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Super Tuesday: GOP Candidates In Tight Race For 437 Delegates

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign rally at Bryan's Place on Monday.
Justin Sullivan
/
Getty Images
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign rally at Bryan's Place on Monday.

In some states, polls are already open this morning. It's Super Tuesday and 10 states are scheduled to hold nominating contests. At stake are 437 delegates.

So what will it mean? Perhaps Chris Cillizza from The Washington Post puts it best. A big win by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney could put him comfortably on his way to becoming the Republican presidential nominee; a big win by former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum means this becomes a solid two man race. And, perhaps in the most likely scenario, both Romney, Santorum and even Rep. Ron Paul win a bit and that means the Republican primary will extend into March and beyond.

We will of course have full coverage of the primaries tonight.

With that, we'll leave you with a round up of headlines from around the Web:

-- In Ohio, likely the biggest Super Tuesday trophy with 66 delegates and a with huge sway in the general elections, polls show that Romney has been picking up steam, while Santorum has been in decline. But the latest poll show a dead heat.

-- In their final pitches to voters, Romney kept the focus on the economy and Santorum pitched a two-man race.

-- Paul is betting on three states: Idaho, North Dakota and Alaska. All three will host caucuses, which Paul has done well in.

-- Gingrich, who is expected to win his home state of Georgia, might need to win Tennessee to "keep his wavering campaign going."

-- The New York Times, this morning, focuses on the blue collar worker. They report from Zanesville, Ohio, one of those bellwether towns. The Times explores how Romney is courting those voters, despite a few gaffes that have highlighted his privilege. The Times adds that working-class voters have shown no loyalty to any one candidate, swinging from Romney to Santorum and even Gingrich. The paper adds:

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Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.