Daily Santorum: Don't Worry, GOP

Since Mitch Daniels decided not to get into the presidential race, some Republicans -- in smoke-filled rooms, we imagine -- have expressed concern about the supposedly weak field. The New York Times' Matt Bai, in a smart column this morning, is here to tell the GOP to turn that frown upside down. Barring a late entry from Sarah Palin, Rick Perry or the chance that "maybe Ronald Reagan is actually frozen, like Ted Williams’s head, and is thawing out for a return engagement," the field is pretty set, Bai writes. And it's not too shabby, when you consider the solid track records of governors running for president and the varied experiences of former guvs Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty and Jon Huntsman -- not to mention their desire for the gig:

You can’t really blame Republican power brokers who are pining for a more exciting entry to the race. They feel about this crop of willing candidates a little like any teenage girl would feel about the nice-enough guy who begs her to go to the prom six months out. All that availability just isn’t very attractive. Surely there’s some more popular kid who will come calling if you just hold out a little longer and drop some hints.

But if history tells us anything, it’s that you’re always better off with the small-time or flawed candidate who really, desperately, wants to be president than with a more imposing or romantic figure who has to be persuaded to run. (Just ask President Wes Clark about that, or President Fred Thompson.) Democrats, you may recall, once dreamed of Mario Cuomo and had to settle, instead, for some yokel named Bill Clinton.

Bai mentions Our Rick Santorum only in passing, among the gang "vying to create a viable insurgency." But if Romney is the nondescript guy who asked you out to the prom six months ago, Rick is the star of the school musical who isn't going to turn himself into a jock or change his views on universal health care just to impress you. He's just going to keep being the Hardest Working Man in Show Business.

Santorum was touring Florida on Tuesday -- while Pawlenty also was working the likely fifth state in the primary line -- and also picking up more endorsements in New Hampshire. The Union-Leader notes that the nod from Hillsborough County Attorney Dennis Hogan is significant, as Hogan becomes the first county attorney in the state to offer an endorsement:

Hogan becomes one of the biggest names Santorum has picked up to date. County officers, such as county commissioners, county attorneys, county treasurers and sheriffs, run grassroots-oriented campaigns and generally build closely-knit networks.

The Schedule: Still in Florida, with a couple of radio interviews and a speech for the Sarasota Republican Party's "Presidential Contender Series."