Rick Santorum Hopes for Big Night

Polls show Rick Santorum with a decent chance tonight to win the Missouri primary and Minnesota caucuses, and he's already trying to spin the results, notes Politico: “I feel great that Minnesota is going to change the direction of this race tonight,” said Santorum, who hopes to supplant Newt Gingrich as the anti-Romney choice among conservatives. Gingrich, who isn't even on the Missouri ballot, opted to head to Ohio today, which doesn't vote until March. The other contest tonight is the Colorado caucuses, where Mitt Romney is the favorite.

No delegates will be won tonight in any of the contests, but Aaron Black of the Washington Post writes that they're still important. "Presidential races are about momentum, and while tonight’s contests won’t technically determine who gets how many delegates, they will have some say over who is perceived as how much of a frontrunner and who has momentum. And until this race actually becomes a drawn-out delegate race, that’s what matters." Also, don't forget about Ron Paul, who generally does well in caucuses and could be a big wild card tonight. (More Rick Santorum 2012 stories.)