Rick Santorum has always expressed faith that his campaign would catch on. But the fact is, nobody on Team Santorum believed he would go three-for-three in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri on Tuesday.
In the last days of January and first days of February, a number of Republicans, unhappy with the escalating personal spat between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, took another look at Santorum. In addition, after Gingrich’s losses in Florida and Nevada, some of those voters specifically looking to unite behind an anti-Romney candidate came to the conclusion that Gingrich wasn’t their man. They, too, reconsidered Santorum.
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The result was a sudden shift in momentum to the former senator from Pennsylvania, and a disorienting change of fortune for Romney, whose vote totals declined in each of the states from four years ago.
In 2008, Romney won Minnesota with 41 percent of the vote. This time, he lost with 17 percent. In ’08, Romney won Colorado with 60 percent of the vote. This time, he lost with 35 percent. In ’08, Romney scored 29 percent of the vote in Missouri; this time it was 25 percent.
Santorum has now won four contests to Romney’s three and Gingrich’s one.
“Conservatism is alive and well,” Santorum told cheering supporters in St. Charles, Mo. “I don’t stand here to claim to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. I stand here to claim to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama.”
For Santorum, the victories were a vindication of his decision to focus on jobs, especially reviving American manufacturing; on social issues; and on drawing distinctions between himself and Romney on health care and other topics. Santorum took care to note that his jobs plan helped him win in “the industrial heartland of Missouri, where they still make things.” That’s a message Santorum plans to press in coming days as he targets Romney’s home-state primary in Michigan on Feb. 28.
As for the other issues, Santorum said, “Health care, the environment, cap and trade, and on the Wall Street bailouts — Mitt Romney has the same positions as Barack Obama.”
As he did in Iowa, Santorum won by being the last plausible alternative for conservatives. For months, the anti-Romney crowd has flirted with one alternative after another. During that time, Santorum plugged along, confident, or at least hopeful, that his old-fashioned campaigning would pay off in the end. As the new top alternative — Gingrich was invisible Tuesday night, a non-factor in all the races — Santorum knows he will likely become the target of Romney’s legendary attacks.
On Tuesday morning, as it became clear Romney would not have a good night, his campaign’s political director, Rich Beeson, sent out a memo trying to put things in perspective. “John McCain lost 19 states in 2008, and we expect our opponents to notch a few wins too,” Beeson wrote. “But unlike the other candidates, our campaign has the resources and organization to keep winning over the long run.”
After the returns came in, I asked Santorum spokesman Hogan Gidley what he thought about Beeson’s analysis. “What an inspiring message,” Gidley said sarcastically. “That is really inspiring. I can’t wait to put a bumper sticker on my truck that says MONEY-INFRASTRUCTURE 2012.”
“No one had more money and infrastructure than Hillary Clinton, and hope and change wiped her off the map,” Gidley continued. “We’ll have money, and we’ll have infrastructure, but our nominee has to have a message that people can get behind and inspires people.”
Byron York, The Examiner’s chief political correspondent, can be contacted at [email protected].
