And Then There Were Two: Santorum Drops Out (Okay, Really? One)

To help you hold your nose in November (From the Romney HQ)

Santorum, his daughter just out of the hospital, and facing The Death Star in PA, did the only rational thing and threw in the towel today. This leaves Gingrich, Ron Paul, and Mitt Romney. That isn't a race: it's a winning candidate and a cheering section.

Starting Today
This means the following:

1. The VEEP Stakes begin. Will it be Rubio? Allen West? Paul Ryan? Rand Paul!? Someone else?
2. The Death Star re-aligns. The RNC  and Romney have raised about as much money or more than Obama. We're going to see a deluge of anti-Obama ads from now until November.
3. Pivot Watch. Romney needs to build winning coalitions with Latinos and women. He has a good deal of time to do that. Will we start to see a pivot? Or will he stick to his original positions? Pivot-Watch starts today.

What Do I Think?

Denied the ultimate glory of a contested convention, I think the thing to watch here is how fast / how completely Romney consolidates his base. I've never put much stock in the "I'll stay home" post and while Romney may not be exciting, if he plays his cards right, he can certainly win. His deficit in the polls now is certainly not hard to overcome.

He as also positioned himself as a moderate (a severe moderate, perhaps). This is good news now. He couldn't take Santorum's voters from Santorum--but now? To them it's a choice between Mormon and Muslim. That's not a hard one.

I hope we'll get to see the rest of Obamaville. Maybe Romney will buy it (unless it really does end with Mitt in the White House).

Other Reactions (Everyone's a Comedian) 
Seen on Twitter: "Given his stance on women's rights I don't think Santorum should be allowed to abort his campaign. He should be forced to carry it to term."