Free Republic

Rick Santorum has won the Republican primary in Alabama, NBC News is projecting with 31 percent of the vote reported. He leads Newt Gingrich in the state by 5 percentage points and Mitt Romney by 6 points. Early returns from urban areas that typically favor Romney, and are often slower to report their results, suggest the former Massachusetts governor cannot pick up enough ground to gain the lead later in the evening.

John Featherman, a Center City real-estate broker and privacy consultant, says he is running against Sen. Rick Santorum in the 2006 Republican primary because "government should get out of our bedrooms and pocketbooks." The state GOP organization is poised to give Santorum its endorsement and, as a two-term incumbent, he is an overwhelming favorite for the nomination. But Featherman said he wants to offer moderate Republicans an alternative to Santorum's socially conservative positions on abortion and gay marriage. "I'm running for the nomination fully aware of the odds," said Featherman, 41, who supports abortion rights, gay marriage and a flat...