Halperin's Take

Pending some dramatic new development (Palin's entry into the race, a meaningful surge by Bachmann or Huntsman), there is a greater than 94% chance that the Republican nominee will be either Perry or Romney... With just a few months left before the voting starts, every day going forward will bring a series of battles to win the national and key state news cycles. Pawlenty's endorsement sends a signal to his financial and political backers about which way he wants them to go, and a signal to the wider political world that it is time to choose up sides. There's another signal from the nod, given that Pawlenty was such a fierce critic of Romney's health care law in Massachusetts. For many of those in the party who think Perry doesn't have what it takes to beat Barack Obama, RomneyCare is a bitter bill to swallow it. By his endorsement, Pawlenty is effectively saying: it is time to swallow.