIA: Santorum leads 36%-22% over Romney, according to Quinnipiac. Gingrich, who was born and raised in the Keystone state, gets just 8%. Paul is at 12%.

UTAH: Orrin Hatch says this is his last campaign.

What voters in Alabama and Mississippi are waking up to:

The Birmingham News’ five-column front-page headline: “GOP support up for grabs,” over three pictures, of Gingrich, Santorum, and Romney. 

The Huntsville Times: “Forum features two GOP candidates.” Subhed: “Attendees mostly agree that Gingrich performed better than Santorum.”

The Jackson Clarion-Ledger: “Decision Time.” Subhed: “Romney’s lead could be shaken or solidified.” It also features pictures of all three – Romney, Gingrich, and Santorum. (The headline below that: “Statewide voter turnout expected to be light.”)

Outside those two states, here’s the New York Post: “Redneck-&-neck: Romney looking strong down South.”

The Hill: “The presidential candidates are all facing high stakes, but for different reasons, on Tuesday as Mississippi and Alabama hold their primary contests.”

GINGRICH: Chuck Norris recorded a robo call for Gingrich. It’s called, “Chuck Norris doesn’t endorse, he makes reality.” It’s not quite as good as those ads with Mike Huckabee in 2008.

ROMNEY: First, it was owners of NASCAR teams, now the NFL. Asked on a radio show where he’d like to see Peyton Manning land, Romney said somewhere other than the AFC East, since he’s a Patriots fan. But he answered it this way: "I don't want him to go to Miami or the Jets. I got a lot of good friends -- the owners of the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets -- both owners are friends of mine….”

National Journal’s Jill Lawrence writes: “Romney didn't mention that Jets owner Woody Johnson is one of his national finance co-chairmen. A very good friend indeed. The $10,000 bet, the two Cadillacs, the $374,000 in speaking fees that Romney described as "not very much," the NASCAR team owners and now the football team owners -- it is getting hard to keep track of all the times Romney doesn't notice he is casually saying things that are completely outside the experience of regular people.” 

The AP previews today’s contests with a focus on Romney: “Mitt Romney is working to seal his status as the Republican presidential front-runner with a thus-far-elusive victory in the Deep South.”

“After urging Mississippi and Alabama Republicans to speed him toward the presidential nomination, Mitt Romney is campaigning in Missouri ahead of its Saturday caucuses,” AP writes. Santorum won last month’s non-binding Missouri vote, but holds caucuses that will award delegates Saturday.

He turned 65 yesterday and has no plans to enroll in Medicare.

Romney called Santorum to the left of him on the economy: "I find it interesting that he continues to describe himself as the real conservative,” he said on FOX Business, per The Hill. “Rick Santorum is not a person who is an economic conservative to my right. His record does not suggest he has the fiscal conservative chops that I have."

Sasha Issenberg looks at Romney’s early voting advantage: “Romney's canny and competent handling of these varied early-voting processes this year has helped him accumulate a seemingly insurmountable lead in delegates. He is running the only modern, professional campaign against a field of amateurs gasping to keep up, and nowhere is that advantage more evident than in his mastery of early voting. Capitalizing on early-voting procedures demands formidable investment up front in the service of later savings." (Hat tip: Political Wire.)

Jeff Foxworthy may have endorsed Romney, but he doesn’t want to go hunting with him. "That sounds even more dangerous than Cheney if you ask me,” he said on CNN, per GOP 12. “We may start with a BB gun and work our way up to a rifle.”

Alabama’s governor thinks Mormonism could hurt Romney.

SANTORUM: Santorum on “TODAY” yesterday: “It’s a conservative party. If the opportunity provides itself at an open convention, they’re not going to nominate a moderate Massachusetts governor who has been outspending his opponent 10 to one and can’t win the election outright.”

Santorum will spend Election Day at his home in suburban Virginia today instead of on the campaign trail. He also said of Romney, "We already have a president who doesn't tell the truth. We don't need to nominate someone else who has that same problem."

