From Fox News' On The Record with Greta Van Susteren to The Wall Street Journal and Politico, Tuesday's relatively easy win for Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney in the Illinois primary has renewed talk about him being the "inevitable" nominee.
Or, as our colleague Frank James puts it on It's All Politics, the victory over Rick Santorum means Romney may regain his "nomination mojo." NPR Senior Washington Editor Ron Elving says Romney "creeps ever closer to inevitability."
The caveat (there always seems to be one in this year's GOP presidential race) is that "the results still didn't seal the deal for Mr. Romney," according to the Journal. It adds that "while [the win] will boost his lead in the delegate chase, it will take strong performances in contests over the next month for Mr. Romney to claim the 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the nomination, and probably longer than that."
Eyder live blogged as the news came in from Illinois last night. With nearly all precincts reporting, it looks like Romney got about 47 percent of the vote, to Santorum's 35 percent. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas received about 9 percent, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich trailed with 8 percent. (Full results here.)
