You know, here's the thing. Santorum won twice in PA. which means despite his very conservative views, he got moderate support.
What did him in during the 2006 cycle is he refused to apologize for the Iraq war. And even then, the Democrats had to run a conservative against him.
I really don't think Romney's problem is that he's too conservative. I think his problem is that he's phony and insincere and entitled, and that if offputting.
I also think there really are two Republican parties. One of the wealthy and business types, and one that is very working class and religously conservative. The former lives in fear the latter might actually nominate someone.
James Carville once described Pennsylvania as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia with Mississippi in the middle.
James Carville says a lot of stupid shit.
Look, I'm not a religious guy, but I think anyone who says, "You can't elect him, he's too religious!" is being a bit self-deluded. We like our guys to at least pretend they believe in talking snakes.
Look what Santorum did. No money, little media attention, he kept plugging away and nearly fought Romney to a standstill after Romney, the Super Pacs and the GOP establishment threw everything they had at him.
If his kid didn't get sick, who knows.
If the GOP follows tradition, he'd be the frontrunner in 2016, and if the Dems run Hillary, who knows what will happen.
I think the bigger strength of Santorum, is unlike Mr. Car Elevator and Mrs. Dressage Horsie, he gets what real working folks deal with.