Santorum becomes a leading conservative voice through campaign’s resurrection

Four short months ago, Rick Santorum had hardly registered in national Republican presidential polls or made a blip in the candidate debates. People routinely asked whether he would drop out out of the race. Undaunted, he would reply that he was running the “Little Engine That Could” campaign.

But in what is perhaps the most astonishing turnaround of the 2012 political season, Santorum has, after 10 weeks of contests, all but claimed the title of leader of the conservative wing of the GOP — someone who deserves the right, at a minimum, to be a major player at the Republican National Convention and perhaps to be considered as a vice presidential nominee.

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Like no other candidate, Santorum has used his presidential bid as a vehicle for resurrection and reinvention, erasing the taint of his 18-point loss for reelection to the Senate in 2006. He has almost certainly increased his market value along the way, giving him the chance to pursue the kind of lucrative path that accompanies national name recognition should he leave politics again.

Recently, Santorum has earned the trappings of campaign success, including a motorcade and his own theme song — great progress for a candidate who once showed up to events without a microphone or sound system.

More significant, with his victories in the deep South, Santorum has cemented his connection to the party’s base of social and religious conservatives, a group that has not always embraced Catholics but has found an unwavering standard-bearer in Santorum.

“At a minimum, he is going to be a significant conservative voice on the national political landscape,” conservative activist Ralph Reed said. “For a while, he was still kind of feeling his way to find the message that would click with the voters. You could see that he was trying out lines and he wasn’t quite there yet. But before this is over, he may well be president or vice president — and that is pretty remarkable for a defeated former senator who thought his career was over.”

Rival Mitt Romney has said that he would not pick Santorum as a vice presidential running mate, saying his fiscal record is not conservative enough. And Santorum, who is still running to be at the top of the ticket does not entertain the idea.

Yet, just as Hillary Rodham Clinton’s primary triumphs in 2008 led her supporters to clamor for her as Barack Obama’s vice presidential running mate, so, too, may there be a case for Santorum on a Romney ticket, if the former Massachusetts governor wins the nomination. The case for Santorum could be especially strong if he is perceived as able to unite the party base and drive up voter turnout.

“A lot of smart people make the case for Rubio and Christie being the future of the party, but Santorum is winning primaries today, and that has to count for something,” said Dan Schnur, who worked on Sen. John McCain’s White House bid in 2000, referring to Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. “But until Romney finds a way to start convincing conservatives to vote for him, there’s no reason for Santorum to be thinking about a second spot on the ticket. It’s worth assuming that Rick Santorum went to bed Tuesday night thinking about who was going to be his running mate, rather than if he would be Romney’s.”