The Hill News

Georgia Rep. Jack Kingston, who has been among Newt Gingrich's most passionate congressional surrogates, acknowledged Wednesday that Rick Santorum's trio of victories Tuesday night â€" coupled with a rough showing for the former House Speaker â€" meant that the former Pennsylvania senator would be taken more seriously as the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney.

"Santorum has benefited from the fact that it has been perceived as a two-man race. All the attacks have been on Newt. Now if Rick is going to be rising in the polls, I think he's going to start getting negative ads too," Kingston told CNN Wednesday.

The Romney campaign has already begun debuting some of their lines of attack, with Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom calling Santorum ! and Gingrich "two peas in a pod" in an interview with MSNBC earlier Wednesday.

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