Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum won all three caucuses in Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado on Tuesday night. Mr. Santorum has won four of the eight GOP state contests so far, all which have been caucus wins, whereas former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has won two primaries and one caucus. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has won one primary. Rep. Ron Paul has not managed to win any caucuses or primaries but has managed to pick up a handful of delegates along the way.
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Watching the final caucus returns come in for each state on Tuesday was similar to watching the ending of the 1986 movie“Lucas.” In the film, the title character (played by the late Corey Haim), an awkward geeky teenager, wants to play on the high school football team, and although he is taunted for it, he finally gets his chance to play in the big game. Most Gen-X’ers will remember the famous line in the film that students shout at the star quarterback (played by Charlie Sheen)-“Throw the ball to Lucas!”
Santorum is finally getting his chance to play with the big guys after being asked repeatedly throughout his campaign from media, “When are you going to drop out?”
After a delayed win from Iowa, Santorum celebrated his triple win on schedule. Although Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado will not award delegates right away, Mr. Santorum’s wins will more than likely translate into a fundraising boom for his campaign going forward.
Mr. Romney not only lost Minnesota to Mr. Santorum, he came in a distant third place behind Ron Paul in that state. In Missouri, Romney lost against Santorum by 30 percent. Romney originally won Colorado in 2008 against McCain, but could not muster up enough votes to overcome Santorum in the end.
However, the Romney campaign is not taking the losses sitting down. The Santorum campaign should expect to see an onslaught of fresh new attacks coming from the Romney camp and the pro-Romney super-PAC. CNN reports:
After reminding reporters that Santorum had endorsed Romney in the 2008 race, senior adviser Stuart Stevens suggested the former Massachusetts governor would begin to focus on his newly ascendant opponent on the stump.
“I think we’ll see differences in approach that will be explored. Rick Santorum tonight was fairly aggressive in his contrasts, and I think we’ll see differences,” Stevens said of the two-term senator Tuesday night. “Look, I just don’t think it’s a time when people are looking to Washington to solve problems with Washington.”
Since Iowa, Mr. Santorum is being given a second chance, so he better not drop the ball, as his opponents are looking to crush him now.
