It will be interesting to see followup polls from the debate.

Romney definitely put himself ahead of Gingrich. But did Santorum lift himself higher than Gingrich as well? The Czar is not making a prediction, but advises you not be surprised if Santorum went into second place nationally, if not just Florida alone.

There seems to be some merit to the analyses that suggest Gingrich voters will almost certainly flock en masse to Santorum if the former drops out of the race; this would put Santorum ahead of Romney, and we would expect to see many Romney supporters defect to Santorum merely because he would represent a valid alternative. This alone could put Santorum ahead of Romney as well.

The Mandarin said it at lunch yesterday: Rick Santorum is running a heckuva good, smart campaign. Not that Romney will sit back and let it all happen: this promises to get even better.

The Czar of Muscovy

Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.