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Opinion: The consequences of Santorumania

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Get ready for Santorumania.

Rick Santorum was expected to do well in Missouri on Tuesday, but Minnesota and Colorado were question marks; after all, Mitt Romney won both of those states in 2008.

As of about 8 p.m. Pacific time, though, it looked as if the evening could turn into an unexpected Santorum sweep.

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The former Pennsylvania senator was on track to win in both Missouri and Minnesota, and Colorado -- purportedly a Romney bastion -- looked close.

Three consequences:

Romney’s standing as the presumptive nominee has taken a blow.

Newt Gingrich’s standing as the conservative alternative to Romney has taken a blow too. Gingrich was running fourth in Minnesota; he wasn’t even on the ballot in Missouri.

And Santorum, for the first time in this campaign, has a chance to establish himself as a serious contender.

So the Republican race is still open -- at least until Super Tuesday on March 6, with its seven primaries and three caucuses.

The overall beneficiary: President Obama. The Republican campaign, a festival of negative campaigning, has made all the GOP candidates look worse.

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