For months, the GOP race for the presidential nomination has been an unpredictable game of political musical chairs.
This week, it was Rick Santorum in the spotlight. In the month following his stunning win over Mitt Romney in the Iowa caucus, the former Pennsylvania Senator struggled in other primary contests, including a third in Florida and South Carolina, fourth in Nevada, and fifth in New Hampshire.
But this week, he shined.
On Tuesday, Santorum pulled off the hat trick. In a three state sweep, he won the Missouri primary, as well as the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses.
The good news for Santorum is how convincingly he won: he carried Colorado by five points, Minnesota by 18, and Missouri by a full 28 percent.
The bad news? Missouri is a nonbinding caucus, and thus Santorum will pick up zero delegates. Even with the other two caucus wins, his delegate count remains in single digits.
But the intangible ghost of "momentum" may prove to help Santorum leading into the rest of February.
Candidates come to Ohio
Newt Gingrich went straight to Ohio earlier this week, giving no speech following the Tuesday contests. The former Speaker of the House toured the state in a bus tour concluding yesterday, traveling to Columbus and Cleveland.
Gingrich spoke of manufacturing and industrial growth in his trips to Ohio factories. In Cincinnati, he kept his eyes on President Obama, saying “I’m not running to be the tax collector for Obama’s credit card."
Most of all, Ohioans will begin to receive a barrage of political advertising as the state's March 6 primary approaches.
In one ad, sponsored by a pro-Mitt romney SuperPAC, a narrator focuses on Gingrich, saying "Newt's tough talk sounds good, but he has tons of baggage."
The ad began airing this past Wednesday, but many are sure to follow.
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