Contact: Bob Sturm, 703-396-6974; after 6 PM Eastern & on weekends, 703-307-8176

MANASSAS, Va., March 15, 2012 /Standard Newswire/ -- Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, issued the following statement regarding the results of the Republican presidential primaries in Alabama and Mississippi:

"Make no mistake about it -- Rick Santorum's wins in Mississippi and Alabama were a major defeat for the Republican establishment. In Mississippi, Mitt Romney had the political machine of former Governor Haley Barbour behind him, and in Alabama, he had establishment favorite former Governor Bob Riley's support, and he still came in third in both states.

"Rick Santorum's victories in Alabama and Mississippi have once again confounded the establishment pundits. The conservative movement is uniting behind Rick's candidacy -- and when conservatives are united behind one candidate, there is nothing inevitable about a Romney nomination at the Republican National Convention in Tampa.

"You can feel the energy in Rick's campaign. Rick has now been endorsed by over 200 leaders of the conservative movement, and their support in local precincts and counties across America continues to power the Santorum campaign to fly under the radar and over-perform the polls.

"Rick Santorum's positive conservative message of traditional values, a strong national defense, pro-growth economic policies, tax reform, and government according to constitutional principles has lit a fire that will burn straight through to President Obama's defeat in November."

NOTE TO EDITORS: Richard A. Viguerie pioneered political direct mail and has been called "one of the creators of the modern conservative movement" (The Nation) and one of the "conservatives of the century" (Washington Times). He is the author of Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause.