On  Tuesday, 2 Southern states conduct primaries: Alabama and Mississippi.  In addition, the State of Hawaii conducts a binding caucus while the  territory of America Samoa also holds a caucus.

Most  eyes and news reports have been locked on the 'Bama and Ole Miss'  competitions. There have been a number of polls conducted. Both states  are expected to be decisive for two of the candidates: former House  Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum.

For  former Massachusettes Governor Mitt Romney, a place in both races will  be enough to gather more delegates to his already much larger than all  the other candidates combined delegate count. For Texas Congressman Ron  Paul, neither race is figuring much into his plans.

The  good news for both Romney and Paul is that both will probably post  delegate wins in both Hawaii and American Samoa. Neither Santorum nor  Gingrich have paid attention to those two contests.

What's at stake in the 4 races:

Alabama:  50 delegates (3 are uncomitted state elected officials) awarded  proportionally unless a candidate gets 50% or more than winner-take-all.  26 are proportioned on the statewide percentage. 21 are based on  congressional district winners.

Mississippi:  40 delegates (3 are uncommitted state elected officials) awarded  proportionally. 25 delegates are proportioned on a statewide percentage.  12 are based on congressional district winners.

Hawaii:  20 delegates (3 are uncommitted state elected officials) awarded  proportionally. 11 are awarded based on the statewide vote. 6 are based  on congressional district winners. The Hawaii Caucus is a binding caucus  on the delegates.

American  Samoa: 9 delegates (3 are uncommited territorial elected officials).  The convention may bind the delegates or allow the delegates be  uncommitted.

The  2 primaries are expected to be the most entertaining and may even have  some nail-biter moments. Gingrich has stated that he must win at least  one of the races to remain viable. Santorum is hoping dual wins will  knock Gingrich out of the race. Romney will be happy with a strong 2nd  showing in both states.

The  most receent polls are showing very tight races between Romney,  Santorum and Gingrich. Alabama has a slight lead for Gingrich followed  by Romney then Santorum, but all within the margin of error.

In Mississippi, Romney is actually out-pacing both Gingrich and Santorum.

So here's how things look From the Cornfield on this sunny Monday in March:

Hawaii:

#1 Romney | #2 Paul | #3 Santorum | #4 Gingrich

American Samoa:

#1 Romney | #2 Paul | #3 Santorum | #4 Gingrich

Alabama:

#1 Gingrich in a squeaker

#2 Romney nipping at Newt's heels

#3 Santorum pushing and gouging to get ahead

#4 Paul

Mississippi:

#1 Romney in an upset

#2 Santorum in a nail-biter

#3 Gingrich

#4 Paul

That's the way it looks as I peer out from the Den across the Cornfield.

From  the Cornfield, hopefully the results will come in early in the night  and not late into the early morning hours of Wednesday.