Here’s this headline out of the New York Daily News: “Pro-Santorum pastor wants Romney to renounce his ‘racist’ Mormon faith.”

Is Bill Maher smarter than a 12-year-old? Rick Santorum doesn’t think so.

Stu Rothenberg reminds that there are ideological fights on the left as well as the right, especially in House races. “[T]hose fights exist, and they could well presage a larger fight within the party at some point in the future, either during a second Obama term or after he leaves office,” Rothenberg writes.

FLORIDA: “Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), already under fire for allegations he bribed his primary opponent to drop out of the race, questioned the legitimacy of President Obama's birth certificate at a town-hall meeting,” The Hill writes. Stearns said, “"The question is, is it legitimate? That’s where we stand now. I’ve seen a copy of it on television. But you know the governor of Hawaii couldn’t get what he felt was an original of the birth certificate. He tried to do it and gave up on it."

LOUISIANA: “A new WWL-TV poll in Louisiana finds Rick Santorum with a small lead in the GOP presidential race at 25%, followed by Mitt Romney at 21%, Newt Gingrich at 20% and Ron Paul at 6%,” Political Wire writes.

UTAH: Romney appears in an ad endorsing Sen. Orrin Hatch. Hatch faces key district conventions Thursday. Romney, in past polls, has been the most popular politician in Utah.

TEXAS: “The Justice Department on Monday blocked a new Texas law that requires government-issued photo identification at the polls, further inflaming an intense and racially charged election-year debate over voting requirements,” The Hill writes. “Republicans blasted the Obama administration’s move as purely political and said the ID requirement is necessary to prevent fraud and election tampering.”

MoveOn.org has an ad out called, “GOP War on Women.” The group says it’s running the ad on national cable.

Many would contend that the passage of the controversial health-care law led, in large measure, to the sweeping 2010 election that put Republicans in control of the House.

But the Obama campaign is banking on the health-care law being its key to one vitally important group for reelection in 2012 -- women.

Mailers obtained by First Read (first mailer, second mailer) currently going out in battleground states from the Democratic National Committee make a concerted push to women on health care, in particular touting the preventive care benefits that are already in effect. (The New York Times Saturday reported that mailers would go out today.)

One mailer depicts a husband and wife sitting around a kitchen table with coffee mugs and a calculator. The text might lead the Romney campaign to charge that Democrats are resorting to “class warfare.”

“Wealthy families already get good health care,” the front page reads. Below that, it asks, “How will America’s new health care law help you?” And lists “3 ways” it is doing so, including, “preventing discrimination against women like you,” “banning insurance caps on needed care,” and “keeping your kids covered until age 26.” It also refers to a website called, “NewHealthCareLaw.com,” which is run by Obama for America, the Obama reelection campaign arm.

All of the pictures – aside from the front page one with the husband and wife – are of women. In the second mailer, both the doctor and patient are also women.

The second mailer’s first page depicts a doctor saying, “You may now get many of your preventive care services for FREE.” And: “For a list of preventive services for women available without co-pays thanks to America’s New Health Care Law, please read inside.”

The second page rattles off some of the preventive services, like screenings for breast and cervical cancers, domestic and interpersonal violence, gestational diabetes, HIV, HPV, as well as free contraception, breastfeeding support, and well-woman visits.

Rogelio Solis / AP

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks at the Mississippi Farmers Market in Jackson, Miss.

Mitt Romney’s campaign and Super PAC have spent more than $2 million ahead of tomorrow’s contests in Alabama and Mississippi. Polls show a tight race, with Romney within the margin of error of the lead against Newt Gingrich.

But Romney is no natural fit in the Deep South -- and he knows it.

"I am learning to say y'all and I like grits,” Romney said Friday. “Strange things are happening to me," added the born-in-Michigan, former Massachusetts governor.

