Daily Santorum 4/8/11

Rick Santorum, like me on the basketball court, pretty much only goes to his right. For example, on the Paul Ryan budget he's put himself out there in support of remaking the nation's entitlement system. On abortion and gay rights, well you know the drill there. So it's notable that even Santorum is not a fan of the House Republicans' negotiation tactics on the temporary measure to fund the federal government, which are down to a couple billion bucks or abortion funding (depending on who you ask). I prefer hoops, but Rick goes with a baseball metaphor more suiting the season, in a local press interview from his stop in Nevada on Thursday:

The senator said he doesn't think allowing a shutdown is wise, especially since Republicans and Democrats are only talking about mere tens of billions of dollars in potential savings.

"They're playing small ball," he said of the current GOP House tactics on the budget. "They need to fight over big things that people care about, not about $10 billion."

Santorum also told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he plans to attend any and all GOP debates in Vegas if he gets into the race and he plans on competing there.

The Schedule: Santorum is in California today for a home-schooling conference. On Saturday he has a pair of stops in South Carolina -- Greenville and Spartanburg in the "upstate" region -- before jetting to Land of the Ozarks, Missouri, to speak to yet another Lincoln Day Dinner.

Photo of Joe Beimel laying down a bunt, above, by P-G's Pete Diana.