February was supposed to be a sleepy month in the GOP presidential primaries. Instead, we might be seeing a paradigm shift, and all on a night when no delegates are formally pledged.
Former Sen. Rick Santorum was expected to do relatively well in Missouri, where Gingrich is not on the ballot. It was believed he might even beat former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. He was not by any means expected to crush Romney, as he seems to be doing by a decisive margin.
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Just as importantly, early returns from Minnesota suggest that Santorum is well on his way to defeating Speaker Newt Gingrich, and possibly to beating Romney and Ron Paul to win the state’s precinct caucuses outright.
If he can pull that off — and especially if he finishes ahead of Gingrich in Colorado, where results are just starting to trickle in — Santorum will have strengthened the case that he, and not former Speaker Newt Gingrich, is the proper alternative to Mitt Romney in this race.
A great night for Santorum. A very bad night for Romney, but possibly an even worse night for Gingrich.
