271 DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY… 180 DAYS UNTIL THE AUGUST PRIMARY

SANTORUM SURPRISE — The underdog candidate pulled out victories last night in three states, including Missouri, where he competed heavily in the non-bindng primary. His message to Missouri voters last night? ‘Don’t stop’: “Speaking after major symbolic wins in Missouri and Minnesota, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum said he has what it takes to take on President Obama this fall… Santorum took the opportunity on the national stage Tuesday night to criticize former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for his state’s health care plan, and differing positions on bailouts. ‘He would not be the best person to fight for your voice in America,’ said Santorum. ‘I don’t stand here to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama.’ 

“While Missouri’s Republican results were non-binding Tuesday night, they will be binding in March, when the state party holds a caucus to select delegate. His chief challenger, Mitt Romney, will compete then, and former House Speaker Newt will be on the ballot. ‘We’re not done yet with you here in Missouri – you’ve got a caucus coming up,’ Santorum urged supporters.” http://bit.ly/zuvdZM

OFFICIAL RESULTS — With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Santorum: 55.2 percent (138,957 votes); Romney: 25.3 percent (63,826 votes); Paul: 12.2 percent (30,641 votes). Santorum won in every county in the state last night. Voter turnout SIGNIFICANTLY lower than exected: While the Secretary of State predicted 23 percent statewide, it didn’t even top eight percent. It was highest in Barry (24.13 percent), Cole (17.85 percent), and Christian (14.83 percent) counties, and lowest in New Madrid (3.27 percent), Butler (3.71 percent), and Stoddard (4.26 percent) counties. 

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN — @davecatanese: “So what’s @RickSantorum’s Missouri win tell us about the #MOSEN electorate @BrunnerForMO @sarah_steelman & @RepToddAkin are vying for?” 

— A Missouri Dem emails: “Tonight’s primary electorate shows that Brunner, Akin, Steelman are going to have to leapfrog over one another to protect their right flanks, whether it’s eliminating the department of education or slashing medicare and social security. We’ve seen it a little bit already, but tonight shows Primary voters are going to be forcing them much further right than they probably anticipated. In the process, they’ll alienate moderates and independents. Coupled with the fairly late Aug 7 primary date, they’re going to be bruised, bloodied and will have less time to get back to the middle in a general election.”

DAVE WEIGEL, in Slate, on what impact the non-binding results may actually have: ‘I see two ways that Missouri sort of mattered. Number one: Like non-binding contests in the 2008 Democratic race, in Florida, Idaho, Nebraska and Washington, it reveals that the baseline support for one candidate is fairly low before ads go on the air. …  Number two: Santorum is extraordinarily good at manipulating the media. He grinned and took all of the ‘why aren’t you surging?’ questions in 2011, happy to remain an unexamined underdog. He bet that Missouri would matter if it could be shoehorned into a narrative.” http://slate.me/A8SHIc 

POST-DISPATCH EDITORIAL, still, calls yesterday’s primary, “A lousy way to spend seven million bucks.” http://bit.ly/y2gG4g

EDUCATION TURNAROUND — ‘Nixon reverses education funding proposal,’ PoliticMo: “After weeks of criticism from university leaders, political opponents, and mounting pressure from student groups, Gov. Jay Nixon announced Tuesday his administration is partially reversing on its proposal to cut $100 million from higher education. Nixon said he is amending his proposed budget to restore $40 million, of the $100 billion, that his budget had originally cut. The funds will come from a proposed settlement by multiple attorneys general with the nation’s five largest mortgage banks. … Nixon’s office said he is scheduled to meet with the presidents and chancellors of top two and four year universities in his office later this week. Missouri is expected to get as much as $140 million from the settlement, state officials said.” http://bit.ly/ActiYF

— How it played in Columbia: ‘Settlement could soften the blow to higher education cuts,’ Columbia Missourian: The Missouri General Assembly would still need to approve the use of additional funds. State Budget Director Linda Luebbering said the funds would not be available until the start of the fiscal year in July. Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, said he was ‘delighted’ Nixon listened to the higher education community on restoring some of his cuts. The Missouri Students Association encouraged students to write their legislators to voice their concerns. On its first day at a booth in the MU Student Center it collected about 1,000 student signatures. … Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, expressed support for the additional funds while still criticizing the governor’s initial planned cuts.” http://bit.ly/AlSwQA

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, and welcome to this edition of PoliticMo Runown. Send your tips, comments, and scoops to eli@politicmo.com. 

