That was surprising...

Wow.

I'm actually surprised on a number of levels.  Santorum winning both MS and AL is the biggest surprise for me.  I had almost convinced myself that he'd come in 3rd behind Romney and Gingrich.  Then to see Gingrich take 3rd behind Santorum and Romney, with both Santorum and Romney doing MUCH better in the urban counties than Gingrich... that was a shocker.  Then to see Romney's taking the counties with the biggest populations (and the highest taxes) was another.  I'd have expected Santorum to do better on the Coast, around Jackson and in the Delta Counties than he did.

Still, in the Deep South, I guess I might have seen the more morally-conservative candidate winning over the more morally-ambiguous candidate.  Santorum is going to have more appeal than anyone else to the "evangelical" South... with his "fire and brimstone" attitude towards faith and morals... especially to GOP voters.

This would be a whole different race right now if MS and AL forced all their delegates to vote for the winner (like MN does)... but they do not, so Romney gains as much as Santorum does, in the long run.