Any Republican candidate is going to be attacked nonstop by the MSM and the Washington establishment. Santorum is not a MSM celebrity. He has never had liberals support him against another Republican candidate. If he does well in the primaries it will be in spite of not because of the MSM and the experts.
If he can remain strong and explain how the Obama Administration is destroying the country the MSM will continually ridicule and attack him but he will survive and win.