Romney's campaign is at pains to stress that last night's stunning victories by Rick Santorum in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri don't mean much in the long-term because of Romney's superior "organization" and Romney's edge in "resources" (read: money from big donors to fund his Super PAC). But I wonder whether money and organization matter as much in the Internet age, where momentum goes viral in the blink of an eye and the touch of a touch screen. The confluence of events is remarkable: Santorum, who is known best as a Catholic politician, emerges as Romney's main challenger at the precise time when the Obama Administration chooses to affront Catholics all over America with its obnoxious decision to require Catholic institutions to offer birth control, abortifacients and sterilization procedures in their health insurance plans, making Santorum the most logical candidate to stand up for Catholics and Christians in general who are outraged by the intrusion by Big Government into matters of faith.
Can Santorum ride that wave through the end of the month and pick up another win in either Arizona or Michigan on February 28th? If he were to beat Romney in Michigan, where Romney's father was governor and where Romney presumably has much greater name recognition, that would mean that Santorum's appeal really does play in the northern Midwest where Republicans must win to gain the Presidency. Then the Big Enchilada comes on Super Tuesday on March 6th -- Ohio, where Santorum's Pennsylvania roots ought to play well. If he were to win Michigan and Ohio, and fair well elsewhere, he might just pull this thing off, which would be one of the more remarkable comebacks in American political history.
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