Romney not closing the deal

9:10 PM

With Rick Santorum up by exactly 1 point in Ohio, no matter who wins it's going to be the closest GOP primary there since 1976, the NYT notes. (It used to be held later in the year when the contest was all but over.)

Mitt Romney will end the night winning the most delegates but the night is not shaping up so far to be the major win he needed to blow away his competition. Wrote Molly Ball this morning in The Atlantic: "Though Romney has made headway -- Santorum held a double-digit lead in polls two weeks ago -- the fact that it's so tight underscores his inability to persuade voters it's time to come home."