Santorum says he raised $250k overnight

While Rick Santorum's Tuesday wins came without delegates from the Missouri "beauty pageant," and the Colorado and Minnesota Republican caucuses, he can quantify his recent success with an uptick in donors. Santorum tells The Associated Press that he has raised $250,000 in the last 24 hours:

"Resurgent Rick Santorum said his sweep of three GOP contests earned his shoestring campaign $250,000 overnight, cash he needs to take his upstart bid for the Republican presidential nomination to Mitt Romney's turf.

Santorum's stunning victories Tuesday in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado marked his best performance thus far in the rollicking contest for the Republican presidential nomination - and Romney's worst. The better-funded and organized former Massachusetts governor shrugged off his poor showing, but his losses were stinging reminders of a stubborn weakness: Romney's inability to appeal to the conservatives at the base of the party.

It was far from clear, though, that Santorum would be able to turn his momentum into the millions of dollars he would need to overtake Romney. But in the hours after his victory, Santorum said he's finally being heard and supported by conservatives who want a clear contrast to President Barack Obama.

'I think last night we raised a quarter of a million dollars online,' Santorum told CNN's 'Starting Point' the morning after. 'We are going to have the money we need to make the case we want to make.'

That overnight haul was part of a larger two-day take of $400,000, Santorum told reporters following an event Wednesday near Dallas with a group of pastors."

The surge still pales in comparison to the funds accumulated by front-runner Mitt Romney, but allows Santorum to fiance his campaign moving forward after the decisive and momentum shifting wins of Tuesday. On Morning Joe Today, Meet the Press's David Gregory argues that Santorum has

"earned the right" for a second look:

(H/T: Burns and Haberman)