Santorum’s Alabama Curtain Call

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Signs don’t vote. Crowd size isn’t a real determinant of how an electorate’s going to break. And yet… this isn’t the sort of crowd you want for your final rally before Alabama votes. Rick Santorum gave a smallish assemblage, 150 or so people, a short version of his stump speech, slimmed to make time for a TV hit. “If we win Alabama,” he said, “we will have a conservative nominee.” A good point; if Newt Gingrich pulls out Alabama and Mississippi, or if Gingrich wins won and Romney wins the other, the case for Rick Santorum, Consensus Candidate fades til this weekend’s Missouri caucuses. “After Nevada,” said Santorum “we’ve come first or second in every state.” He conveniently forgot about Washington, Maine, and Vermont, where Ron Paul bested him, and Georgia, where Mitt Romney beat him for second place and actually won delegates. This is the sort of thing folks’ll notice if Santorum doesn’t win one of these primaries.