Santorum celebrates: Now, "we're in the fight"
ST. CHARLES, MO-- Rick Santorum had an unusually good Tuesday night.
Following a surprising three-state victory, the presidential candidate told reporters as he glad-handed his way off the stage here that, "since we've won, now, as many states as anybody else, we're in the fight. We are the fight."
But as he basked in the afterglow of an unexpected clean sweep of Missouri, Minnesota, and even Colorado - where he narrowly stole the limelight from previously-favored Mitt Romney - Santorum told an energized audience of about 300 that he's, "not here to claim to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney; I am here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama."
It's an uphill climb. Santorum's distance from President Obama remains an enormous margin; at best, Santorum proved Tuesday that front-runner Romney hasn't yet sewn up the conservative base. But even considering Tuesday's results, Santorum stands at a disadvantage in relation to his Republican rivals, due primarily to the nonbinding nature of Tuesday's primaries that left Santorum with wins, but no more delegates.
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Still, as Santorum addressed his Missouri audience knowing full well that Newt Gingrich, Romney's fellow top-tier contender, did not appear on Tuesday's Missouri ballot, the former Pennsylvania senator attempted to paint himself as the most viable Romney alternative, and Romney as the least conservative option.
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"On health care, the environment, cap and trade, and on the Wall Street bailouts," Santorum said, "Mitt Romney has the same positions as Barack Obama."
Interrupted by the audience chanting, "We picked Rick," Santorum assured the crowd - in an unveiled swipe at Romney's "misspeak" last week - that he does "care about, not the 99 percent or the 95 percent, I care about the very rich and the very poor. I care about 100 percent of America."
