'We Did it Again!' Santorum Takes the South. Blue Collar Beats Blue Blood

This grandson of a coalminer, from a working class family from the coal and steel country of Pennsylvania has now done what no one thought was possible.  He has blown this Republican primary race wide open. Not only is this going to be an exciting race, it will determine the future of the Republican Party. NBC was the first to call the Alabama race. Rick Santorum won with a wide margin, against all odds. One of the MSNBC commentators noted the trend toward the candidate surged as the hour got later because "working class people vote late. They vote after work."

P>CHESAPEAKE, VA. (Catholic Online) - "We did it Again!" With those words, Rick Santorum Spoke to an enthusiastic crowd gathered in Lafayette, Louisiana on Tuesday evening, March 13, 2012. It was an extemporaneous, heartfelt, and inspiring speech which ended in a standing ovation from an enthusiastic crowd. Their energy reflects the momentum of a presidential campaign which is now on fire. 

Rick Santorum thanked God, his family and all who had worked hard to bring these extraordinary results about. Let's be honest, political history was made Tuesday evening. The establishment of the Republican Party was shocked. The pundit class has egg on their face. All bets are off in what was predicted to be a Romney nomination, or better put, a Romney coronation.

This grandson of a coalminer, from a working class family, raised in the coal and steel country of Pennsylvania has now done what no one thought was possible.  He has blown this Republican Presidential primary race wide open. Not only is this going to be an exciting race, it will determine the future of the Republican Party.

At 10 p.m., NBC was the first to call the Alabama race. Rick Santorum won with a wide margin, against all odds. One of the MSNBC commentators noted the trend toward the candidate surged as the hour got later because "working class people vote late. they vote after work." Later, he won Mississippi. 

That theme carried throughout the evening. This was blue collar vs blue blood. The pundits tried all evening to sound intelligent as they attempted to explain the vote. They failed miserably. In his victory speech, Rick Santorum nailed it, "This campaign is about ordinary folks doing extraordinary things, just like America." 

As he ended his speech he told his supporters the campaign was about "Free people, a free economy, the integrity of the family and the centrality of faith in our lives". Just as he finished that line, a campaign worker informed the candidate that he had also won Mississippi. The entire room broke into an uproar. FOX news had just called Mississippi for Santorum.

Earlier in the day, Mitt Romney told CNN's Wolf Blitzer "Senator Santorum is at the desperate end of his campaign." Last week, he boasted that it would "take an act of God" for Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich to derail his nomination. Well, it appears that God had a southern strategy this evening. The Rick Santorum for President campaign is anything but desperate.   

As the evening began, the pundit class gave the former Senator from Pennsylvania little chance of winning either State. Even Matt Drudge had a headline banner on his aggregator site, "Romney Set for Mississippi Win". It was quickly changed as the evening progressed.

The pundits dissected what they thought were the demographics. They used exit polls in an attempt to call the event. They also provided fodder for their chatter. What became clear as the evening progressed was just how clueless they are about the real America - and how little they understand about the appeal of this candidate. Rick Santorum is the Real Deal. He has taken the South. Blue Collar beat Blue Blood. The Republican Primary Race is on. 

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