Heck, the more I see of Santorum, I’m not sure I even prefer him over Romney. Santorum is going to scare the crap out of a large swath of the electorate in the general election.
........”Sarah Palin revealed late on Super Tuesday that she voted for Newt Gingrich in the Alaska caucuses.
After declining to reveal to a CNN reporter which 2012 candidate she voted for, Palin said in a later interview with a Fox News host that she had cast her ballot for “the cheerful one.”.......
“Who can best bust through that radical left’s kind of dispensation and desire to mistreat those who are defenseless, mistreat those who perhaps have some disadvantages by making them more beholden to government? Who best can contrast themselves from that?” she continued. “I thought who best could do that [and] my own personal opinion is, the cheerful one, is Newt Gingrich. I have appreciated what he has stood for, stood boldly for.”
Gingrich had chosen the word “cheerful” when asked in a February GOP debate to pick one word to define himself.”.....
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/73705.html
Santorum would be a much better president than Romney if we could just appoint him. I don't have any doubt that Rick is more conservative. But yeah, the real problem with Santorum is he would lose in a massive landslide and take our House majority down with him. He'd be a horrible general election candidate who would scare off nearly every moderate, indie and youn(er) voter who will consider the GOP for economic issues but be repelled by Santorum's social crusading.
Romney will likely lose narrowly. Santorum would lose in a crushing landslide. Newt gives us the best chance to change the dynamics and pull out a win.