Obama exploiting Santorum to destroy Romney

Say what you will about Rick Santorum, the man is a true believer. While some just talk the talk on social issues, Santorum backs it up. For example, his wife gave birth at age 48 to a child with Edwards Syndrome, which has a pretty grave prognosis. It's something that most women, particularly at that age, would have prenatal testing for this and other conditions, and the vast majority of families would have had an abortion in the Santorums' situation. Gotta at least give them props for being consistent.

This contraception fight, which has brought social issues back to the forefront, couldn't have come at a better time for Santorum. In an environment where large swaths of voters have decided to vote for the most conservative candidate possible, kicking things into the social realm massively damages Mitt Romney. It is impossible for him to run to the right of true-believer Santorum on social issues without murdering himself in the general election. How do you run to the right of someone who emphasizes his opposition to the "whole sexual libertine idea"?

I am amazed by how well the President is playing this issue. He initially came out with a more or less reasonable proposal, which was more moderate than contraception mandates in several states. He then made it even more moderate by shifting the mandate to insurance companies. But the timing of when he raised the issue played right into Santorum's hands in his fight against Romney. By raising social issues right in the middle of a contested primary season, Obama forced Romney to either cede conservative ground to Santorum or make himself unelectable in the general.

Things have degraded for Romney to the point where he is in real danger of losing Michigan, the state where he was born, where his father was a popular governor, and which he won comfortably in 2008. The rising prominence of cultural issues in the primaries helps Rick Santorum at a critical time, and he got a big assist from the President.