Rick Santorum - Scores a Hat-Trick to Put Him Back in the Race

On Tuesday Santorum was met with the greatest news yet for his campaign. Not only did he win the Minnesota caucus and the non-binding Missouri primary, but he was also able to win in what was once considered Mitt Romney territory, with his victory in Colorado.

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Santorum won by a landslide in Missouri, winning 55% of the vote; followed by Mitt Romney with 25%, Ron Paul with 12% and Newt Gingrich showing no support whatsoever, because he had failed to file the necessary paperwork to be put on the ballot. Yet, this does not mean much considering that the Missouri primary is a non-binding primary, meaning that they do not have any delegates up for grabs. However, Santorum can take solace in the notion that in a fairly deep-red (conservative) state like Missouri he is clearly the favorite by a wide margin, even over Mitt Romney.

Moreover, Santorum's victory in the Minnesota Caucus was just as impressive, with Santorum capturing 45% of the vote; followed by Ron Paul with 27%, Mitt Romney with 17% and Newt Gingrich with a measly 11%. Once again Santorum's message seems to be making progress with conservative voters, and they seem to be waking up to his call instead of hitting the snooze button and going back to sleep. As for Ron Paul, this was a disappointing showing in some respects. On the one hand he did finish in second, which was his promise to his base, but on the other he did not capture enough of the vote to receive any delegates, which are the real key to these races. Newt seems to have lost all steam after South Carolina, but hey, when you come out attacking capitalism and the free market, you’re bound to lose nearly your entire once conservative base.

Yet, the real key for Santorum last night was his victory in Colorado, in which he captured 40% of the votes; followed by Romney with 35%, Gingrich with 13% and Ron Paul with a measly 12%. This is significant because this was a caucus that Romney won back in 2008, and when the polls opened last night he was leading in every pundit’s pre-election poll. This means that not only is Rick Santorum beginning to see the conservative votes that he needs to, but that in a tight race he is able to beat, even the once thought unbeatable Mitt Romney.

All in all, this was the wind in the sails needed to keep the Santorum boat a kicking, and so expect Santorum to stay in the race for the really long haul. I don't expect any of the other candidates to drop out, and if I had to pick one I believe that it would be Ron Paul. Simply because these were the elections that he was supposed to win delegates in and yet he came up empty handed. Also, after seeing Gingrich destroy his reputation just to get revenge, he doesn't have the dignity and class to drop out of the race at this point. Despite being sent a clear message in yesterday's results that if you demean conservatives and capitalism, you aren't going to get elected; because despite what you believe, as I have argued previously he does, Conservatives aren't stupid and they know you are not the real conservative choice in this election.

-Corey S.
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