Bachmann: Santorum win 'shot across the bow'

Rick Santorum's trio of wins in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado can be attributed to a renewed focus on social issues, Santorum's one-time rival Rep. Michele Bachmann said Wednesday.

Speaking on CNN's "John King, USA," Bachmann said the surprise victories Tuesday were a "shot across the bow" for the GOP.

"I think what we saw is that the voters haven't made up their mind yet on who the Republican nominee should be," Bachmann said. "But really the biggest signal that was sent is that Barack Obama is in big trouble."

Bachmann said Minnesota's contest was the first in the 2012 election cycle where voters zeroed in on social issues given the swirl of attention on new rules from the federal government requiring employers, including religious institutions, to include contraception in their health insurance plans.

"This was the first social issue election that we've had so far, that's what you saw in Minnesota," Bachmann said. "That's what you saw in Missouri and Colorado. You saw social conservatives weigh in a big way for the first time and I think it's because of Barack Obama's policies."

She added, "I think one thing that we're seeing is that the issues of the day are really driving these elections. The Republican party has always been a three legged stool. We're a party the believes in strong national defense, strong fiscal conservative policy, and also strong social policy. What you saw last night was the social conservatives wing of our party saying 'We are very concerned about this issue.'"

Parsing out the remaining candidates, Bachmann said each appealed to a certain type of Republican voter, but that having them all in the race was causing the party to divide into blocs.

"I think each of these candidates represents part of our party and that's why we have to come together and have unity. We are seeing tremendous factionalization."