Is Santorum Better Organized Than Romney?

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Rick Santorum's unconventional organization has worked miracles. Political miracles, that is.

The commonly held belief has been that Mitt Romney's stellar organization and terrific fundraising -- more than $100 million raised between his campaign and super PAC through January -- would be impossible for his opponents to overcome.

Rick Santorum's slick campaign strategies have worked.

"The talking heads on TV say, 'Well, Romney has got the organization and Santorum severely lacks in that department.' That's just not true," says a Santorum aide. "If we weren't as organized as we are, we wouldn't be competing the way we are."

Romney, who sports a 50-state strong presidential campaign crafted to compete with President Barack Obama's own juggernaut, finished third in Alabama and Mississippi Tuesday night, remaining winless in Southern states.

Santorum claimed both states, which are conservative-base strongholds, to push his primary and caucus victory total to nine (not including his "beauty contest" victory in Missouri) as the former Pennsylvania senator has used a thin staff and a hefty volunteer organization to win the grassroots fight.

The Santorum campaign has complained often about media reports that Romney's campaign has superior organization, while his Republican opponents struggle for money and manpower.

It's difficult to ignore how well Romney's traditional campaign is run. The super PAC supporting Romney, Restore Our Future, has raised so much money that Obama campaign manager Jim Messina was prompted to send urgent messages to the president's supporters.

"According to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, if the general election were held today, we would lose to Mitt Romney," Messina wrote Tuesday in a statement. "Now, many other polls put the president on top, but all point to the same reality: We're looking at a race that will be tighter than you think."