I love to say “I told you so.” Well, maybe I didn’t tell you, but I did tell my twitter followers. A week ago I said that there was one person who could give Rick Santorum a boost. Various candidates were giving their endorsements to Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney. Chris Christie, Donald Trump, and Ann Coulter all came out in support for Romney. Sarah Palin and Herman Cain both gave endorsements to Newt Gingrich. But we were still waiting for the most influential conservative voice to give his blessing.

I put out a message asking one person to endorse Rick Santorum – and later that day, guess who ended their radio show by saying there was only one candidate who hasn’t compromised their conservatism, referring to Santorum –  Rush Limbaugh. Following Rush’s pseudo-endorsement, Santorum fund raising went up 3 fold. If there is someone who can turn around the direction of an election – it’s the biggest, most powerful name in radio, and most influential voice for conservatism. Thanks, Rush!

Tonight marked a second “Santorum surge”. The first surge started after Santorum won Iowa, but was over after New Hampshire. Newt won South Carolina, and Romney won Florida and Nevada. But today Santorum won Minnesota and Missouri. (At the time of writing this he’s also doing well in Colorado, but with only 6% reporting.) Santorum is back on track, and isn’t showing signs of slowing down. He’ll be in this race for the long haul.

Santorum isn’t just another republican nominee. He sets himself apart in a few important ways. First of all, he’s the only true conservative in the race. While Romney and Gingrich both claim to be conservatives, only Santorum has the record to back it up. Government run healthcare isn’t a conservative principle, Mitt. TARP bailouts aren’t a conservative principle, Newt. On the issues themselves, Santorum wins. Hands down, he’s the most conservative candidate left in the race.

But we all know, it takes more than ideas to win an election. It takes money and organization, which is why Mitt Romney may seem like the best candidate. Frankly, the only reason Romney has done so well is because he has the money to run vicious attack ads on his opponents. Mitt has more money than the other candidates. But, (and this is important) he does NOT have more money than Barack Obama. If Romney’s only advantage is that he has money, that’s not enough to beat Obama, because he can’t beat Obama in the money game.

When the ads don’t matter (like tonight), Mitt Romney can’t win against his republican opponents. His ads won’t matter against Obama, either. Could Romney win in November? It’s a tough call. However, when money isn’t the issue, one candidate sets himself apart. Santorum is the candidate best suited to draw a stark contrast with Barack Obama in November.

Tonight we also saw that if Gingrich is out of the race (he wasn’t on the ballot in Missouri), not only does Santorum beat Romney, but he mops the floor with him! Gingrich ought to leave the race, endorse Santorum, and that would seal the deal for the nomination. Reports came out a few days ago that the Gingrich campaign is over $600,000 in debt! If this man can’t keep his campaign out of debt, how can we expect him to keep get our country out of debt?

Santorum said is best tonight. “I don’t stand here to claim that I’m the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney… I’m the conservative alternative to Barack Obama!” While Romney and Gingrich fight back and forth, the American people have gotten tired and are looking elsewhere – Rick Santorum. Game on!