On the Trail: March 13

Obama courts women; GOP delegates court delegates.

On the Trail - Rick Santorum, the GOP’s latest not-Mitt Romney, is on the rise and giving Mitt Romney a run for his money, while Newt Gingrich and Rep. Ron Paul work to stay relevant in the race and President Obama courts his base.—Joyce Jones

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On the Trail - All eyes are on Alabama and Mississippi this week, where the Republican presidential rivals will compete for votes from their party’s most conservative base. President Obama, meanwhile, is courting the ladies, and has launched a major initiative to push measures in the Affordable Care Act that support them and their right to make their own health care decisions.—Joyce Jones

GOP Presidential Primary and Caucus Update - On March 13, the Republican presidential candidates will battle for the Deep South in primaries taking place in Alabama and Mississippi, where a total of 90 delegates will be on the table. Hawaii also will hold a caucus contest for 20 delegates.(Photos: Mario Tama/Getty Images; Biloxi Sun Herald/MCT/Landov)

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GOP Presidential Primary and Caucus Update - On March 13, the Republican presidential candidates will battle for the Deep South in primaries taking place in Alabama and Mississippi, where a total of 90 delegates will be on the table. Hawaii also will hold a caucus contest for 20 delegates.(Photos: Mario Tama/Getty Images; Biloxi Sun Herald/MCT/Landov)

President Barack Obama on the power of blues music:  - "No one goes through life without both joy and pain, triumph and sorrow. The blues gets all of that, sometimes with just one lyric or one note."(Photo: REUTERS/Chris Kleponis)

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Barack Obama - While the men who hope to take his job step all over women’s reproductive and other health care rights, President Obama’s campaign is launching an all-out effort to court women voters. On Monday, the campaign sent one million mailers to women in battleground states. On Wednesday, there will be a “Nurses for Obama” event advocating the Affordable Care Act and the campaign will end the month with a “Women’s Week of Action.”(Photo: Chris Kleponis/Reuters)

Mitt Romney - Mitt Romney finished a distant second in the Kansas GOP caucuses held last weekend but far outperformed his rivals in contests held in the U.S. territories of Guam, the Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands. The former Massachusetts governor also won the Wyoming caucuses. He currently has 454 of the 1,144 delegates needed to sew up the nomination.(Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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Mitt Romney - Mitt Romney finished a distant second in the Kansas GOP caucuses held last weekend but far outperformed his rivals in contests held in the U.S. territories of Guam, the Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands. The former Massachusetts governor also won the Wyoming caucuses. He currently has 454 of the 1,144 delegates needed to sew up the nomination.(Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Rick Santorum - Rick Santorum won Saturday’s Kansas caucuses in what The Associated Press is calling “a rout.” But one has to wonder how decisive his win would have been if Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich hadn’t given the state a pass to focus on Tuesday’s primaries in Mississippi and Alabama. In addition, according to a CBS News report, Santorum also is downplaying expectations for those key contests, where his rivals have spent more time and resources and he is polling in third place.(Photo: Whitney Curtis/Getty Images)

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Rick Santorum - Rick Santorum won Saturday’s Kansas caucuses in what The Associated Press is calling “a rout.” But one has to wonder how decisive his win would have been if Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich hadn’t given the state a pass to focus on Tuesday’s primaries in Mississippi and Alabama. In addition, according to a CBS News report, Santorum also is downplaying expectations for those key contests, where his rivals have spent more time and resources and he is polling in third place.(Photo: Whitney Curtis/Getty Images)

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Newt Gingrich - In the days leading up to Tuesday’s primaries in Alabama and Mississippi, Newt Gingrich, who is in a fierce battle with Santorum for their party’s socially conservative Christian base, reminded voters of his efforts to seek God’s forgiveness for the “periods of my life where I have sinned.” It also was a reminder of his pattern of serial adultery, leaving his first two wives for younger versions and finding God to help him find the strength to stick with the third.(Photo: Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images)

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Newt Gingrich - In the days leading up to Tuesday’s primaries in Alabama and Mississippi, Newt Gingrich, who is in a fierce battle with Santorum for their party’s socially conservative Christian base, reminded voters of his efforts to seek God’s forgiveness for the “periods of my life where I have sinned.” It also was a reminder of his pattern of serial adultery, leaving his first two wives for younger versions and finding God to help him find the strength to stick with the third.(Photo: Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images)

Ron Paul - Texas Rep. Ron Paul won the popular vote in the Virgin Islands’ Republican presidential caucus, but won only one delegate. The U.S. territory elects its six delegates and five of them chose to back Mitt Romney. During a Missouri campaign stop over the weekend, the Texas libertarian speculated that Republican Party leaders may be committing fraud to keep him down.(Photo: UPI/Bill Greenblatt/Landov)

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Ron Paul - Texas Rep. Ron Paul won the popular vote in the Virgin Islands’ Republican presidential caucus, but won only one delegate. The U.S. territory elects its six delegates and five of them chose to back Mitt Romney. During a Missouri campaign stop over the weekend, the Texas libertarian speculated that Republican Party leaders may be committing fraud to keep him down.(Photo: UPI/Bill Greenblatt/Landov)