Ron Paul second in Minnesota.

ST. LOUIS, Missouri - February 7, 2012 - Rick Santorum won the Missouri GOP primary and the Minnesota and Colorado causes on Tuesday. He maintained a tremendous margin over Mitt Romney in Missouri, with Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.) taking up the lead in Missouri. Newt Gingrich didn’t appear on the ballot in that state and Santorum was the only candidate who appeared in the state recently.

In Minnesota, however, Paul beat Romney and Gingrich in the caucuses by a significant margin. Romney came in a relatively close second in Colorado, with Paul and then Gingrich trailing.

Gingrich missed the deadline to be on the ballot in Missouri last November, though his campaign later claimed they had intentionally neglected the state.

Missouri marks Santorum’s first win since Iowa, and his first night-of win to date. Analysts expect it will allow him to more credibly claim to be a conservative alternative to Gingrich, especially in the wake of Gingrich’s odd Saturday evening press conference and his attacks on Romney’s record as a successful businessman.

Santorum spoke in Missouri after the race in Minnesota was called for him, thanking God “for our ability to persevere through the dog days,” his wife (whom he kissed on stage), his kids, his supporters whose votes, he said, “I suspect were heard particularly loudly in Massachusetts,” and the tea partiers who he claimed were the “base of the conservative movement.”

Santorum then turned to attacking Obama who, he said, he suspected wasn’t listening because, “Has he ever listened to the voice of the Amerikan people?” Santorum went on to say that “he thinks he’s better than you,” a refrain he repeated throughout his speech. He also promised that Romney had “the same positions as Obama” on everything from cap and trade to the Wall Street bailouts.