Santorum did a much more stupid, damned thing in 2008, when he endorsed Mitt Romney.
What he said then: "I think Romney, when he decided to run, he’s a smart business guy, and he sort of got his team together and said, ‘What do I need to do to be the conservative candidate?’ and give me the checklist and see if I can check them off. And I think over the course of this campaign, you know, I saw the migration from the checklist to his head and from his head into his heart and I really believe that’s where he is today.”
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/223582/romney-santorum-2008/mark-hemingway
This will play against him in the conservative electorate, I am sure.
Why did he prefer Romney? This is the question.
Santorum is rightly attacking Romneycare in 2012, BUT supported Romney in 2008, when Mitt signed Romneycare in ... 2006! It is that more damning in 2012 than it was in 2008?
It makes no sense, for a genuine conservative candidate to have endorsed Romney. He could very well keep his mouth shut and not endorse anyone.
Well, back in 2008, people didn’t know Romney as well. I was among the Freepers who pointed out his major failings while governor of Massachusetts. But a lot of Freepers weren’t up to speed on him yet. And it was a fairly common delusion that he was an experienced businessman who could fix the economy. He was still boasting about being the man who rode in and fixed the Salt Lake City Olympics, and people were fooled by that.
It took quite a lot of doing to convince people that he was pro-gay marriage and pro-abortion, because he was saying the opposite, and his record wasn’t as widely known back then.
Anyway, there was quite a fight over Romney here in FR, with quite a few Freepers insisting that he was a good guy. So, I can understand why Rick may have spoken well of his business sense back then, and not known that he was an abortion lover.