ROMNEY PLODS ON

After winning Puerto Rico handily on Sunday, Mitt Romney scored a solid win in Illinois yesterday. The former Massachusetts governor continues to plod forward toward the nomination. Rick Santorum seems the only viable alternative to Romney, but Gingrich and Paul remain in the race despite the fact that they have almost no chance of winning the nomination (minuscule for Gingrich, zero for Paul).

Next up is Louisiana on Saturday. Perhaps a disappointing finish there will cause Gingrich to drop out, but only a solid Romney win would potentially persuade Santorum to give up, and I doubt even that would cause him to drop out. It still seems likely to me that this process will continue until at least until the end of April. On April 24 New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware hold primaries. If Romney can sweep those contests, especially if he beats Santorum in Santorum's home state of Pennsylvania, then the contest is all but over.