Andrew Reiff

National-

Summary- McCain all but clinches; Romney departs

Mitt Romney has dropped out of the race to be the Republican nominee for President, leaving McCain all but alone at the top with more than half of the delegates required to be the nominee. Mike Huckabee has stayed in the race, however, and is looking to all but sweep all of the remaining states to somehow make it still a race. Oddball Ron Paul is still in the race as well, but with only 14 delegates, it is mathematically impossible for him to win the nomination. Romney stepped aside saying that it is best for the party and country, and also that the party has to unite now to defeat the Democrats, who could be vulnerable after a long drawn out race.

Opinion-

When is Ron Paul going to drop out? Come on man, either drop out or go Independent already but don't linger like this and keep us all in suspense. You have no chance, literally now, so stop vying to be Vice President and get out of the race. As for Romney, I think that it was the right choice because the sooner the party unifies, the better our chances to win the office.

Summary- Obama, Clinton battle for big bucks

The race to be the nominee for the Democrats is heating up big time. Obama and Clinton have pulled in record-breaking amounts of money right after Super Tuesday. Obama has the lead, however, in fundraising, but Clinton may not need so much money because so many people know her name already. The primary device of candidates is name-recognition because if a person sees a name they recognize on a ballot they are much more likely to vote for that person. Right now Obama needs to really extend himself and push into some of Clinton's territory, while Clinton is looking to get Obama into more debates and expose his inexperience.

Opinion-

The Republicans see this intense race and rejoice. With their nominee all but locked up, they can focus on unifing the party and consolidating their voter base. The Democrats, meanwhile, are in this huge battle that will only divide the party further, and perhaps cost them the election. Above all, though, I think that after this election, no one will accuse Americans of being apathetic to voting because the turnouts will be record-setting this year. Its a good year, a record rating for the Super Bowl and record turnout for the election... good times.