Stupor Tuesday

Romney and Santorum are effectively tied going into Tuesday's Ohio primary.  Both men need a win here, plain and simple.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has surged into a dead heat with Rick Santorum in the Ohio primary, setting up a cliffhanger race on Tuesday, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Sunday.

The former Massachusetts governor and former senator from Pennsylvania are tied with 32 percent support from likely voters in the Ohio Republican primary, the most important of the 10 state nominating contests on "Super Tuesday" this week.

After his victory in Saturday's Washington state caucuses, Romney is gaining momentum going into Tuesday after trailing Santorum in recent polls in Ohio.

"This race could really go either way between now and Tuesday," said Ipsos pollster Chris Jackson.

"If Mitt Romney is able to close this out and win this race, that gives him a leg up in going all the way to the convention and winning the Republican nomination."

And if he doesn't win? Then things get real interesting. The most important thing that happens after Super Tuesday of course is that I firmly believe people will start asking Newt Gingrich to quit. That would help Santorum more than Romney, and pretty much everyone knows it. Things would be much different now if Gingrich had dropped out of the race back when Jon Huntsman did.

Likewise, Gingrich staying in the race helps Romney, at least for now.  We'll see where things fall out on Wednesday morning.

Of course, the real news is that President Obama would beat Mitt Romney by 12 points in Ohio and Santorum by 14.  Keep in mind Republicans have never won the White House without winning Ohio.