Rick Santorum Stuns Mitt Romney with 3-State Sweep

As he was handily winning 3 Republican contests and stalling frontrunner Mitt Romney‘s clear path to the Republican presidential nomination, Rick Santorum proclaimed to CNN that the 2012 GOP race was now “in a little bit of no man’s land.”

Republican long shot Rick Santorum poked holes in Mitt Romney’s aura of inevitability Tuesday night with a trio of upset victories that shifted the dynamic of the 2012 presidential contest.

The former Pennsylvania senator’s wins in the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses and Missouri primary were setbacks for Mitt Romney, the national front-runner, who had been expected to cruise easily through a series of relatively minor February voter tests. He must now wait 3 weeks to regroup, when Arizona and Michigan hold what suddenly are shaping up as unexpectedly important primaries.

In remarks to delirious supporters in St. Charles, Mo., Rick Santorum took a swipe at Mitt Romney’s big advantage in money and the negative ads he’s used to defeat his opponents in previous states. He also lashed out at President Obama, describing him as someone “who thinks he knows better” and doesn’t listen to the American people.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t stand here to claim to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama,” Rick Santorum said, setting off chants of “We pick Rick!”