Rick Santorum's southern strategy

(CBS News) STEUBENVILLE, Ohio -- Regardless of the outcome of Super Tuesday's ten contests, the way ahead for Rick Santorum is through the South, according to campaign staffers.

Santorum's communications director Hogan Gidley believes Santorum's conservative appeal and energy policy, which stresses offshore drilling and domestic oil and gas production, will resonate with voters along the Gulf Coast, an area rich in natural energy resources and hurting for jobs. Alabama and Mississippi hold primaries on March 13th.

The campaign starts airing ads in Alabama tomorrow. He'll travel to Kansas and Mississippi Wednesday and make stops later in the week in Alabama and Texas. The campaign is also encouraged by its performance in Missouri where Santorum defeated Romney 55 percent to 25 percent in the non-binding primary on February 7. The Missouri caucus - where 52 delegates are at stake - is March 17.

Santorum raised $9 million on the strength of 130,000 donations in February. His campaign spent $560,000 in Ohio, according to Gidley.

John Brabender, a senior strategist for the Santorum campaign, blames Newt Gingrich for splitting the conservative vote in states like Michigan where Santorum narrowly lost to Romney by 3 points. Gingrich won 6 percent. He argues that if Santorum and Mitt Romney were the only candidates in the race, Santorum could consolidate the support of conservatives and would have an easier path to the Republican nomination.

"There's been poll after poll after poll that shows if Rick Santorum were just to have a one-on-one shot with Mitt Romney that the Gingrich supporters go right to Rick Santorum in big numbers," said Brabender.

"We are not in the business of telling people how to run their campaign," said Gidley, but he admits, "If Newt were to get out, we'd be up huge, vote-wise and delegate-wise."