bush former first lady said she is dismayed by the republic competition. i disagree. the contest between barack obama and hillary clinton in 2008 was certainly bruising. in fact, mrs. clinton did not suspend her campaign until june 7th of that year. you may remember that john mccain had the nomination wrapped up by this time in 2008. of course, mr. obama defeated mr. mccain by a substantial margin so it doesn't really matter how long the primary process goes. and it is easy to see why mitt romney is having a hard time nailing down the nomination. 40% of americans describe themselves as conservative. most of those folks will vote for the most conservative candidate which happens to be rick santorum. so that's why these votes are close. senator santorum is a very big advantage in conservative states like oklahoma. looking ahead, anything could happen in the general election next fall. it should come down to the economy, including gas prices. also, there could be a showdown with iran and that could influence the vote as