• Danny Schwartz

First: Rick Santorum referred to President Obama as a "paper tiger." That's a bold statement, considering he's talking about the president who finally got Osama bin Laden. Everyone knows Republicans are shitty at foreign policy. I knew they were going to try to rewrite history eventually, but I didn't think it would be quite so soon.

Second: According to Daily Kos: Santorum believes he's the new Huck:

Huckabee 2008 is the model for Santorum 2012, as Santorum tries to build out a coalition from the same evangelical base that powered the former Arkansas governor to a darkhorse Iowa caucus win and on to a second place delegate finish. If they get their way, his strength in Iowa will hold him through a lesser showing in the more moderate New Hampshire primary, but then he’ll come back strong in South Carolina.

I see a couple of problems with this strategy. First, Huckabee came in a distant second in 2008, so his campaign might not be the best model. Second, Huckabee was an intensely likable candidate with crossover appeal. He succeeded on two fronts: The bigoted evangelicals who didn't want a Mormon candidate went for him, and all the Republicans who were cagey about McCain went for him, too. Problem is, Rick Santorum is by no means likable. He's only got the bigoted evangelicals in his corner, and because Republicans are obsessed with beating President Obama, those values voters probably aren't going to add up to a compelling bloc this time around. I think Santorum knows his best shot is to make a decent showing and cross his fingers for a vice presidential nod from the winner. Given Santorum's low visibility and huge Google problem, that's almost certainly not going to happen.