While a much cited Public Religion Research Institute poll last week showed that a majority of Catholics sided with Obama on the contraception mandate issue, what is important for the purposes of the GOP primary that only 28 percent of Republicans agreed that religiously affiliated colleges and hospitals should be required to offer health plans that covered contraception at no cost. (Sixty-three percent of Democrats supported the requirement.) Daniel Fox, research director at PRRI agrees Santorum has been the beneficiary of extraordinary good luck. He told me, “Santorum has been able to take advantage of the pivot toward culture issues. He is a true believer with positions that resonate with social conservatives; he has been their champion. So that has paid off. Also, the fact that the economy has improved also advantages Santorum because that was Romney’s argument. When you take…away [economic stewardship] then what does Romney have left?”…

Of all the issues the author of “RomneyCare” does not want on the front burner, there are none more toxic for him among the GOP base than reproductive rights and health-care mandates. Obama’s mandate for free contraception manages to wrap both of those up tidily as a potent reminder to GOP voters of what makes them balk at Romney.

Santorum, on the other, has a pristine record on both of these issues. Furthermore, his public position on contraception is eminently reasonable no matter how liberals try to paint him as a misogynist caveman. Wednesday night, Santorum told CNN’s Piers Morgan that while he personally opposes contraception based on the teachings of the Catholic Church, that “it should be available.” He pointed out that he had voted for contraception funding domestically and internationally and said he “would not support any law that would prevent that.”