Romney wins all five of Tuesday's primaries

Republicans regrouped behind Mitt Romney in Tuesday's primaries:

Mitt Romney laid claim to the fiercely contested Republican presidential nomination Tuesday night with a fistful of primary triumphs, then urged all who struggle in a shaky U.S. economy to "hold on a little longer, a better America begins tonight."

Eager to turn the political page to the general election, Romney accused President Barack Obama of "false promises and weak leadership." He declared, "Everywhere I go, Americans are tired of being tired, and many of those who are fortunate enough to have a job are working harder for less."

The former Massachusetts governor spoke as he swept primaries in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York, the first since Rick Santorum conceded the nomination.

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Mitt Romney Wins Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware Primaries

And so it begins, this Tuesday, April 24, 2012:

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney has won the Republican presidential primaries in Connecticut and Rhode Island. (Romney also won Delaware, according to the AP.)

They are the first in a string of five state primaries being held Tuesday. The others are in New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

The five primaries are the first since Rick Santorum suspended his presidential campaign two weeks ago – essentially conceding the GOP nomination to Romney.

Romney is still more than 400 GOP national convention delegates shy of the nominating majority he needs.

There are 209 delegates at stake in Tuesday's primaries. 

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Romney the politician vs. Obama the would-be “transformative president”

I don’t get it. Why is the media so stirred up over Mitt Romney’s portrayal as a politician? The Etch-a-Sketch candidate, etc. Would our astute pundits prefer that Mitt pose as a saintly gentleman, far above politics, who once elected will ride into Washington on a white horse and drive out all of the evildoers? Oops. That was Barack Obama in ’08. And he didn’t even wait until he assumed office; he lunged to the center immediately after the DNC anointed him as nominee.

As recently as last September, liberal NY Times columnist Charles Blow, who supported Obama’s candidacy from day one, asked his readers:

 

Does he have any interest in becoming the Obama of people’s imaginations, the one they thought they saw through the showers of streamers, and explosions of confetti in 2008 — the man who only ever existed in their own minds? 

Is the “transformative president” more than an opportunistic transformer, shifting shape to suit the moment, but truly settling on none? 

Blow continues:

He {Obama} isn’t only battling a calcifying cynicism about the inefficacy of government in general, he’s battling the rapidly hardening public perception that he himself is a product of what I call the doughnut doctrine of leadership — soft, glazy, hollow in the middle and ideally suited for getting dunked.

Ouch.