The fact remains that Romney faces an uphill climb tomorrow in Alabama and Mississippi, and it’s not just because he’s not a big grits and biscuits eater. It's demographics.

Looking at three questions in exit polls dealing with education, wealth, and religion, the two states show Romney far outside his comfort zone.

Romney’s wins have all come in places where voters were more educated, wealthier, and less evangelical.

Nine states where Romney won -- and exit polls are available -- showed the average Romney state is a place where 51% of GOP primary voters are college grads, 31% made more than $100,000 a year, and 35% were born-again or evangelical Christians.

The average state Romney lost included 48% college grads, 28% made more than $100,000, and 68% born-again, evangelical Christians. Alabama and Mississippi are even worse than those numbers for Romney.

In 2008, in Alabama, just 42% said they were college grads, 18% made more than $100,000, and 77% were born-again or evangelical Christians. In Mississippi, the numbers were similar -- 38% college grads, 19% made more than $100,000, and 69% were born-again or evangelical Christians.

If the numbers of born-again or evangelical Christians hold, they will be the largest share of any single state to vote yet outside of Tennessee and Oklahoma. Tennessee may be a great example, where Romney allies spent a lot of money, polling started to show him doing well, but in the end, lost by more than pre-primary polls suggested. And Tennessee in 2012 had higher percentages of college grads and those making more than $100,000 than Alabama and Mississippi in 2008.

But if Romney does pull off the win, or does better than expected, of course, that will signal for the first time that Romney can win outside his core groups -- and that conservatives may very well be ready for this race to be over. Or, as some on Twitter and colleagues note, it could just be that Rick Santorum and Gingrich split the conservative vote and give Romney a path to victory.

NBC's Adam Perez contributed to this report.

2008 exit polls:

Mississippi:
38% college graduates
19% made more than $100,000
69% born-again or evangelical Christian

Alabama:
42% were college grad
18% made more than $100,000
77% born again or evangelical

States Romney won 2012:

New Hampshire:
55% college grad
37% made more than $100,000
22% born again/evangelical

Michigan:
51% college grad
33% made more than $100,000
42% evangelical

Ohio:
45% college grad
30% made more than $100,000
49% born again/evangelical

Florida:
50% college grad
31% made more than $100,000
47% born again/evangelical

Nevada:
48% college grad
28% made more than $100,000
28% born-again or evangelical Christian

Arizona:
46% college grad
26% made more than $100,000
42% born-again or evangelical Christian

Massachusetts:
56% college grad
40% made more than $100,000
16% born-again or evangelical Christian

Vermont:
48% college grad
19% made more than $100,000
27% born-again or evangelical Christian 

Virginia:
58% college grad
39% made more than $100,000
46% born-again or evangelical Christian

* Exit polls were not conducted in Maine, Idaho, Wyoming, Guam, the Northern Mariana Island, or the Virgin Islands – all states Romney also won.

States Romney lost 2012

Georgia
52% college grad
38% made more than $100,000
68% born again/evangelical

Iowa
52% college grad
28% made more than $100,000
57% born again/evangelical

Oklahoma
45% college grad
21% made more than $100,000
74% born again/evangelical 

Tennessee
46% college grad
27% made more than $100,000
76% born again/evangelical

South Carolina
47% college grad
27% made more than $100,000
65% born again/evangelical

* Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, and North Dakota did not have exit polls

“Voter turnout was down from 2008 in five out of seven states that held their Republican presidential primaries on Super Tuesday, according to a new analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center,” the Boston Globe writes. “The analysis found that voter turnout dropped from 2008 in Tennessee, Georgia, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, and Florida. It went up in Vermont and Ohio. It did not measure turnout in the three states that held caucuses.”

GOP strategist Whit Ayres said if Republican don’t figure out how to better appeal to Latinos, not only will Florida not be in play, but Texas will be.

GINGRICH: He talked about a brokered convention last night on FOX, per GOP 12, saying that Arizona and Florida should really be proportional.

