Rick Santorum Wins Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado, Romney Fades

In what came as a surprise to most political analysts, Rick Santorum captured primary victories in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri on Tuesday night, throwing the race for the GOP nomination wide open. After seeming to cruise to victory in Florida and Nevada, it appeared that Mitt Romney had weathered a brief challenge from Newt Gingrich and was well on his way to securing the GOP nomination. But Tuesday's results have changed that thinking. Now Rick Santorum has emerged as the most viable challenger to Romney and his Tuesday night sweep is expected to generate a large influx of donations he'll need to build a stronger campaign team and strategy for the weeks ahead.

In Minnesota, Santorum posted a dominant victory, capturing 44% of the Caucus votes. Mitt Romney finished a distant third in the state, with Ron Paul taking second at 27% of the vote. What is perhaps most troubling for Romney is that both Minnesota and Colorado were states that he won handily in 2008.

And while every non-Romney GOP candidate was likely happy with the results from Tuesday night, the biggest winner was probably President Barack Obama and his campaign team. The longer it takes to define a clear-cut GOP nominee, the more fractured that nominee's support will be. And without a clear conservative consensus heading into November 2012, there is zero chance that the Republicans are going to re-take the White House.

As we have all learned in recent years - and will be reminded again in the near future - the status quo is what it is for a reason. It is difficult to change and will be defended tirelessly by those who benefit most from its existence.