Rick Santorum tonight slammed GOP rival Newt Gingrich and stole both Mississippi and Alabama. Gingrich claimed his “Southern strategy” was predicated upon winning both states, yet he could not. Santorum’s extremism played exceptionally well with the white Evangelicals and Southern Baptists who populate those states. Santorum beat Gingrich in Alabama 35% to 30%. Working women strongly supported Santorum in Alabama.
Santorum beat Gingrich in Mississippi 33% to 31%.
Going into Illinois, Romney will face a tough battle with the very blue-collar Santorum.
Gingrich’s backer Sheldon Adelson will no doubt now be debating if it makes sense to continue backing Gingrich.
Rumors have been making the rounds recently that we might see a Newt Gingrich/Rick Perry ticket. This now seems unlikely.
Reliable insiders say we should expect a Newt Gingrich pull-out in the next few days. We’ll see.