Santorum White House hopes boost

Tuesday's been a good day for Rick Santorum in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

He notched up two victories in Missouri and Minnesota.

SOUNDBITE: Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum saying (English):

"Wow. Conservatism is alive and well in Missouri and Minnesota."

Santorum racked his a third win of the day in Colorado, narrowly beating Mitt Romney.

SOUNDBITE: Mitt Romney, Republican presidential candidate, saying (English):

"I want to congratulate Senator Santorum, wish him the very best. We will keep on campaigning down the road but I expect to become our nominee with your help."

Romney came home in third place in Minnesota, behind U.S. congressman Ron Paul.

SOUNDBITE: Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul saying (English):

"Believe it or not we did very well tonight and have a very very strong second place and it is going to continue."

Santorum is fighting Newt Gingrich to become the conservative alternative to the more moderate Romney.

Gingrich didn't stand in Missouri and was crushed in the other two states.

He spent the day campaigning in Ohio.

SOUNDBITE: Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich saying (English):

"I'm not going to be able to raise the scale of money Governor Romney can because I don't have Goldman Sachs and I don't have all of his major donors from Wall Street. But I can arouse people and if we can pit people power against money power I'm convinced we can win."

A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Tuesday put Romney ahead nationally with 29 per cent but showed a five per cent gain in support for Santorum in the last month, to 18 per cent.

Paul Chapman, Reuters