On Tuesday, the conservative grassroots served the Republican Establishment stinging defeats in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri.

In Minnesota, Mitt Romney managed to draw only 16.19% of the vote.  He did a little better in Missouri, where he captured 24.3% of the vote.  His best showing was in Colorado, where he managed to secure 34.9%.  Even there, nearly two out of three voters cast a ballot for one of the "not Romney" candidates.

To date, the Establishment's "inevitable" candidate has managed to win only three states out of eight (New Hampshire, Florida and Nevada) while losing in Iowa, South Carolina, Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri.  In the words of RedState's Erick Erickson:

From Missouri to Minnesota to Colorado the Republican electorate sent a very clear signal — they want conviction over electability. They do not like Mitt Romney. They see Santorum as authentic. They see Mitt Romney as a fraud. Rick Santorum swept the races. Romney, the front runner, got crushed by conservatives.

Dana Loesch observes:

Colorado was a telling state as Romney took it by a landslide 60% in 2008. It ended up a nail biter, but the man crowned as Colorado inevitable lost. The supposed most “electable” guy in the race has lost five of the eight early elections thus far.

So much for narratives.

Nate Silver adds the following:

Whatever your perspective on how likely Mitt Romney was to lose the Republican nomination race prior to Tuesday evening, it should be acknowledged that he had about the worst results conceivable.

 

In Minnesota, a state which Mr. Romney carried easily in 2008, he has so far failed to win a single county — and got just 17 percent of the vote. That put him 27 points behind Rick Santorum, and 10 points behind Ron Paul, who finished in second.

 

Missouri is a less important result since its beauty contest primary did not count for delegate selection and since turnout was understandably low there. But Mr. Romney lost all 114 counties in Missouri — and the state as a whole by 30 points, far more than polls projected.

Whomever one may be supporting in the GOP primary race, Tuesday's results give all grassroots conservatives reason to cheer and take heart.