Story Excerpt:
(YAHOO) On February 6, it all seemed so clear. Mitt Romney had won landslides in Florida and Nevada and looked set to soon lock up the Republican presidential nomination to take on Barack Obama in November.
But if a week is a long time in US politics, two weeks is an age. The meteoric rise of Christian conservative Rick Santorum, a strong opponent of gay marriage and abortion, has turned the race on its head.
Victories on February 7 in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado have catapulted Santorum from a distant third to first — a Gallup poll now gives the former Pennsylvania senator an eight percentage point lead over Romney nationally.
Should he pull off a win on February 28 in Romney’s home state ofMichigan, all bets will be off and the Republican establishment will be left facing the specter of a bitter fight all the way to its August 27-30 convention.
There is no disguising the fact that Santorum’s views on subjects like homosexuality and abortion are out of step with many Americans and some are predicting there will be panic in the Republican Partyshould he win Michigan.
At the heart of the matter is the fact that his brand of highly moralistic social conservatism, which plays well in the Republican primary season, is seen as sharply at odds with the centrist message needed to win a general election.
