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NBC: Santorum Wins La. Primary By Significant Margin Sean Gardner / REUTERS Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum signs placards as he greets supporters at a Get Out The Vote rally in Mandeville, Louisiana March 21, 2012. By Michael O'Brien Rick Santorum’s campaign netted a victory Saturday night in Louisiana, where NBC News projected he’d won that state’s GOP primary by a significant margin. The win sparks hope of a campaign rebound, following Santorum’s lopsided losses to Mitt Romney in the Illinois and Puerto Rico primaries. The former Massachusetts governor finished second and Newt Gingrich third in...

When To Start Watching: Polls will close for the Louisiana Republican primary at 8 p.m. CDT (9 p.m. EDT). Results will begin to come in around 8:30 p.m. CDT. What's At Stake: Twenty of the state's 46 delegates are up for grabs Saturday, divided proportionately among all candidates who receive more than 25 percent of the vote in the state. Louisiana hosts a closed primary, meaning only registered Republicans may vote for the four candidates in the GOP contest.

Mitt Romney, whose second-place finish in South Carolina’s Republican primary on Saturday handed him his second defeat in three state contests, said the GOP could not take back the White House relying on a candidate who had waged a “frontal assault” on free enterprise – a square shot at primary winner Newt Gingrich. Romney, who was trailing Newt Gingrich on Saturday night, used his concession speech to strike back at Gingrich’s attacks for Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital and reluctance to release his tax returns, questioning whether such criticism disqualified Gingrich for the party nomination. “Our party cannot be led...

FOX News calls it for NEWT!! WOO HOO!!

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Iowa Republican Party will certify this month's presidential caucuses as a split decision between former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, citing missing data from eight precincts, the Des Moines Register reported on Thursday.

A recount of the Jan. 3 Iowa Republican caucus results has Rick Santorum leading Mitt Romney in the race for the GOP presidential nomination by 34 votes, with data from 8 precincts missing and never to be certified, GOP officials told The Des Moines Register on Wednesday. Despite Santorum's advantage, the state Republican party views the results as a wash.

It's 5:30, and the straw poll has been underway for half an hour. Results are due out at about 6:30. I'll be here for the scoop,when it happens, 6:30 - Sutton is on stage w/the results. 0.2% Johnson 0.9% Huntsman 2% Santorum 3.3% Gingrich 4% Rick Perry 10.7% Paul 11.1% Romney 12.2% Bachmann 52.6% Herman Cain!

A Newsmax/InsiderAdvantage poll shows businessman and radio talk-host Herman Cain now leading former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney among likely GOP primary voters in the fight for the 2012 Republican nomination. The exclusive poll, taken in the past 24 hours, shows Cain vaulting Romney 26 percent to 24 percent. The poll has a margin of error of 4.4 percent. Several other polls show similar results, establishing Cain as the new grass-roots frontrunner deadlocked with Romney, the establishment Republican choice. A new CBS poll showed Cain and Romney deadlocked, with each candidate garnering 17 percent of the vote. And a Quinnipiac University...

Bachman bests Paul. Pawlenty third. Romney fourth. Works for me!

His supporters say the book will show Romney is more thoughtful than Sarah Palin. BY KENNETH T. WALSH Friends of Mitt Romney say his upcoming book, No Apology: The Case for American Greatness, is a lengthy and detailed explanation of his philosophy and should be a fitting prelude to a 2012 presidential campaign if Romney decides to run. The book, which comes out March 2, seems designed to position Romney as a thoughtful conservative who has ruminated carefully about the major issues of the day, ranging from the global economy to national security. Romney supporters say it will serve as...

Mitt Romney's Man by Samuel P. Jacobs AP Photo If Scott Brown pulls off an upset in the race to replace Ted Kennedy in the Senate, he may have Mitt Romney to thank. Samuel P. Jacobs on the 2012 GOP presidential hopeful's hidden hand. There are a number of forces driving Republican Scott Brown’s surprising surge in the Massachusetts special Senate election campaign. He’s benefiting from public anger over the Obama administration’s health-care reform plan. He’s buoyed by a tide of cash from around the country, donated by conservatives eager to send a message by upsetting Democratic front-runner Martha Coakley....