Terry, I had forgotten that Santorum made the comments about the right to birth control not being in the Constitution in answer to a reporter’s question. That was just before Iowa and I wasn’t paying that much attention at that point to Santorum (I endorsed him immediately after). Since, after making these remarks, Santorum went on to win Iowa and a month later out-polled Romney in a national poll, I don’t think those remarks explain much about his campaign performance. Santorum kept winning states with almost no money until Romney poured the big negative ad money at him. Certainly Romney ran ads accusing Santorum of economic liberalism, not social conservatism.
Maggie Gallagher is a senior fellow at American Principles in Action.
