Mitt Romney’s endorsement and delegate pledge to John McCain effectively ends the GOP primary. Technically, McCain doesn’t have enough pledged delegates yet to clinch the nomination, but the states coming up next — Wisconsin and caucuses in three territorial caucuses — do not appear to be winnable by the Huckabee campaign. So it’s possible that before the next big primary day (Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont on March 4) McCain would have a lock, or close enough to it that even little Rhody could put him over the top. I’ll continue to monitor the delegates, but the Republican primary is functionally over.
The Democratic primary, however, is still an exciting horse race, even if the momentum has shifted decisively to Obama — indeed, his come-from-behind advancement makes it all the more exciting. Stay tuned for more developments and events.