Nominee

BOSTON - Massachusetts may account for about 2 percent of the nation's population, but when it comes to nurturing White House dreams, the Bay State is a political boomtown. Since 1960, at least half a dozen Massachusetts politicians have launched serious campaigns for president, while a handful of others have toyed with the idea. Three captured their political party's nomination and one, John F. Kennedy, went on to occupy the office. The difference this election cycle is that the politician aiming to be the fourth major-party nominee from Massachusetts in the last five decades is a Republican, Mitt Romney.

Rick Santorum's decision to quit the presidential race last week clarified a number of things: Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee; the general election will be closer; and for the second cycle in a row, the conservative activists who make up the GOP's base are going to get stiffed. This is not how the 2012 Republican primary was supposed to unfold. When the race unofficially got under way 18 months ago, the tea party was at the peak of its influence, having just handed Republicans control of the House.

DES MOINES, Iowa - Mitt Romney faces a daunting to-do list as he transitions into the role of likely Republican presidential nominee. Among the tasks: Raise as much money as possible for the general election campaign against President Obama. Hire more people and send them to the most critical states in the fall race. Hone his message to appeal to voters across the political spectrum. And do it all quickly while fending off challenges from GOP rivals who refuse to quit the primary race.

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich once led his rivals for the nomination in polls. Today, he's millions in debt and describing Mitt Romney as "far and away the most likely" GOP nominee. Running for president "turned out to be much harder than I thought it would be," he said Sunday. "I do think there's a desire for a more idea-oriented Republican Party, but that doesn't translate necessarily to being able to take on the Romney machine," Gingrich said in an interview on Fox News Sunday . After his Jan. 21 victory in the South Carolina primary, the former House speaker said the Florida primary he lost in the following days turned into a "real brawl.

WEST MONROE, La. - Facing heightened pressure to revive his presidential bid, Rick Santorum was forced to explain another apparent misstep as he courted Louisiana voters Friday, the eve of a critical contest in a Republican nomination battle that increasingly favors Mitt Romney. Santorum said he would support the eventual GOP nominee if it isn't him despite what he insisted were similarities between front-runner Romney and President Obama that make them indistinguishable on some issues.

TRENTON - In a blow to Gov. Christie's political agenda and an unprecedented check on his power, one of his nominees to the state Supreme Court was rejected by a Senate panel Thursday following a day of interrogation over his family's business dealings. Phillip Kwon, a top official in the state Attorney General's Office who worked for Christie when the Republican governor was a U.S. attorney, watched from the front row of a hearing room as the Judiciary Committee voted, 7-6, not to approve him. It was the first time a Christie nominee at any level - from sewer commission member on up - had been rejected by the Democratic-controlled Legislature, and the first time a judicial nominee was rejected since 1988.

BILOXI, MISS. - Rick Santorum said yesterday that his path to the Republican Party's presidential nomination counts on continued chaos in the field and a fractured GOP arriving at its nominating convention in late summer. Though former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has a commanding lead in the crucial race for delegates to the national convention, Santorum told reporters a day before Alabama and Mississippi's presidential primaries that his standing in the race will improve if conservatives coalesce behind him - and if Newt Gingrich exits the race soon.

Today is Super Tuesday, the day 10 states cast votes for the four remaining Republican presidential candidates, two of whom have no chance of winning. Newt Gingrich, better when trailing than as a front-runner, had his greatest success in debates where his intellect, wit, experience, and direct manner made him the most effective communicator of consequential ideas. With fewer debates ahead, a diminishing war chest, and an organization in such disarray that he failed to make the ballot in his home state of Virginia, the former House speaker's time has likely passed even if he wins Georgia.

The Obama administration plans to nominate within weeks a candidate to replace World Bank president Robert Zoellick, who announced Wednesday that he would leave the institution when his five-year term ends June 30. "It is very important that we continue to have a strong, effective leadership in this important institution," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement. "In the coming weeks, we plan to put forward a candidate with the experience and requisite qualities to take this institution forward.

It's possible that Adele won't be the runaway winner at the 2012 Grammy Awards, to be broadcast at 8 p.m. Sunday on CBS3 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. With the Grammys, after all, the inexplicable often occurs. Last year, Canadian indie band Arcade Fire upset heavily favored Eminem for best album, the same category in which Herbie Hancock's The River (The Joni Letters) caused a tizzy by beating out both Amy Winehouse and Kanye West in 2008. But in 2012, it would stand to reason that nothing can stand in the way of Adele.