Steve Benen's obituary for the Santorum campaign is worth a read. A key graf:
But in a strange sort of way, I consider the Santorum campaign one of the most impressive things I've seen in presidential politics in quite a while.So why did Santorum's campaign catch fire? There are many theories but I think the reason is that Santorum's weakness was his strength. That 18 point defeat meant that Santorum went into the fight dead last and nobody felt much need to pay attention to him in the early stages. Santorum was anti-Romney of last resort, his campaign only caught fire after every other alternative to Romney had been tried and found wanting.
Putting aside his ideas, vision, values, policy positions, and agenda, much of which I find abhorrent and offensive, Santorum has done something I honestly didn't think was possible. Just six years ago, he ran for re-election in his home state and lost by 18 points, one of the most humiliating defeats for an incumbent senator in American history. When Santorum launched his presidential bid last year, it was derided as a pointless vanity exercise by, among others, me.
Santorum only ever looked like having any chance of being nominee on the days when Romney said something particularly stupid. At one point it looked as if Santorum might possibly manage to force a brokered convention and allow the party to choose a 'viable' candidate.
