Mitt Romney's impressive victory Tuesday makes it very likely that we will look back on the Florida primary as the contest that determined the 2012 Republican nomination. To be sure, the campaign fight will go on, and Romney is by no means assured of a sweep of the relatively few February contests.

When it comes to national security, Pawlenty isn't Minnesota nice -- he's a Minnesota hawk. But to carry his message for a strong American leadership in the world Pawlenty first needs a strong showing in the Iowa straw poll.

None of the candidates in the Fox News/Google debate has shown great strength at the polls in his or her home state. They have tended to underperform rather than overperform the base Republican vote in seriously contested races.

Romney's options are limited. He can try to tear down Perry's likability or his electability, or he can try to raise his own. None of those options are easy. And winning over Pawlenty and his divisions won't make the task any easier.

In the 2010 elections, even the Finnish districts that used to be mostly Democratic have swung to the right.

The presidential candidates have a different set of goals and motives than their party's Members of Congress, and their comments, designed to further their own interests, get a lot of attention and shape the narrative and agenda.

There were two clear winners in the Republican debate; the energy and enthusiasm on display Monday night will produce some twists and turns no one will predict.

The presidential nomination process remains the weakest part of our political system. It's too lengthy, its rules are too capricious and giving eternal first dibs to Iowa and New Hampshire is intellectually indefensible.