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Fred Barnes is the executive editor of The Weekly Standard.

Mitt Romney didn't achieve the knockout punch he wanted on Super Tuesday, but winning five of the 10 contests was no small feat. With his haul of delegates, he continued his march to the Republican presidential nomination.

No doubt the mainstream media, which dislikes Romney and treats him as an undeserving frontrunner, will play up Rick Santorum as a stronger than ever challenger to Romney. Indeed, after winning in Tennessee, Oklahoma, and North Dakota, Santorum sent out an email saying, "We Won."

Ed Kilgore is a special correspondent for The New Republic, a blogger for The Washington Monthly, and managing editor of The Democratic Strategist.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told the Senate Armed Services Committee today that the "terrible situation" in Syria "has no simple answers."

Pannetta was facing tough questions from Sen. John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, who on Monday called for U.S.-led air strikes on the security forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

"In past situations, America has led. We're not leading, Mr. Secretary," McCain told Panetta.

Fox News reports that Panetta defended the administrations decision not to intervene militarily.