CONGRATS to Ed Martin and family, who welcomed their fourth daughter into the world yesterday. Helen, born yesterday morning, sizes up to 21 inches. Pic: http://bit.ly/yT4YMC

2012 LEGISLATING — ‘Voter ID bill gets initial approval from Missouri House,’ Jason Hancock: “Missouri Republicans took another step Tuesday towards advancing an idea that has been a legislative priority for several years: Mandating voters produce a government-issued photo ID to cast a ballot. Following hours of debate stretching over parts of three days, the Missouri House gave the idea initial approval on a 104 to 54 vote. The bill must be approved once more before it goes to the Senate. … 

“In Missouri, the secretary of state’s office estimates that 253,496 registered voters do not have a government-issued photo ID on file with the Department of Revenue. Schoeller’s bill requires the state to cover the costs to provide a photo ID to anyone who needs one. And anyone who cannot produce a photo ID would be allowed to cast a provisional ballot, Schoeller said. That ballot would be counted after an election official verifies their identity by comparing their signature with a signature on file. … Missouri Republicans first passed a photo ID law in 2006 that was eventually struck down by the state Supreme Court. Last year, Republicans were able to pass a voter ID amendment to the state’s constitution that will be on the ballot this fall. Legislation similar to Schoeller’s bill that would implement the amendment also cleared the House and Senate but was vetoed by Gov. Jay Nixon.” http://bit.ly/y8lShB 

— ‘Filing date delay to be sought,’ MissouriNet: “A proposal to be filed today at the capitol will push the dates for candidate to file back almost a month. Legislative and congressional districts are in a state of flux. A new bipartisan citizens committee has been named to draw new state senate districts. Other maps are facing court challenges. … [R]ight now, candidates and potential candidates don’t know what to do  because they don’t know what their districts will be.” http://bit.ly/xtElCL

— ‘Mo. state sen. opposes federal birth control rule,’ AP: “Scott Rupp, a Wentzville Republican, introduced a measure Tuesday to amend the state’s constitution and forbid state laws or rules that force an individual, employer or health care provider to cover the costs of birth control or abortions. The measure comes as the Obama administration is in negotiations with religious groups over a federal rule related to the 2009 health care overhaul. The rule requires religious schools and hospitals to provide employees with access to free birth control.” http://apne.ws/y2o16H

CONTRACEPTION DEBATE — ‘McCaskill, Blunt divided on White House contraception mandate,’ Post-Dispatch: “Even as the White House is signaling a willing to compromise, battle lines hardened over the Obama administration’s dictate that employers, including religious institutions, offer health-care plans that cover birth control and contraception services. … Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., is the chief sponsor of legislation that would, in effect, overturn the rule by enabling health-care plans to omit coverage for services that ‘is contrary to the religious beliefs or moral convictions’ of either the employer or the beneficiary. … Sen. Claire McCaskill this afternoon said she is against ‘putting barriers’ in front of women. ’As someone who believes very much that we should be preventing abortions, I think we should try very hard to give women universal access to birth control without going into their pockets,’ she told reporters. … McCaskill, D-Mo., referred to the morning after pill in defending the rule. ‘As someone who is has spent a lot of time in the courtroom prosecuting rape cases, I think it’s a pill that should be available to women. If they want to access it, it’s legal in this country.’” http://bit.ly/xQXbAH

— JO ANN EMERSON op-ed in the Southeast Missourian calls the issue “A matter of conscience”: “The most glaring example of how the federal government is abusing the powers granted to it by the law deals with religious organizations. Religious schools, religious charities and religious organizations that offer insurance are required by the new rules to provide coverage for contraceptives, sterilization and drugs that induce abortions. Despite the moral objections of our many religious institutions to these practices, they are being forced to cover them with insurance. Conscience protections are vital to religious providers of health care. They prevent the government from requiring abortions be conducted in hospitals that object, performed by doctors who object and paid for by charities who object. And in the realm of insurance, these protections are equally important to prevent taxpayers and religious organizations from subsidizing the use of abortion drugs. … Matters of conscience extend, too, to the fact that the religious organizations covered by the mandate are participating in coverage for contraception, sterilization and abortion drugs even if those insured by the plan never use those services. Supporting the insurance policies that cover these services is tantamount to subsidizing the services themselves. In the same way as a restaurant bill split five ways forces you to pay a little for the appetizer even if you didn’t eat any, these insurance plans force religious organizations to pay a little for the contraception, sterilization and abortion drugs of others. There is no reason for the federal rules to cover religious organizations with objections of conscience.” http://bit.ly/yaurRb

CONGRESSIONAL TWEETERS — OhMyGov lays out the “Most Engaging” tweeps in the Congress: “The strongest Tweeter in Congress is Allen West (R-FL) of the House of Representatives, who averages 112 retweets per every tweet he sends. … On the flip side is Billy Long (R-MO), also from the House of Representatives, who averages 0.19 retweets per every tweet he sends.  Last month, Long sent out 643 tweets, but those only managed to earned him 126 total retweets. … A big factor in attracting engagement, as measured by retweets here, is the size of one’s following. West sports over 43,000 followers compared to Long’s 2,185. In this case, size does matter, as more followers makes it more likely someone will retweet the message to their following, creating the viral flow of information. … 

“Rep. Long tweets upwards of 40 times a day, filling his feed with few original posts and a slew of retweets from journalists, politicians, and the odd celebrity. Sure they’re all entertaining on their own, but when jam-packed together they cloud the message Long is sending, which instead comes across as: look at what all these other people are saying about stuff!” http://bit.ly/AwiliL