What's up with Rick Santorum?

“What’s up with Rick Santorum?” I asked the women on “A Woman’s View" this week. I knew one to be a Democrat, one to be a Republican, and I wasn’t sure about the politics of the third. (I’m still not.) “A few weeks ago Santorum was all but done, and now he’s neck and neck in nearly every poll. One poll suggests his support is even more durable than Romney’s because 55 percent of his backers support him ‘strongly’ while only 38 percent of Romney’s claim to support him strongly.”

Why hasn’t Romney been able to put this away yet?

“Mitt Romney is a very good candidate,” state transportation commissioner and former chairwoman of the Utah Democratic Party, Meghan Holbrook, opined. “He’s smart. He stays on message. He’s got a fabulous family. People aren’t unhappy if you make a lot of money; they’re just unhappy if you don’t tell them you did. And, this isn’t my opinion, but what I’m hearing is that people have an authenticity problem with Mitt. Plus, they think he’s not a conservative with a capital ‘C.’ ”

So why Santorum?

“It’s not so much love for Rick Santorum, God bless him,” Holbrook said.

Have you ever noticed how you can say almost anything if you follow it immediately with “God bless him” or "bless his heart"? For instance, that guy doesn’t have the foggiest idea what he’s doing, bless his heart. That kid doesn’t have the brains of a door knob, bless his heart. That woman should not be wearing a skirt that short, bless her heart. See how it works? It’s like Southern charm added to an insult softens it into something that feels like a comment your mother might make before she tells you to put your plate in the sink.

But where was I? Oh yes, Rick Santorum. “My 80-year-old conservative mother from Tennessee keeps calling me,” Holbrook continued, “saying ‘Newt is a mess. I’m embarrassed. I like Mitt, but I feel like he isn’t telling me enough. And I like Santorum, but he’s just not ready.’ ”

Holbrook’s 80-year-old mother may sound like America, bless her heart.