Santorum banking on a bounce-back today
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Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign rally Monday in Grand Junction, Colo.
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While their decisions won't award many actual delegates, voters in three states could reshape perceptions of the Republican presidential nomination battle today by reinforcing Rick Santorum's claim as chief conservative alternative to front-runner Mitt Romney.
Mr. Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, jumped from dead last to a win in Iowa and finished ahead of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in New Hampshire, but his campaign has had a tough time competing with the buzz generated by Mr. Gingrich's big victory in South Carolina, which came two days after the belated announcement of the actual Iowa results. Mr. Santorum has had to fend off repeated suggestions from the Gingrich campaign that he should withdraw from the race to concentrate conservative strength behind the Georgian.
The results of caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado and a non-binding primary in Missouri could allow Mr. Santorum to make his case to be the standard-bearer of the anybody-but-Mitt crowd. Mr. Santorum is certain to get more votes than Mr. Gingrich in Missouri, a state where his conservative rival is not even on the ballot. He is running ahead of the Georgian in Colorado and actually led the entire field in a recent poll of likely caucus voters in Minnesota.
After his second drubbing in as many contests over the weekend in Nevada, Mr. Gingrich vowed to press on, predicting that he would approach parity with Mr. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, in the weeks after Super Tuesday. Mr. Santorum finished behind Mr. Gingrich in both Florida and Nevada last week, but he appears to have reasonable hope of a series of strong results today, an outcome that could make conservative voters and fundraisers reassess their options.
"I think we certainly have a chance of winning one or -- or more of those states tomorrow," Mr. Santorum said in an interview Monday night with CNN's John King. "But, you know, a strong showing is a strong showing. And, you know, we're very encouraged that we're going to have a strong showing in all three states."
Mr. Gingrich has not campaigned in Missouri, which, due to a rules dispute with the Republican National Committee, will select its convention delegates in mid-March caucuses. The prospect of a strong result there, however, led Mr. Santorum to place his primary-night headquarters there.
In a survey by Public Policy Polling, an independent but Democratic-leaning firm, Mr. Santorum was in first place there in the last week of January, leading Mr. Romney by 45 percent to 34 percent, although the firm's interviews were actually conducted before the boost Mr. Romney may have received from his blowout Florida win Jan. 31.
First Published February 7, 2012 12:00 am
