From Powell, Tennessee -
A day after losing in both Arizona and Michigan, a smiling Rick Santorum was greeted by hundreds of supporters at a Baptist bible college in Tennessee, as the former Senator predicted he would do very well overall on Super Tuesday next week.
"We're out here heading to Super Tuesday with some wind at our back," Santorum said at Crown College in Powell, Tennessee.
Santorum also made some news on the delegate front from Michigan, predicting to his backers that he would emerge from last night's vote - along with Mitt Romney - with half of the thirty delegates in the Wolverine State.
"We're going to walk out of Michigan with fifteen delegates and he's going to walk out of Michigan with fifteen delegates," Santorum said to thunderous cheers.
"We tied!" Santorum said triumphantly.
Much like the events I've covered with Santorum from the start in Iowa, the Pennsylvania Republican urged the crowd to join his cause next Tuesday and convince their friends and neighbors to get to the polls on Tuesday.
As of now, Santorum remains the favorite in the Volunteer State, as recent polls have given him a solid lead.
With some bad weather in the area, Santorum was also going to Nashville for a rally at Belmont University and a fundraiser as well in the home of the Grand Ole Opry.
Santorum also sent out a fund raising email to supporters on Wednesday, asking for more financial help to spur his efforts on Super Tuesday, as the Republican hopefuls deal with contests in eleven states over the next six days. This was the photo that went along with the Santorum e-mail:
Santorum will go to Washington State on Thursday - and could stop in Georgia before that as well - though nothing was official on that front as of Wednesday afternoon.
Washington votes on Saturday; Santorum has been ahead in the polls in that state as well.
As for Tennessee, it was very clear on my drive from Atlanta to Knoxville that this state is already trending in favor of Santorum - the chatter on local radio stations was almost all in favor of Santorum, while giving the thumbs down to Mitt Romney.
As of now, Romney has no announced plans to visit Tennessee before Super Tuesday; his wife Ann is scheduled to be in Georgia on Thursday, but it was unclear if her husband would make his way to Georgia before Super Tuesday.
