As I write this, Super Tuesday is not done yet.  But here are some preliminary thoughts on the results so far and what they mean going forward.

The big story is that Mitt Romney has not clinched the nomination.  I know he wasn’t going to formally clinch anything from Super Tuesday, but it could have put him at 99% or better of winning the nomination.  While Romney didn’t do horrible, he didn’t do exceptionally well either.  He won the states he was supposed to win.  Gingrich won Georgia.  Rick Santorum has won several states.

The big contest was Ohio because it is a swing state in the general election and it was close in the polls.  While it is still too close to call as I write this, Romney did not get a convincing win there.

So while Romney is still the front runner, it is mostly by default.  He has the establishment backing and he has the money.  He comes across too polished though.  Conservatives understand that he says what people want to hear and he doesn’t have strong principles.  For some reason, many conservatives can’t see through Santorum and Gingrich, even though I think they are bigger fakes than Romney.

While I dislike Romney slightly less than the other two, I am happy that he is still not able to become the clear winner.  It drags things out longer.  It gives Ron Paul more of a chance to deliver his message.

Speaking of Ron Paul, it looks like he will fall short of a win in North Dakota or Idaho.  We will have to see if he can pull something out in Alaska where the voting ends at midnight eastern time.

It is interesting to note that Paul received 41% of the vote in Virginia where only he and Romney were on the ballot.

I will put in my humble two cents in a couple of days on what the Ron Paul campaign should do next.  They have to realize that his chances of winning the Republican nomination are quite slim at this point.  This is not a criticism of Ron Paul or his campaign.  I think it is remarkable how much progress has been made in spreading the message of liberty.