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Well, perhaps – The debate will be the last one before Super Tuesday.

It’s been 26 days since the candidates left the stage at the last CNN debate in Jacksonville, Florida, and the growling hunger pangs of the media have grown louder even as the candidates grow weary.

There have been 19 Republican presidential debates so far, and while some may have debate fatigue — including a few candidates — the forums have nevertheless proved to be illuminating experiences. They have garnered sky-high TV ratings and have become “event” television. They have helped to define several candidates while others fall from grace in front of the live cameras.

The debates return Wednesday night in Mesa, Arizona, as CNN partners with the Republican Party of Arizona to bring America the final debate before Super Tuesday, and what may be the final debate of the season.

The debate will be at 5 PM Pacific time on CNN.

The debate Twitter hashtag is #CNNDebate and I will be proving my comments @Flap.

According to the latest Gallup Poll.

Republicans by a better than 2-to-1 margin would prefer that one of the four remaining GOP presidential candidates win enough delegates in the primaries and caucuses to secure the nomination, rather than having a brokered convention that could then choose another person to be the party’s presidential nominee.

Republicans prefer to avoid having the presidential candidate chosen at the convention even though a majority say they wish someone else was running for the party’s nomination. Forty-four percent are pleased with the selection of candidates. These results are based on a Feb. 16-19 USA Today/Gallup poll.

I don’t believe most Republicans even understand the nomination process – just who emerges as the victor.

If a stronger candidate comes out of the convention, which I believe will, than the current field – then so be it.

The current GOP Presidential field is weak and after the first ballot when delegates are released to vote for whomever and state delegations make deals, you may see a stronger candidate emerge.

Whoever wants the nomination and whoever can organize their troops on the convention floor will win.

Anyone want to guess who will emerge?

My bet is Jeb Bush or Sarah Palin.

According to the latest Gallup Poll.

Rick Santorum now holds a 10-percentage-point lead in Gallup’s Daily tracking of national Republicans registered voters’ preferences for the 2012 GOP nomination.

In the Feb. 15-19 Gallup Daily tracking rolling average, Santorum is ahead of Romney by 36% to 26%, with Newt Gingrich at 13% and Ron Paul at 11%. This marks Santorum’s largest lead to date. Santorum had moved to within two points of Romney, 30% to 32%, by the end of last week.

There is a big BUT, however.

Many pundits, including myself think that Rick Santorum will be the Biggest Loser when it comes to running against President Obama.

The Gallup Poll shows that many Republican primary voters think likewise.

A couple of recent polls show a dead heat in Michigan.

We Ask American Poll:

• Romney – 29%
• Santorum – 29%
• Gingrich – 10%
• Paul – 12%
• Undecided – 20%

PPP Poll:

The Republican race for President in Michigan has tightened considerably over the last week, with what was a 15 point lead for Rick Santorum down to 4. He leads with 37% to 33% for Mitt Romney, 15% for Ron Paul, and 10% for Newt Gingrich.

The tightening over the last week is much more a function of Romney gaining than Santorum falling. Santorum’s favorability spread of 67/23 has seen no change since our last poll, and his share of the vote has dropped only 2 points from 39% to 37%. Romney meanwhile has seen his net favorability improve 10 points from +10 (49/39) to +20 (55/35) and his vote share go from 24% to 33%.

What we’re seeing in Michigan is a very different story from Florida where Romney surged by effectively destroying his opponent’s image- here Romney’s gains have more to do with building himself up.

Groups Santorum has double digit leads with include Protestants (up 47-30), union members (up 43-23), Evangelicals (up 51-24), Tea Partiers (up 55-20), ‘very conservative’ voters (up 54-23), and men (up 40-28).

Romney is leading the field with women (38-34), seniors (42-34), moderates (35-24), ‘somewhat conservative’ voters (40-34), and Catholics (43-31).

As I have said, if Mitt Romney were to lose Michigan, the state of his youth and family legacy, there will undoubtedly be another candidate who will jump into the race. If Romney wins Michigan by a point or two, then there may also be a challenge.

Take your pick: Mitch Daniels or Jeb Bush.

Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich are not polling well in general election match-ups against President Obama. The GOP Establsihment will not stand by and let Santorum and/or Gingrich sink their 2012 prospects.

But, the new candidate will have to move quickly since election deadlines loom in early March.

You knew it was going to start.

The GOP establishment is getting antsy about Mitt Romney and if he does manage to lose Michigan – well, he is done.

A prominent Republican senator just told me that if Romney can’t win in Michigan, the Republican Party needs to go back to the drawing board and convince somebody new to get into the race.

“If Romney cannot win Michigan, we need a new candidate,” said the senator, who has not endorsed anyone and requested anonymity.

The senator believes Romney will ultimately win in Michigan but says he will publicly call for the party to find a new candidate if he does not.

“We’d get killed,” the senator said if Romney manages to win the nomination after he failed to win the state in which he grew up.

“He’d be too damaged,” he said.  “If he can’t even win in Michigan, where his family is from, where he grew up.”

What about Rick Santorum?

“He’d lose 35 states,” the senator said, predicting the same fate for Newt Gingrich.

And, who would the new candidate be?

Jeb Bush, said this Senator.

I, frankly, think it will be Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels or Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal – or even Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan.

If the GOP wants to win against President Obama, they had better hope Santorum beats Romney in Michigan.

According to the latest Gallup Presidential tracking poll.

Note, that Mitt Romny has pulled even with President Obama in the general election poll.

This polling is within the margin of error, but as the Weekly Standard points out, Rick Santorum has come up a long way.

Rick Santorum, who trailed Mitt Romney by 20 points eight days ago, has now taken the lead in Gallup’s national polling.  In the Gallup poll released on February 8, Romney led Santorum by the tally of 37 to 17 percent. In the current Gallup poll, Santorum has moved into the lead — 32 to 31 percent.

While I do not think Rick Santorum is electable in a general election against President Obama, this result pretty much shows the GOP voters disgust with Mitt Romney.

Super Tuesday will tell the story and my bet now is that the nominee choice will come down to the convention in Florida this summer.