Last stand: Santorum warns Romney nomination will lead to Republican defeat

Rick Santorum is fighting hard for his place in the sun even as Colorado and Minnesota voters go to the ballots. Santorum is the only other candidate besides Romney who seems to be putting in a shift on the stump as voting in these two caucuses gets underway.

Newt Gingrich and Ron PaulRon Paul are on the ballot papers but they are strangely silent. It seems that they are keeping their powder dry for other more profitable fights. Meanwhile Santorum is out their hoping beyond hope that he can make some kind of dent in Mitt RomneyMitt Romney's teflon coated campaign for the Republican nomination.

Romney though still looking smooth and confident has stepped up his game a little in response to Santorum's criticisms of him. He has tried to bolster his conservative credentials to keep the momentum gained by back to back wins in Florida and Nevada going.

It's with the conservative side of the party that Santorum sees chinks in Romney's armour. He appears to be going for broke in Colorado and Minnesota but that could mean a big defeat could see him finally down and out of the race forever. This said the fight to be nominated, however futile, often results in candidates throwing good money after bad.

Santorum seeks to represent the views of the far right of the Republican party with his strong ant-abortion and anti-gay rights views. Good Old Boy Rick believes he is the only truly conservative choice in today's votes. He says that Gingrich and Paul both threw their all into the last two state votes and both came up wanting. So much so that they seem to have given up all hope of any chance in the twin state caucases votes currently in motion.

Speaking in Golden on Monday night Santorum said: "A Romney nomination would not be in the best interest of us winning the general election and we need to have a conservative alternative. And my feeling is that Speaker Gingrich sort of had his chance in the arena and came up short in Florida and Nevada."

Romney had earlier attacked Santorum over his ineffective support of spending on pork-barrel projects. In the mud slinging Santorum threw back insults including accusing Romney of being "uniquely unqualified" to stand for the role of President.

Whatever the result, and it's hard to find anyone betting against Romney, this might very well be Santorum's last stand.