The former Pennsylvania senator also benefited from the shifting dynamics of the race.
He may have always emphasized his blue-collar roots, but this suddenly seemed more relevant as Romney has struggled recently to defend his wealth and demonstrate empathy with the poor. Santorum, by contrast, has made helping the impoverished a key part of his campaign and doubled down on that emphasis as Romney flailed.
Early in the campaign, Santorum seemed out of step with the times when he launched his candidacy on a message of social conservatism, arguing that the country’s financial problems were inextricably linked to its sagging marriage rates and the number of children born out of wedlock.
Then last week, the Obama administration’s guidelines requiring many religious institutions to cover contraception as part of employee health insurance galvanized conservatives, who view the decision as a breach of religious liberty. The controversy handed Santorum, a conservative Catholic, a tailor-made campaign issue, even after the Obama administration revised its rules Friday.
Santorum’s embrace of social issues has been a stealth benefit in the primary because those issues galvanize grass-roots voters, said Ralph E. Reed Jr., a longtime Republican operative and founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition.
“The upper echelon of the party, the givers and bundlers, tend to be Chamber of Commerce Republicans. But the grass roots of the party, they’re primarily driven by cultural and social issues,” Reed said. “The message and the raison d’etre of the Santorum candidacy could be summed up in one sentence: The way to have a strong economy is to have strong marriages and families.”
Santorum also has managed to finesse his reputation as a testy and self-righteous “culture warrior,” cultivated over 16 years in Congress. His persona has evolved over the course of the campaign into something softer and humbler — at least to conservative voters, who see in Santorum an earnest and passionate believer in their causes. At house parties and town hall meetings, Santorum has lingered long after the events to answer questions and pose for pictures.
As his rivals focused their attacks on one another in Nevada, Santorum used the opportunity to condemn the infighting — and campaign elsewhere. And when opponents mocked his sweater vest as a garment of a bygone era, Santorum turned it into an emblem of his campaign.
Recent polls show that he has become better known and better regarded since June — his favorability rating among Republican voters was a solid 52 percent in a January Washington Post-ABC News poll. He performs well among voters for whom social issues are critical and those who believe “strong moral character” is the most important candidate attribute.
“I think part of his likability, especially within the Republican right, is based on the perception that he is earnest, that he believes what he says,” said Chris Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., who has followed Santorum’s campaign. “You wrap that all up in a sweater vest and you’re the Mister Rogers of the Republican primary.”
Polling analyst Scott Clement contributed to this report.
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