First he won the Kansas caucuses over the weekend. Then he completed a winning trifecta last night, stealing Alabama and Mississippi with a vengeance.
Rick Santorum is on a roll and enjoying some unexpected momentum, after whipping Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich in last night’s southern showdown.
Lately, the overly confident Romney had fooled himself into thinking that saying “y’all” and eating cheese grits would somehow give him the edge he needed to win at least one, if not both southern states. His arrogance was most prevalent yesterday afternoon during a CNN interview, when he told Wolf Blitzer that Santorum’s candidacy was of desperation and in its last days. Oh how those words must taste today for Romney, served up with a hearty helping of crow.
Here are the numbers:
ALABAMA:
✓ Rick Santorum – 35%
Newt Gingrich – 29%
Mitt Romney – 29% (slightly less votes than Gingrich)
Ron Paul – 5%
MISSISSIPPI:
✓ Rick Santorum – 33%
Newt Gingrich – 31%
Mitt Romney – 30%
Ron Paul – 4%
(Hawaii and American Samoa had not reported as of this writing)
The numbers speak volumes, but the phrase of the night came from Newt Gingrich who said of Mitt Romney: “If you’re the front runner and you keep coming in 3rd, you’re not much of a front runner!”
Although Gingrich presented a respectable 2nd place showing in both southern states and was still ahead of Romney, his campaign needed at least one southern win to keep his candidacy viable. Calls for him to step aside grew louder last night, as conservatives began making the case that Gingrich and Santorum are splitting the conservative vote, which essentially plays directly into Romney’s hands. Gingrich publicly proclaimed he is still in it to win it, but privately his campaign is reportedly considering some agreement to team up with Santorum in an effort to stop Romney. A Santorum-Gingrich tandem would likely never reach the needed 1144 delegates to secure the Republican nomination, but their union could probably prevent Romney from reaching it as well, which would be the goal. It’s a scorched earth strategy that would would pit faction against faction and set the stage for a dramatic convention floor fight at the August GOP convention.
BIG WINNER OF THE NIGHT: Rick Santorum
BIGGEST WINNER OF THE NIGHT: Barack Obama
NEXT UP: Puerto Rico on Sunday. Illinois primary next Tuesday
"His arrogance was most prevalent yesterday afternoon during a CNN interview, when he told Wolf Blitzer that Santorum's candidacy was of desperation and in its last days."Lol. Ain't that a blip. And I contend that Mitt made that ridicules comment based on what? POLLS.Despite the LONG KNOWN FACT that Southern White evangelicals (a soCON group that DOMINATES the GOP in the South) will NOT vote for a MORMON, darn near EVERY poll the media spent the last 5-7 days touting showed Santorum in THIRD place, with either a 2-way tie between Romney AND Gingrich. OR a 3-way close race, with Romney and Gingrich battling for 1st and 2nd place. Santoum was always_ALWAYS 3rd.So let's recap: Prior to the actual outcome last night, THE POLLS for Mississippi and Alabama (two of the most highly Southern white evangelical populated states) repeatedly indicated that the race was between a flip-flopping MORMON and a bloviating Serial adulterer…with Santorum running 3rd. And Mitt believed those POLLS!?!….lolI have to… Read more »