The latest flavor of the month. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
The last couple of days have been nothing but good news for Rick Santorum:
There's been a lot of attention on Michigan. It was a state supposedly safe for Mitt Romney, the state where his father once ran as governor. Yet as the numbers above demonstrate, it's become prime real estate for Santorum, with a conservative electorate more interested in knee-capping the Romneybot than in playing favorite son. Both the Romney campaign and his Super PAC will be spending heavily in the state, trying to drag Santorum back to earth. Because if Santorum wins, the media narrative will turn heavily against Romney. That state should be an easy win for him.
Forgotten in the Michigan commotion is Arizona, which on paper should be favorable to Santorum—insanely conservative with a populist edge. Yet Santorum is short on cash, and appears to be more interested in handing Romney a Michigan embarrassment than in scoring points in the southwest. And given that Super Tuesday is just a week later, Santorum has to spend his limited dollars wisely.
Of course, Santorum hasn't won anything because of money. And the national tide may be enough to make Santorum competitive down in the desert. But as of now, it's clear the eye of the storm will be in Michigan. And if Santorum can win that one, he'll be 4-0 in midwestern states, and Romney will look even weaker than he does now.