CNN/Time shows Romney and Santorum tied 32%-32% in Ohio (37% say they could change their mind). Gingrich leads in Georgia 47%-24%. President Obama leads generic Republican in Ohio 49%-45% and is tied with generic Republican in Georgia 48%-48%. Though Georgia traditionally votes Republican, Obama lost it by just 5 points in 2008.
Santorum is up in an Ohio Suffolk poll, 37%-33%.
ROMNEY: Romney “needs a dramatic show of strength [in Ohio] - and throughout the 10 states voting on Super Tuesday - to help him again seize control of the nominating contest,” the Boston Globe writes. “Santorum also needs to win in Ohio, the state that so often determines general elections, to prove his strength among blue-collar workers and cement his stand as the chief alternative to Romney, extending the nominating fight. Tennessee has emerged as another key battleground, viewed as a secondary prize that would illustrate who can win support in the South. Newt Gingrich is expected to carry Georgia, his home state and where he himself has said he must win to justify continuing his campaign.”
Romney will vote in Massachusetts.
“Romney is set to hold an Ohio fundraiser and address the American Israel Public Affairs Committee annual meeting via satellite before heading to Boston to wait for returns from Super Tuesday contests,” the AP writes.
Excerpts of his AIPAC remarks: “The current administration has distanced itself from Israel and visibly warmed to the Palestinian cause. It has emboldened the Palestinians. They are convinced that they can do better at the UN – and better with America – than they can at the bargaining table with Israel. As president, I will treat our allies and friends like friends and allies.”
Ann Romney said on FOX that “her struggle with multiple sclerosis has given her compassion for people who are suffering from multiple sclerosis, cancer or other diseases,” the AP writes. She said: "We can be poor in spirit, and I don't even consider myself wealthy, which is an interesting thing. It can be here today and gone tomorrow."
The New York Post looks at how Santorum and Gingrich have been going after Romney’s wealth.
Even more of Romney pushing the individual mandate at a federal level and encouraging Obama to do so.
Reluctant robo-caller Barbara Bush is none too pleased with this presidential campaign: The Dallas Morning News: “I think it’s been the worst campaign I’ve ever seen in my life,” she said Monday at Southern Methodist University during a daylong conference on the influence of the nation’s first ladies. “I hate that people think compromise is a dirty word. It’s not a dirty word. ... “I think the rest of the world is looking at us these days and saying, ‘What are you doing?’”
SANTORUM: “Rick Santorum is facing a crucial test in Ohio, where he's drawing upon his working-class background and underdog image to try to stop Mitt Romney from scoring a pivotal victory in Super Tuesday's premier contest,” AP writes.
The New York Daily News calls today “Santorum's last shot to derail Romney.” Here’s one way to look at it: “The Republican primaries remind an irreverent political aficionado of the American League East in a down year for the Yankees and Red Sox, leaving the Orioles and Rays to duel for a diminished division title,” Tom DeFrank writes. “But somebody has to win this nomination, and Ohio, which has produced eight American Presidents, is the beginning of the end of a tortured process that GOP party leaders wish had already ended.”
