Michigan Knee Deep in Santorum

Guardian »

As little as a week ago Michigan’s vote on 28 February was seen as a “firewall” for Romney ahead of the vital “Super Tuesday” contests on 6 March. It was a virtually guaranteed victory that would allow him to wrap everything up a week later and become the presumptive nominee. Instead Michigan is threatening to turn into a defeat. Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum has swept into the state on the back of a stunning hat-trick of victories in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri. Now Santorum is ahead in all recent Michigan polls…

Nor is it just Michigan. Santorum, a social conservative and devout Catholic, is also surging in national polls. In the latest Gallup tracking poll, he is now ahead of Romney by 1%. More significantly in one poll in Ohio – one of the vital Super Tuesday states – Santorum is now beating Romney by 18 points.  >continue<

Seriously wild stuff - wild enough to where there’ll be more talk of new faces, and attempts to force a brokered convention. Santorum may be a frothy mix of retrograde religiosity, acute warmongerism, and swing-voter buzzkill - but, unlike Romney, he can rally the “values voters”. He also had enough discipline and focus to outclass both Romney & Gingrich in the South Carolina debate. Perhaps a few people noticed outside of the Palmetto State.