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Santorum WON Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi.

Keep in mind that there was nothing really better than Santorum or Gingrich at that time since Romney was such a dweeb. Nor was there any way that Santorum was ever going to beat Romney in the primary fight. His "Evangelical" sweater vest appeal died fast. Neither Santorum or Newt even made it on the ballot in Virginia as well, and Santorum only beat Newt because Newt couldn't beat the "conservative" media as manifested by Drudge or the Glenn Beck types.

If you have a primary with just Ben Carson and a Mitt Romney time, for example, he'd probably do okay, though he would have still lost to Romney, especially with how the primary rules are setup. But presented with the choice of a far superior candidate, the generality of the Republican electorate won't opt for the GOPe. By the way, note the retard in the link who is pulling from Carson to Rubio for some weird reason. These people in Iowa are stupid, and they are not the majority in the country.

As for the Fox polls-- they've been suspect to me from day one, since they routinely show Trump as having closer competition than any other poll put out. If Carson was ever as popular as they claimed, it never manifested itself in any verifiable way outside of Fox polls or Twitter and facebook likes.

Santorum's main problem was his 2006 loss in PA and his lack of money from a broad base of supporters. It didn't help that his win was touted as a Romney win until it was too late. Anyway, I am in Georgia, I don't know where you are. I know plenty of Republicans, and have talked to Cruz, Carson, Trump, Paul, Fiorina and Huckabee supporters. I have been to the district and state conventions. I attend the county meetings. Though I haven't been here for a long time, I know the lay of the land on presidential politics, if not the statewide stuff. Enough people are primarily motivated by underlying motivations rooted in religion which comes to inform their political philosophy that it makes the difference between winning and losing in a competitive race. My point about Santorum stands as he won in southern states even as he lost in others. His appeal was strongest in the south and heartland. You can't say Santorum won because Romney's a dweeb, and then that Romney's unbeatable. You don't like Fox Polls, or Quinnipiac Polls. I wasn't trying to cherry pick. I was only picking the most recent Georgia poll available on Real Clear Politics. Feel free to counter with other polls. I can tell you that Carson had a serious ground operation in Georgia back in MAY. Poll variations in some states may reflect the level of organization. Trump seems to be putting his efforts in SC and AL more than Georgia, at least so far. Of course, Cruz is more than a Pat Robertson style religious candidate. A lot of good conservatives who do not have a primarily religious motivation are concerned about gun rights. It was Solicitor General for Texas Ted Cruz who argued the landmark case District of Columbia v. Heller before the Supreme Court and won.