Daily Santorum 4/11/11

It was a good weekend for our former senator: worries about the 2012 field from fellow Republicans aside, Mr. Santorum won his first straw poll of the year down in South Carolina, proving that all those trips down there (he's visited more times than any other probable candidate) do pay off.

Better yet he was going toe-to-toe against big names Haley Barbour and Newt Gingrich. From CNN:

Santorum, who arrived early at the convention and donned a Palmetto-patterned pink tie for the day, won the straw poll with 31 percent of the 431 votes cast. Finishing second was Gingrich, who took 14 percent. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and reality television star Donald Trump tied for third at seven percent.

They were followed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at six percent.

UPDATE: Speaking of SC, Fox News may force Santorum and others to formally announce for president before taking part in their May 5 debate in Greenville.

As we know, things somehow always become scatalogical around Senator Rick. The latest comes in a stump story relayed by Politico about getting peed on while door knocking in a congressional run:

“You’ve all been there,” Santorum said to the crowd. “Tan pants, with a spot, and what do you do? Soldier on.”

“Soldier on is the message here,” he told the laughing crowd.

Speaking of former Pittsburghers, onetime PG scribe Maeve Reston covers Santorum's speech to a home-schooling convention in Santa Clara, Calif., at the end of a tour of western states by the senator. (Did we mention the guy likes to travel?)

He also carved out enough time this busy weekend to issue a statement on the averted govt shutdown, applauding conservatives for holding out for cuts.