First he needs to find a way to get rid of Gingrich:
Alana Goodman agrees that a Gingrich drop-out would make Santorum's nomination a real possibility:
Coming off his two victories in Alabama and Mississippi, Santorum has the momentum at this point to potentially take Illinois – and deal a devastating blow to the Romney campaign in the process. The latest poll from the Chicago Tribune shows Romney leading Santorum by just four points, 35 percent to 31 percent, with Gingrich trailing at 12 percent. If Gingrich drops out, endorses Santorum, and urges his supporters to vote for him, it could easily push the former Pennsylvania senator over the top in the state. And if, after dropping out, Gingrich agreed to pledge the delegates he’s already won to Santorum, it could completely change the dynamic of the race and actually make it competitive again.
Aaron Blake, on the other hand, appreciates Mitt's consistency in the South:
He has taken between 26 percent and 30 percent of the vote in every Southern state dominated by conservative voters — Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee. The thing is, while that consistency cost him on Tuesday, it’s likely to benefit him going forward. While the voting is just halfway done, Romney is almost done with his most troubling region, the South, and his most troubling contests, Midwestern caucuses. Even in the remaining Southern states, things may get better; both Texas and Louisiana feature more concentrated urban populations (a Romney strong suit) than other Southern states, which should help him perform better.
Weigel also looks on the bright side:
Romney muddled through the South while picking up 48 delegates — five times as many as he won in the Southern states that voted while Romney was still in the 2008 race. The numbers: In 2008, Romney won zero of 24 South Carolina delegates, three of 69 Georgia delegates, six of 40 Tennessee delegates, and zero of 45 Alabama delegates. In 2012, Romney won two of 25 South Carolina delegates (not great, true), 19 of 72 Georgia delegates, 16 of 55 Tennessee delegates and 11 of 47 Alabama delegates. He improved on his vote percentage in each state — except Georgia. Hey, the picture's even better than that: Romney lost Mississippi's popular vote narrowly, but may pick up a one-delegate plurality because of where he won it.
Meanwhile, his campaign is doubling down in the Northeast:
The Romney campaign's Pennsylvania-focused activities may just be a combination of psychological warfare and messaging — demonstrating Santorum's limitations in his home state and trying to rattle the former senator a bit. But it's also notable that Pennsylvania votes on the next mega-primary day of April 24, along with Connecticut, Delaware, New York and Rhode Island. Those are all Romney-friendly states, with the exception of the one Santorum represented in the Senate, and if the race ends up dragging on that long then embarrassing Santorum in Pennsylvania could be Romney's next great opportunity to knock him out of the race.
The Dish 