Santorum prevails
Rick Santorum’s sweep of the three presidential nominating contests Tuesday breathes new life into his campaign for the Republican nomination while delivering a blow to Mitt Romney’s front-runner status.
Mr. Santorum a former Pennsylvania senator, outpolled Mr. Romney in the Colorado and Minnesota caucuses and in the Missouri primary. Mr. Romney placed second in Colorado and Missouri but third behind Rep. Ron Paul in Minnesota. The contests were disappointing to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich who trailed in third and four place; he was not even on the ballot in Missouri.
Mr. Santorum and Mr. Gingrich have been campaigning as the conservative alternatives to Mr. Romney, former Massachusetts governor, but Mr. Santorum sought to make President Obama the issue, saying in Missouri that he considered himself the “conservative alternative to Barack Obama.”
Mr. Romney’s wins in New Hampshire, Florida and Nevada had made him the favorite early on, but Mr. Santorum can now claim four wins, including the controversial Iowa caucuses. Mr. Gingrich has won just South Carolina.
The 70 delegates at stake in Colorado and Minnesota will be awarded based on the voting at district and state conventions in April and May. Missouri’s primary was a “beauty contest” with no delegates at stake. Its 52 delegates will be chosen at conventions later this spring also. A candidate needs 1,144 delegates to win the nomination at August’s convention in Florida.
The immediate significance of contests, though, may be symbolic. They cast a pall over Mr. Romney’s aura of inevitability that had been building with his prior wins. It also indicates a divided Republican Party that has yet to coalesce around any candidate, giving hope to those who still remain in the race.
In going forward, Mr. Romney still has the edge in organization and fundraising that could lead him to victory. But Mr. Santorum also hopes to capitalize on his wins as the candidates look ahead to the Maine caucuses, which concluded Saturday, and then to Arizona and Michigan at the end of the month.
The decisive votes could come on Super Tuesday, March 6, when 10 states vote to choose 437 delegates, but this is still a race that could be decided in a brokered convention.
