Early Wednesday morning, a tweet from Rick Santorum said it all: "A trifecta!"
In a comeback that threatens to reshape the GOP race, Santorum pulled a stunning hat trick on Tuesday night, winning caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado, as well as a non-binding primary in Missouri.
The victories in America’s heartland bolstered Santorum’s position that he is the “true” conservative with the broadest Republican appeal.
In Colorado, the most competitive of Tuesday’s political contests, Santorum won 40%; Mitt Romney took 35%; Newt Gingrich finished with 13% and Ron Paul ended up with 12%.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I don't stand here to claim to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama," Santorum said to supporters in Missouri.
Romney, who had his election-night party in Denver, had to be surprised by the defeat in Colorado, a state he had won with 60 percent of the vote in 2008. Late Tuesday, he tweeted: "Congratulations to my fellow Republicans tonight. We'll continue to take our message of liberty & prosperity to every corner of the country."
Santorum got 45% of the vote in Minnesota to 27% for Paul; Romney had 17% and 11% for Gingrich, with 88% of the total counted, according to the secretary of state.
In Missouri, Santorum had 55% ; Romney finished with 25%; Paul got 12%. Gingrich didn't make the ballot.
Earlier Tuesday, the Romney campaign sought to downplay the results of the contests in a statement on its website. "It is difficult to see what Gov. Romney's opponents can do to change the dynamics of the race in February," wrote Romney political director Rich Beeson. "No delegates will be awarded on February 7 -- Colorado and Minnesota hold caucuses with nonbinding preference polls, and the Missouri primary is purely a beauty contest."
But the beauty contest is a potentially huge setback for Romney, who had begun to catch his stride as the national front-runner.
Gingrich, speaking with KOA Radio in Denver on Tuesday, predicted Santorum would do well due to Romney's attack campaign against him. "The guy who hasn't been attacked has gained some ground and has done a good job, worked very hard and so my prediction is when tonight's over between Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri, the whole race will be muddled and Romney's role as the frontrunner will be deeply discounted as compared to where it was a week ago."
Paul, speaking to CNN’s John King on Tuesday, seemed resigned to the fact that he would remain a middling after Tuesday’s votes: "We're gonna win some delegates. Whether we come in one or two or three, I don't know exactly that," Paul said. "Nobody else is about to at this point jump ahead of Romney," Paul said. "But we think we're going to keep doing. We have a very good chance on what's happening up in Maine."
Maine's caucus is Saturday.
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