Endgame quick analysis: Great night for Santorum. Now he has to show he can win with Newt also in the field and when Romney cares enough to spend money and attack.
Horrible night for Romney. Another hole in the bubble of electability, and the new narrative (which I have been saying for weeks) is that he only can win when he attacks and outspends (Nevada an exception for demographic reasons).
A good night for Newt because the campaign stays alive, even though he now will battle Santorum for the not-Romney title. Had Romney swept, the inevitability barrage would have continued. Newt lives to fight on Super Tuesday, about all he could hope for.
I’ll have more in the morning.
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Tonight are the non-binding Missouri primary, and the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses.
As of this writing (10 p.m.), Rick Santorum is winning big in Missouri. With Newt not on the ballot, he’s getting the full not-Romney vote:
Missouri
Reporting 96%
Santorum 55.4
Romney 25.2
Paul 12.2
Minnesota
Reporting 59%
Santorum 45.2
Paul 27.1
Romney 17
Gingrich 10.7
Colorado
Can’t stay up for Colorado. Looks like Santorum will do well and possibly win, but numbers reporting still very small as of 11:20 p.m. Eastern.
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