ROMNEY: Romney admitted this during an Alabama radio interview about campaigning in the South “I realize it’s a bit of an away game.” And per NBC’s Garrett Haake, Romney said at an event in Mississippi: "I am learning to say y'all and I like grits, and ... strange things are happening to me.”

Some conservatives aren’t willing to hand Romney the nomination yet. The Weekly Standard’s Anderson challenges Romney’s math argument in “Romney's Curious Claim of Mathematical Inevitability.” He writes, “delegate-wise, this contest is still early in the second quarter — or, if you prefer, in the bottom of the third inning. Has Romney run up such overwhelming tallies in the early part of the game that it’s time to invoke the mercy rule? Hardly. First, this is a contest to win the Republican presidential nomination and take on President Obama in perhaps the most important election since the Civil War. There is no mercy rule.”

“Bob Dole, the Republicans’ 1996 presidential nominee and a former US senator from Kansas, [yesterday] reasserted his endorsement of Mitt Romney in advance of this weekend’s Kansas caucuses,” the Boston Globe writes.

Romney got his license renewed while home in Massachusetts. There, residents have to update their license photo every 10 years, and “Romney was due this year,” the Boston Globe writes. He got to register at a special office not with the general public.

Noting big ad buys by Restore Our Future, Reuters writes, “Santorum could pick up support in a series of primary fights this month in the kind of strongly Republican states where the former Massachusetts governor has had little success so far. To help fend off the challenge, the Super PAC outside spending group that supports Romney - by far the biggest fundraiser in the Republican field - has been pouring millions of dollars into anti-Santorum advertising.” 

SANTORUM: San Diego Charger quarterback Philip Rivers, an Alabama native, endorsed Rick Santorum: "I am supporting Rick Santorum for president because of his stance on issues that attack vital Christian values our country was founded upon: no abortion, upholding traditional marriage, defending religious freedom, no euthanasia.”

“In fact….” Santorum in Alabama, per the The Huntsville Times: "Obamacare is, in fact, the death knell for freedom, and that's why it must be repealed.”

(By the way, Herman Cain was campaigning in Alabama, too, for someone running for public service commission.)

FLORIDA: The publisher of Penthouse magazine is considering running for FL-22 as a Democrat.

MASSACHUSETTS: Olympia Snowe endorsed Scott Brown. And Elizabeth Warren stars in a “documentary” promoting President Obama’s reelection.

OHIO: Rothenberg’s Jessica Taylor warns not to over read incumbent losses in Ohio. “While some observers will misread Schmidt’s loss as evidence of some brewing anti-incumbent wave, the three-term lawmaker has had mediocre primary performances ever since she won an Aug. 2005 special election to succeed now-Sen. Rob Portman,” she writes.

VIRGINIA: “Abdominal ultrasounds for women seeking abortions in Virginia will become mandatory under a bill signed into law Wednesday by the state's Republican governor, who had faced a national uproar when earlier versions of the measure had sought to make the exams medically invasive,” the New York Daily News reports. “The law conservative Gov. Bob McDonnell signed requires all Virginia abortion providers to comply starting July 1 or pay a $2,500 fine for each violation. Patients living within 100 miles of the clinic where the abortion is performed must wait 24 hours after the ultrasound examination before having an abortion.” 

WASHINGTON: Down but not out. Dennis Kucinich may still run in Washington state, perhaps for Jay Inslee or Norm Dicks seats, per Political Wire.

After Super Tuesday, here are the delegate standings, as of 11:30 am ET, according to the NBC News Elections Desk:

Romney 339
Gingrich 111
Santorum 107        
Paul 30

The score out of just last night's contests:

Romney 220
Santorum 90
Gingrich 81
Paul 22

The means Romney got 65% of his delegate total out of last night's races. But he's still only 29% of the way to the magic number of 1,144 to become the Republican nominee.