CNS News: Come-From-Behind Santorum Wins All Three: 'Whole New Playing Field'

[Patricia M. McBride]

People tried to warn Romney and Gingrich that their personal warfare was impacting their standing in the polls, but they just refused to stop..............and now Romney has his sights on slamming Santorum.  Let's hope Mr. Santorum pulls a Bush and refuses to play the game.  Bush never did get into mud slinging fights, because he thought it was unpresidential (and it is).  Congratulations and good for you Mr. Santorum!

 

(CNSNews.com) - "Stunning," said the Associated Press. "Huge," "amazing," "incredible" and "surprising" were some of the other adjectives applied by TV pundits to Republican Rick Santorum's triple win in Tuesday's nominating contests.

It wasn't even close. The former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania won by wide margins in all three states.

"Tonight, we had an opportunity to see what a campaign looks like when one candidate isn't outspent 5- or 10-to-1 by negative ads impugning their integrity and distorting their record. This is a more accurate representation, frankly, of what the fall race will look like," Santorum told a cheering crowd in St. Charles, Mo., Tuesday night.

In Colorado, Santorum took 40 percent of the vote to Mitt Romney's 35 percent. (Newt Gringrich and Ron Paul took 13 percent and 12 percent, respectively.)

In Minnesota, Santorum took 45 percent, followed by Ron Paul with 27 percent, Romney with only 17 percent, and Gringrich with 11 percent.

In Missouri's nonbinding primary, where Gingrich was not on the ballot and Santorum was expected to do well, Santorum won with a whopping 55 percent of the vote to 25 percent for Romney and 12 percent for Paul.

"I don't stand here to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama," Santorum said. On health care, cap-and-trade, and the Wall Street bailout, "Mitt Romney has the same positions as Barack Obama," Santorum said.

"This was a good night for Rick Santorum," Romney told supporters in Denver on Tuesday night. "We'll keep on campaigning down the road, but I expect to become our nominee with your help." Romney added, "When this primary season is over, we're going to stand united as a party behind our nominee to defeat Barack Obama."

Romney's camp began downplaying the results hours before the voting began. Rich Beeson, his political director, released a memo earlier in the day noting that Sen. John McCain lost 19 states on the way to capturing the GOP presidential nomination in 2008. McCain, of course, went on to lose the election to Barack Obama.

Conservative voters remain wary of Romney, who has the support of many establishment Republicans and is considered more moderate than conservative on the issues. Many conservatives also have been turned off by Romney and Gingrich tearing each other apart.

"These caucuses matter," Santorum told Fox News Tuesday night, before learned he'd won Colorado as well as Minnesota and Missouri. "I think you're going to see our campaign get a real shot of energy coming out of this Tuesday."

Santorum said he expects to do "very, very well" in Ohio, Michigan and in the south.

"I think we have a message that's going to play well all across this country," he told Fox News.

Santorum said the nominating contests in the first five states were "pre-set for a long time," allowing some of the candidates to spend huge amounts of money.

"So the Romney campaign had a huge leg-up on those first five states. They don't going forward. They just haven't run the kind of campaigns in the rest of the country that they ran in those five states this time," Santorum said.

"So it's a whole new playing field."

Santorum said he believes he can beat Romney one-on-one, and he said Republicans have a "much higher probability of losing" if Romney or Gingrich run against Barack Obama in the general election.

Link:  http://cnsnews.com/news/article/come-behind-santorum-wins-all-three...

[Patricia M. McBride]

Do you mean Rich Beeson?  I have re-read your comments a couple of times and still trying to figure out who you mean (sorry). 

[tamara stephenson]

Bush had Karl Rove.  That guy is a scumbag.  He called John Kerry (war hero) a traitor because he spoke out against the war when he got back.  they could've focused on the fact that he was a left leaning lib, but no, the guy who avoided the war called a war hero a traitor and a liar.  Could it get any worse?  Oh yes, he already that nastiness worked.  Why?  because, in 2000, he basically had two "whisper campaigns" against McCaine:  (1)  their adopted African American baby was a love child from some affair; and (2) McCain was a POW, he was tortured, and he is crazy.  We respect the guy; but he's crazy.  Wow.  Can it get any lower?  I think it's worse to hide behind swift boat ads and whisper campaigns.  it was disgusting.  Now, Romney and Gingrich?  those two just look inept.  the truly evil stuff -- leave it to Bush

[Patricia M. McBride]

I agree totally Amanda, but the problem is the truth was not what came out during this bruha that has been going on.  Part truth/part lies and then, slanted to look like truth when things weren't really true.  Stuff taken out of context etc.  Fortunately, right now people are pretty knowledgeable or at least many are, and they know what is being done is nothing more than to make one self look good by making the other guy look worse.  It is what Obama will do, because he has done nothing he can brag on (except perhaps BinLaden...........but I think people are kind over that as well right now).  As you said the TRUTH would be fine, but even that can get over played if it is done over and over and over.  And Bush really never did it.  As you said, others might have but he wouldn't and used to tell reporters that it had nothing to do with the issues.

[amanda choate]

It is fair and right to expose the part of opponents record that they won't mention themselves. Just be truthful.

[Patricia M. McBride]

Maybe true, but Bush never showed his fanny like Romney and Gingrich have, because he believed, and rightly so, that it was not presidential to do so :).

[amanda choate]

Bush used surrogates to do his dirty work. In 2000 hos attack on McCain in South Carolina is the stuff of legend.