Just when you think Gov. Mitt Romney is the inevitable nominee after his big wins in Florida and Nevada, Sen. Rick Santorum revives his campaign with an impressive three-state sweep in Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado. He won the caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado with comfortable margins. He carried the state of Colorado with 40% of the vote to 35% for Mitt Romney, and won more decisively in Minnesota with 45% of the vote to Gov. Romney’s 17%. Even though the states didn’t officially award him delegates, he can claim that he has momentum, the Big Mo. And he’ll be right. He can begin to consolidate the conservative wing of the Republican Party around his candidacy.

But as impressive as his wins were, his victory speech was equally unimpressive and largely insignificant. He seemed to get carried away by the pep rally atmosphere of the moment. He confined himself to sound bites that were appealing to the audience in the room, and forgot to speak to the broader electorate. With a new wind at his back, the speech was a great opportunity for him to reintroduce himself to Republican voters and lay out in broad terms his vision for the country. That could’ve gone a long way in undercutting Gov. Romney’s electability argument. Instead, he focused too much on Gov. Romney and President Obama, and too little on himself. Last night was his night. He should’ve made it about him, about his candidacy, and about why America needs him at the helm. It would’ve made him look presidential and enabled voters, Party activists and the Republican Establishment to talk about him in a new way.

However, Senator Santorum did lay out a different, and what could be a more appealing conservative argument against President Obama. “He thinks he knows better, he thinks he’s smarter than you, he thinks he’s someone who is a privileged person who should be able to rule over all of you,” he said.  In short, he’s calling President Obama an elitist. This is a different argument from Governor Romney’s “Obama is in over his head.”  Nevertheless, to capitalize on his momentum, he needs to hone in on a message that is appealing to the most conservative wing of the Party and compelling enough for the Republican Establishment.