Story in the UK Telegraph.

Excerpt:

There is a new national poll of Republican primary voters just out from Public Policy Polling which has some good news for Rick Santorum the ex-Pennsylvania senator who on Tuesday beat Mitt Romney in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado.

Based on fieldwork that took place on Thursday and Friday Santorum is on 38%; Romney 23%; Gingrich 17% and Ron Paul on 13%. This is a huge margin which has been helped by the positive media coverage that he received following his three victories on Tuesday.

In surveys ahead of the elections in those three states the pollster produced figures that suggested Santorum was going to have a good night but on nothing like the scale of what actually happened.

The candidate will be only too aware that the nature of this battle to be the party’s nominee has seen many contenders surge forward only to fall backwards quite soon afterwards. So far there have been eleven separate leaders in the polls most of whom either did not enter the race or have since pulled out.

For Santorum the political effect of this and other polling expected this weekend is that it reinforces his position as the candidate from the conservative wing of the party who is most able to take on the Mitt Romney machine.

This latest poll found that if Gingrich dropped out of the race then out 58% of his support would go to Santorum and 22% to Romney.

The immediate worry for the Santorum campaign is that they are likely to be on the end of a furious negative advertising campaign ahead of the Arizona and Michigan primaries at the end of the month. That is how the Romney team dealt with others who threatened their position and what is likely to happen now.

I just heard from my Dad that Rick and Newt are not campaigning in Maine. It is a very blue state, so Romney and Paul will do well there.