Mitt Romney's impressive victory Tuesday makes it very likely that we will look back on the Florida primary as the contest that determined the 2012 Republican nomination.To be sure, the campaign fight will go on, and Romney is by no means assured of a sweep of the relatively few February contests.Newt Gingrich has vowed to run all the way to the convention, whatever the odds. He has shown similar determination in the past.He ran and lost twice for Congress before he was first elected in 1978. He saw his party lose seven straight elections for the House before he led it to its first…
from: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/02/after_big_win_romney_faces_tough_opponents_in_a_long_war_112999.html
WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney can argue that winning ugly is still winning, especially in a contest he could not afford to lose. But Romney's decisive victory in Florida came at a price. He aggravated Newt Gingrich's hostility to him, with all the trouble that could entail, and left behind a dispirited Republican electorate in a state the GOP needs to win this fall.At least until now, this primary process has weakened rather than strengthened Romney. It has sowed doubts that he has any understanding of how average people live, and opened up a slew of questions about his personal wealth…
from: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/02/how_romney_won_and_lost_113000.html
TEL AVIV — Last week in Amman, Jordan, negotiations — or, rather, discussions about whether to resume negotiations — between the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority ended. No discernible progress had been made concerning the West Bank, home to approximately 2.3 million Palestinians and about 300,000 Israelis living in towns and cities built by Israel after it seized the territory from Jordan in 1967’s Six Day War. Although continued stalemate is not surprising, it is bad news and reflects the need for another approach.Few Israelis paid attention to the Amman talks. Like most…
from: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/02/peace_talks_stymied_but_west_bank_progress_can_be_made_112991.html
