Romney Campaign Portrays Candidate as Inevitable Nominee

Mitt Romney's strategists are making the same argument that Barack Obama's team made at a similar point in the 2008 campaign--that front-runner and former Massachusetts governor Romney is collecting delegates at such a rate that he essentially has a lock on his party's presidential nomination.

After easily winning the Washington State caucuses on Saturday, Romney has now captured five consecutive GOP nominating contests.

[See a collection of political cartoons on the 2012 GOP hopefuls.]

Romney has a total of 180 delegates compared to former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum's 90, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's 29, and Texas Rep. Ron Paul's 23, according to an analysis by the Associated Press.

Romney aides argue that, even if he loses some key contests this week on Super Tuesday, he will gain enough delegates to remain comfortably ahead in his effort to gather the 1,144 delegates needed for the GOP nomination.

Romney strategists predict that his superior national organization, fund-raising prowess, and steady appeal to a plurality of GOP voters will keep this successful pattern going through the remainder of the nominating cycle.

• See pictures of Mitt Romney
  
• Check out political cartoons about Mitt Romney
  
• Read the U.S. News debate: Can Mitt Romney Close the Deal With Conservatives?

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