à Santorum News Today

We have a front runner in mitt romney, still most likely the nominee. he has a ceiling on his support. florida, he was able to shatter that. and its possible that going forward, unlike on the three states on tuesday, if he spends the money he did in florida, last tuesday will just be like a bad dream for him. but its also possible that santorum can keep this going and finally be at the right moment a musical chairs, the guy who sat down at the right time when the music sto music stopped. >> here...

Has he? >> he talked a little more personal today. this is a brand new speech for him. it was not his normal speech. he took on directly his massachusetts record. first, we pride ourselves in trying to be able to read the room at an event like this. i dont think either of them had a performance thats dramatically going to change the race, which is headed towards michigan in a couple weeks. santorum was very good. i thought he could have been better. romney was pretty good for this audience. hes ...

His closest opponent it gingrich. santorum, a distant third. look at the numbers for the last two days. wednesday of thursday of this week shows santorum surging, doubling his vote practically, and gingrich collapsing. look at the numbers on the right. santorum is now tied at 30% with mitt romney and gingrich is, again, a distant third. david corn, this is stunning. it shows -- what a boring word -- volatility. this guy wins three primaries and the entire people of the country are like lemmings....

Perfect issue to play to his social conservative base. here he is, santorum, talking about the president today and the recent controversy with the catholic church over contraception. lets watch. >> hes now telling the catholic church that they are forced to pay for things that are against their basic tenants and teachings. against their first amendment right. this is the kind of coercion we can expect. its not about contraception. its about economic liberty. its about freedom of speech. its abou...

Defense clearly? >> that falls into the category of trying too hard. severely conservative? he called himself a moderate and progressive when he ran for senate. if you watch santorums çátqq(r they said we conservatives. when santorum said that, it felt real. when romney said it, it felt defensive. he had to explain why he was a conservative. santorum got out there and said were conservatives. we dont like the health care bill. we dont like the government. and it was authentic. it was integrat...

Welcome back to "hardball." two highly-anticipated speeches today here in washington at cpac. while mitt romney played defense on his credentials, rick santorum seemed to revel in the social issues. lets listen to santorum and then romney. >> we hear those same voices today that we have to learn our lesson. that we need to compromise, do whats politically reasonable and go out and push someone forward who can win. i think we have learned our lesson. and the lesson we have learned is that we will...

Opposed to his position. while republicans wage war on him and the catholic bishops are not happy about the deal yet, it was a good day for the president. thats our top story tonight. plus whats the damage report from this hard fight? well ask the "hardball" strategists. also look at mitt. here comes rick. mitt romney and rick santorum address cpac today. mitt said all the right things, but many conservatives suspect hes just mouthing the words. santorum, on the other hand, sounds like someone...

About getting more votes, defeating barack obama is only one step towards our ultimate goal of saving america. [ applause ] >> of course, we can defeat barack obama. thats the easy part. believe me, november 6th will be theç easiest day our next president is going to face. >> newt gingrich also gave a fiery speech just moments ago. theres a new poll out that shows santorum surging nationally. catch this. what kind of momentum does he have going into the next few weeks? mark halperin was in the...