Dobson must have helped in TN.
There is no way Dobson caused Santorum’s rise to replace Newt as the anti Romney.
Romney’s attacks slaughtered Newt in Iowa and FL. ONly the good people of SC got it, and defied their own governor to vote Newt.
The media, including conservative talk hosts, either opposed Newt or endorsed another or shut Newt out as if he didn’t exist. That intensified the Romney attack results.
What happened is the attacks created an opening, which Santorum walked through.
If people against Romney had stuck with Newt, instead of diverting to Santorum, we would not be here where we are, but in a far better place.
Don’t get me wrong-—Romney did a great job nearly destroying Newt. My point re: Dobson is that in Colorado, his endorsement galvanized the religious right vote in a state that was supposed to be such an easy win for Romney that I can’t recall him even putting a lot of resources in there. That win made Santorum a viable alternative to Romney to a lot of voters who see the millions of dollars of ads against Newt and think to themselves, “Maybe I shouldn’t take a chance with Newt. I’ll go with the guy that Dr. Dobson and everyone in my church likes.”