US Politics: Santorum Wins Republican Primary in Louisiana (Farnan and Blake)

Rick Santorum's speech in Wisconsin after winning the Louisiana primary

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Rick Santorum won the Louisiana primary on Saturday, boosting his claim as the leader of the conservative wing of the Republican Party even as his odds of beating Mitt Romney in the overall delegate race appear slim.

With nearly 95 percent of precincts reporting, Santorum led Romney 49 percent to 27 percent. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was third with 16 percent and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) was taking 6 percent.

Santorum said in remarks from Wisconsin, which is one of the next states in the GOP nomination contest, that his victory shows his campaign should keep going.

“This race is long and far from over,” Santorum said.

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US Politics Analysis: An Interesting Week for Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum...and Jeb Bush?

Rick Santorum & Mitt RomneyIf Rick Santorum beats Mitt Romney in Michigan on 28 February, then is the social conservative from Pennsylvania the Republican nominee?  Probably. But this also raises the possibility that Republicans will turn to an alternative.

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US Elections Analysis: Romney's GOP Challengers Look for a Brokered Convention

Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick SantorumNewt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul will not admit it, as anything hinting at a defeatist attitude is a death-knell in American politics, but they hope to force a brokered convention. In that scenario, if Romney does not get the 50% of delegates he requires on the first ballot, the State delegates who were pledged to him can switch their support to another candidate.

Some "back of a napkin" mental arithmetic illustrates this reasoning.

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