Over the weekend, a New York Times reporter asked Rick Santorum about his statement that Mitt Romney is "the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama." Santorum got very mad, and even—gasp!—swore.

This is a man who's losing it. His eyes are bulging, his voice gets really whiny, and he looks like he could be on the verge of a massive coronary. And I guess that's understandable. He's tired, he's got to realize that he doesn't really have a chance at seizing the nomination, he feels like the whole world is against him, and the party is about to go for a man who he personally loathes. But even Santorum's explanations of his hissy-fit are bad politics. First, according to USA Today, this morning, Santorum said he...

"...had enough of you know what" and called it a "harassing moment."

"If you haven't cursed out a New York Times reporter during the course of a campaign, you're not really a real Republican," Santorum said.

The Santorum campaign also sent out a fundraising e-mail this morning that crows " I didn't let [the New York Times reporter] bully me." He's framing this all wrong. Rather than claiming to be under attack from a Romney/Liberal Media Alliance, Santorum seems dead set on positioning himself as a bullied little boy on a playground who stands up to the man old bully. While the persecution complex plays well with white American evangelicals, it won't play to a larger audience. Every time he whines about bullying or harassment, he makes himself smaller and smaller. This is a campaign in rapid decline.