After a three-week lull, the Republican presidential primaries resume on Tuesday when five Northeastern states -- Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island -- have their say. With Rick Santorum having dropped out of the race earlier in the month, Mitt Romney has an overwhelming lead in the delegate count, but both Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul remain in the race.

The vice presidency of the United States has often been held by some of the more obscure and forgettable politicians in American history -- including the likes of George M. Dallas, Garrett Hobart and James Sunny Jim Sherman.

Even some of the men who held that office have recognized the pitfalls of being a heartbeat away from the presidency. Thomas Marshall, the Indiana politician who served as vice president under Woodrow Wilson, noted, Once there were two brothers: one ran away to sea, the other was elected vice president -- and nothing was ever heard from either of them again.

Having all but sewn up the Republican presidential nomination, Mitt Romney is on President Barack Obamas heels according to a national poll of registered voters released Thursday by Quinnipiac University.

The poll has Obama leading with 46 percent followed by Romney with 42 percent. Other recent national polls have shown mixed results with Obama leading some and Romney leading others.

With buzz starting to develop that state CFO Jeff Atwater could enter the contest, the leading Republican candidates looking to knock off Democrat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in November attempted to position themselves and claim momentum in the primary battle.

U.S. Rep. Connie Macks team brought out their candidates father -- former U.S. Sen. Connie Mack III who held the seat for two terms before retiring before the 2000 election cycle -- on Wednesday.

A poll released Wednesday by Public Policy Polling, a firm with connections to prominent Democrats, shows that Democrat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson holds a lead over his potential Republican challengers but remains vulnerable in his bid to win a third term.

With the Republican presidential nomination all but sewn up for Mitt Romney, leading politicians this week from the GOP ranks -- including a potential running mate -- jumped on the band wagon.

Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana, who had been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate and who ranks as one of the top contenders to end up as Romneys running mate, announced during an appearance on Fox News on Wednesday that he is backing Romney.

A poll unveiled on Tuesday shows former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney -- the overwhelming favorite for the Republican presidential nomination -- trailing President Barack Obama in the crucial state of Florida, but finds adding former Gov. Jeb Bush, whose father and brother held the presidency, would help narrow the gap.

With less than a week to go until five states in the Northeast hold their primaries, Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul is looking to play catch-up on Mitt Romney, the overwhelming favorite in the race for the GOP nomination.

The Paul campaign announced that their candidate will hold events in New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island later this week. Those states -- as well as Connecticut and Delaware -- will hold primaries on Tuesday, April 24.

Delaware takes pride in being the first state to ratify the Constitution -- but the Blue Hen State has been the last state for Republican presidential hopefuls before and it could be shaping up to put the nail in the coffin of Newt Gingrichs presidential bid.

While it is not expected to be competitive in November(with Delawares own Joe Biden as his running mate, Barack Obama took 63 percent there in 2008), Gingrich has targeted the Blue Hen State, which holds its primary April 24 along with four other states in the region: Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

With Rick Santorum suspending his bid for the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday, the preliminaries are over and the two leading candidates in the 2012 presidential election are warming up for the main event as President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, now almost certain to be the GOP candidate, are increasingly focused on each other.