•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   
•    EYEWITNESS   

Minneapolis. Christian conservative Rick Santorum hopes a trio of contests Tuesday will reignite his presidential bid and help him stake a claim as Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney’s main rival.

Caucuses were being held in Colorado and Minnesota and a primary in Missouri, although the latter allows only for bragging rights, as the vote will not provide the candidates with any precious delegates.

Santorum surprised many when he won the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3, the first stop in the protracted state-by-state primary process that will decide who takes on President Barack Obama in the Nov. 6 general election.

But that was more than a month ago, and he badly needs to reset a campaign that has flagged through New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and last weekend in Nevada, where he finished fourth and last.

With three victories already under his belt, Romney is the man to beat — despite lingering doubts about the former Massachusetts governor’s conservative credentials.

Should Santorum manage to break through on Tuesday, he would reaffirm his claim to be the best conservative alternative to Romney, outpacing former House speaker Newt Gingrich, whose campaign has slumped in recent weeks.

The caucuses began at 7:00 p.m. local time, while voting has already ended in Missouri. Early results indicated Santorum polling strongly in Minnesota and Missouri.

“I want someone who’s actually conservative like most of us in the United States. They keep trivializing us,” said Ralph Kieffer, a 65-year-old Minnesota resident and Santorum supporter.

Opinion polls suggested Romney should triumph easily in Colorado, where he scored 60 percent in an earlier presidential run in 2008, but a tight race was expected in Minnesota, where Santorum hoped to snatch a win.

“If you’re looking at the polls, today could be a very good day for the conservative cause,” the former Pennsylvania senator said in a campaign stop in Colorado.

In theory, Tuesday’s three states hold rich pickings as the four remaining candidates — including veteran US congressman Ron Paul — try to scoop up enough delegates to pocket the total 1,144 needed to secure the nomination.

But Tuesday’s votes will not prove a game-changer. The results in Colorado and Minnesota are non-binding, but will help guide the results at state conventions to be held later.

Missouri’s vote, meanwhile, is being dubbed a “beauty contest” as the state will only award its delegates after a March 17 caucus.

Gingrich, who caused a surprise upset with his South Carolina romp over Romney last month but suffered big setbacks in Florida and then Nevada, was polling third in Colorado and Minnesota, and was not on the ballot in Missouri.

He campaigned little in the three states voting on Tuesday, preferring to focus his attention on Ohio, a key battleground later down the road.

In a bid to minimize the impact of any loss in Minnesota, which Romney won with 41 percent in the 2008 race, Gingrich’s campaign Tuesday issued a statement saying that “of course, there is no way for any nominee to win first place in every single contest.

“John McCain lost 19 states in 2008, and we expect our opponents to notch a few wins too,” it added.

So far in the delegate race, Romney has captured 100 delegates, against 35 for Gingrich, 15 for Paul and 11 for Santorum.

The Republican establishment hopes it will be over well before the Aug. 27-31 convention in Tampa, Florida, avoiding a drawn-out battle that could hurt the eventual nominee’s chances against Obama.

Tuesday’s caucuses are the last contests before the results of Maine’s week-long caucuses are released on Saturday. Michigan and Arizona vote on Feb. 28, followed by Washington state on March 3.

A massive 437 delegates, almost a fifth of the total, are then up for grabs on “Super Tuesday” on March 6, when 10 states vote at once.

Agence France-Presse