Only a few percentage points separated the top three candidates in Alabama and Mississippi's GOP primaries, but the results left Rick Santorum looking like a big winner, and Newt Gingrich looking like a goner, say pundits, who predict tough times ahead for Mitt Romney.
- Santorum's wins in Gingrich's "political back yard" will "symbolically—if not literally—end the former speaker’s hopes in the race," writes Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post. The wins give Santorum "what he always wanted: a clear shot at Romney."