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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. Good morning, I'm Renee Montagne.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep. Good morning.

Several factors may affect your thinking as you decide how important last night's voting was. Turnout was low, and no convention delegates were awarded as Missouri held a primary, and Minnesota and Colorado held caucuses.

MONTAGNE: Then again, nobody awarded delegates when Iowa voted, either. The fact is, people voted, and Rick Santorum won all three states.

Newt Gingrich has made it clear his GOP presidential aspirations also depend on running a national media race on cable TV and in major newspapers. A study from the Pew Research Center shows the promise that "new media" will dominate the nominating process isn't coming true. The research shows more Americans rely primarily on cable news, and very few on Twitter.

U.S. combat troops are gone from Iraq and soon, up to half the diplomatic staff will leave too. State Department officials say it's part of a plan to scale back embassy operations there. But conflicts with the Iraqi government may also be driving the decision. Tim Arango, a reporter with The New York Times, talks to Steve Inskeep about the decision.

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