Posted on 02/07/2012 10:36:59 PM PST by Steelfish
Santorum Delivers a GOP Stunner Former Senator Wins in Minnesota, Missouri; Romney Campaign Plays Down Nonbinding Contests
By NEIL KING JR. And DANNY YADRON
DENVER—Rick Santorum jolted the Republican presidential race Tuesday by winning nominating contests in Missouri and Minnesota, puncturing Mitt Romney's claim to be the unstoppable front-runner.
Mr. Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, was running neck and neck with Mr. Romney in preliminary returns from Colorado, a state Mr. Romney won by a wide margin in 2008.
With about 70% of the Colorado vote counted, Mr. Santorum had 38%, to 36% for Mr. Romney. Four years ago, Mr. Romney carried Colorado with 60% of the vote.
Mr. Santorum's twin victories in the Midwest will give his campaign a much-needed burst of momentum and may stir doubt about Mr. Romney's abilities to woo conservatives to his side in important electoral states such as Missouri. So far, Mr. Romney has won in states where he has devoted significant campaign time and advertising dollars.
Mr. Santorum won 55% of the Missouri vote, while Mr. Romney followed with 25%. Texas Rep. Ron Paul was trailing with 12%. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich wasn't on the Missouri ballot.
Mr. Santorum's Missouri victory margin of almost 75,000 votes over Mr. Romney was nearly 29,000 more than Mr. Romney's combined Iowa and Nevada total.
While the Tuesday results didn't directly award any of the delegates needed to claim the GOP nomination, they showed voters rejecting Mr. Romney even in states where he had performed well four years ago.
Mr. Romney had carried Minnesota in 2008 but placed third there on Tuesday. With 85% of precincts in, Mr. Santorum had 45% of the vote, while Mr. Paul had 27%. Mr. Romney had 17% of the vote and Mr. Gingrich claimed 11%.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
fine idea
agreed. And Callista doesn’t help matters much.
Obama is a pit bull. Santorum is a poodle, Romney a Cocker Spaniel and Gingrich a fellow pit bull. Now which dog do you take to the fight?
“The Catholics showed up...”
I don’t understand why there’s so much focus on the “Catholic” issue and I’m a little tired of it. Yes; the subject at hand is specific to contraception, but contraception, healthcare, etc., isn’t the issue. The Main Thing is having the government presume to intrude into Americans’ faith in any way, shape, or form. Hussein stepping on religious liberty is the worst thing he’s ever done.
I’m Baptist, and have no problem with contraception. In fact, I embraced it for decades, planning — and succeeding — to remain childless. But this dictate by Dear Leader that forces Catholics to go against their faith has me absolutely livid! He has offended EVERY religion. Protestants and Jews are just as upset as the Catholic priests are; we need to hear from ALL of them so people understand how widespread the blowback is. The press, including Fox, treats this as a Catholic-specific issue.
Obama beats Santorum by just 4 points in the recent Gallup.
Take your anti-depressants and man up.
The Super Bowl halftime is not the world. Most people are fairly conservative and basically decent.
The real airheads won’t vote anyway.
Work for your conservative candidates for the House and Senate. Volunteer what you can in time or money and, for gosh sake, cheer up.
Last Friday, Rasmussen had Santorum beating Obama by one point.
Last Friday, Rasmussen had Santorum beating Obama by one point.
Santorum is an Italian Catholic, and very pro-life. He’s going to get the Catholic Church behind him in the abortion dust up.
This old Marine has been waiting for this day and now I am behind Rick 100%. He is young, a straight shooter and carry’s no baggage. Right now he needs $$ support and I did my part even before Colorado results were announced. There is a reason for this and I pray it continues.
Agreed! I'm not giving up on Newt yet, but I won't feel bad voting for Santorum. The funny thing is that I preferred Santorum to Newt to start with, but was won over by Newt's ability to articulate what I want articulated.
Agree, but I certainly do not hear other religions speaking out? With all the division created by this administration, it sure would be nice to see all religions unite for the sake of our freedom. The Catholics are making noise and sending a strong message to Obama...”let’s unite”
Thank you for emphasizing that point. It's a fundamental issue of religious freedom.
Even Democrats are being shocked into realizing that Obama does want to impose secularism on America and destroy or undermine bedrock institutions like churches & the military.
You think that pathetic little straw man is a pit bull?
He’s been manipulated all his life. His dog won’t even mind him.
His wife bosses him; he bends in the wind with each little lib group that threatens him.
He may have pit bulls around him, but he is a girly wimp.
Funny Santorum is the only one trending to be able to beat Obozo.
Gingrich and Paul are trending in the wrong direction and face double digit losses in a race against Obozo.
Romney loses as well.
Well..., since I can’t respond on point, I guess you win.
I think other religions ARE speaking out, but they do not have ONE voice as Catholics do.
You can bet that most conservative Christians are upset about this.
Santorum won ZERO delegates! the women in SC loved Newt. Newt has more delegates than Little Ricky and the Fla challenge is not yet resolved. Newt will take Georgia and maybe Texas with Gov Perry working for him. Wait until vest boy is vetted! so far he has been given a free pass with very little super pacs ads run against him...when they hit..he will be toast! the EARMARK KING and Porker of the month by CAGW equals Santorum. Go home Bella’s dad
Also, Santorum's victory speech was excellent, one of the best we've heard in this election.
Santorum Victory Speech (after MO and MN win)
Also, link to the Live Primary Thread.
LIVE THREAD: Results in CO., MN., MO.
The economy feels better, and frankly, it is very hard for a Democratic president to stay in negative approval with most of the population on the coasts. Polls are no doubt heavily weighted toward those areas.
Does anybody understand the mind of a liberal?
From one of my Facebook friends:
[Santorum] has also said that same-sex marriage shouldn’t happen because same-sex couples don’t “benefit society.” I wonder what he thinks about my childless heterosexual marriage. Perhaps this is why he wants to ban my birth control...
She’s childless yet takes birth control and the irony is lost on her.
Sheesh
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