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The Weekly Standard editor William Kristol discusses the primaries and Rick Santorum’s current situation after his defeat in Florida.

Kristol writes:

What if Santorum does as well or better than Gingrich in the Nevada caucuses Saturday, or in the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses next Tuesday? What if Santorum is competitive with Romney in the Missouri beauty contest primary next Tuesday, where Gingrich isn’t on the ballot? Couldn’t non-Romney voters begin to move nationally from Gingrich to Santorum? Couldn’t populist and Tea Party leaders like Sarah Palin do so as well?

In the Gallup tracking poll today, Gingrich is at 28 percent, Romney at 27, and Santorum at 17. Romney will surely move up several points over the next few days–but couldn’t Gingrich fall enough and Santorum rise enough that Santorum’s number approaches or passes Gingrich? Couldn’t Santorum move into second place?

In sum: Could we be heading towards a Romney-Santorum contest on February 28 in Michigan and Arizona, and then in March and beyond? Romney would certainly be a strong favorite in such a contest, given his lead in votes, delegates, money and organization. But wouldn’t Santorum ultimately have a better chance than Gingrich to upset Romney, even if it’s still a slim one?

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