From National Review:

“That’s pretty funny for Mitt Romney to say I’m acting like a Democrat,” Santorum chuckled on ABC’s This Week.

“Mitt Romney is the author of Romneycare, which is the biggest government expansion in the history of the state of Massachusetts and was the template for Obamacare,” Santorum continued. “He’s supported cap-and-trade in Massachusetts. He was for the Wall Street bailouts. He ran to the left of Ted Kennedy in 1994.”

“You reach a point where desperate people do desperate things,” Santorum added. “He’s having trouble finding out how to go after someone who is a solid conservative.”

Whatever you think of Santorum, he’s correct. Romney is getting desperate. And for good reason.

Mittens’ main selling point was his ability to win in November. He had the infrastructure and financial support, the narrative went, to give Obama a run for his money. And when Romney was doing well in Iowa and New Hampshire that worked. Florida helped, too. Candidate after candidate fizzled. Gingrich fell back and no one really came forward.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the coronation. Romney started losing. First came South Carolina. Then Missouri. And Minnesota. And Colorado. Then he barely beat Paul in Maine. And it was confirmed he lost in Iowa after all, too. Polls now show him behind Santorum nationally and, more importantly, in Michigan — his home state.

All of this would be fine for a scrappy upstart candidate. Or even one of the Not Romneys. But not for the guy who supposedly had the infrastructure and money to beat Obama in the fall. Not for the guy who was “inevitable”. Not for Mr. Electability. Live by the argument, die by the argument.

Romney’s supporters in Congress are now questioning his election strategy. And voters are left wondering how Romney’s supposedly impressive infrastructure is going to defeat Obama in the fall if it can’t even defeat Santorum in Colorado. Or Gingrich in South Carolina. When your whole argument is based on electability and infrastructure, repeatedly losing hurts. Badly.

And Romney now has a bigger problem. The strategy he has repeatedly employed to beat back challengers — to overwhelm them with attack ads — may not work effectively against Santorum. Gingrich was easy to hate. Perry’s debate performances lent credibility to the charge of unpreparedness. These were relatively easy targets.

Santorum may be different. His favorables are comparable to Romney’s, if not higher. He reminds voters more of their pastor than a Washington insider. He’s not really wealthy or powerful. His faith is front and center, and his credentials on social issues are impeccable. He’s like the political version of a puppy. Kicking him may well draw backlash.

Besides, what’s Romney’s strongest argument against Santorum? It’s not that Santorum voted for Medicare Part D. Mitt can’t afford to remind people of transgressions against conservatism when it comes to health care. How about that Santorum once supported Sotomayor? Please, Mitt, do tell us all about the pro-abortion judges you put on the bench in Massachusetts. The fact that Santorum supports minimum wage? So does Romney.

Indeed, Romney’s main draw has never been that he’s a rock-ribbed conservative and the others are liberals. It’s that the others are just as bad as him but at least with him you’re effectively guaranteed a victory in November. If it was about ideology rather than electability he would’ve dropped out a long time ago.

But Romney is quickly losing that draw. He’s now under-performing against Obama in head-to-head polling. He’s losing purple states. His own party continues to show it doesn’t like or trust him. The economy is improving and he can’t attack Obama believably on the remaining issues. He doesn’t quite know where to go from here. And, as Santorum says, that’s left him desperate.