nbc calls Alabama for Santorum...
Sad thing for conservatives is that this will not be a big win for anyone.
It is all so close, the victor will be Romney.
With that, for sure, Santorum will stay in the race (winning one of the two, in this case, Alabama). I expect a victory speech soon. Or perhaps he will wait until Miss is confirmed, and it would be icing to win that one as well within the context of his victory speech).
Calling it early is a media tactic to discourage other voters from going to polls to vote for Newt....and that comes directly from them saying so! They do this when the race gets too close for their candidate.