Daily Santorum: Thank you sir, may I have another

Before we start this next column on Rick Santorum and pledges, has anyone considered what Democrats pledge to when they put their hands on the Koran? The city committee? Whatever labor unions say? The League of Women Voters?

The might of pledges (particularly to Grover Norquist) have been getting questioned for a while now, but the talk has taken off withe debt limit fight. Santorum seems to agree more than any:  not only ATR but on families/slavery, to personhood, to a balanced budget amendment drive to the Baskins-Robbins Birthday Club.

We wrote a couple days ago that it was part of his effort to prove he is more conservative than everybody else, and he defends pledging similarly in an op-ed in USA Today. They're a badge of honor:

Every candidate has heard the cynicism about politicians: "Oh, they will say one thing now, but just wait until they are elected." A lot of that is true about too many politicians and elected leaders. Pledges are our way of saying: "Not us."

I know I speak for my fellow candidates who have signed these pledges in saying it is an honor to be able to do so, because that is what a pledge is: an oath to honor our word. It shouldn't be a lot to ask for in a candidate.

Word has it this morning that Mitt Romney may cede Iowa to (fellow pledger) Michele Bachmann -- not sure what that means for RS, but maybe that frees up some oxygen in the state (where Team Santorum made a big free agent signing yesterday). The latest Iowa Mason-Dixon poll has him in the middle of the pack, right where he said he wanted to be: the poll has Bachman at 32% among likely caucusgoers, Romney 29, Pawlenty 7, Santorum 6, Ron Paul 3, Gingrich 2, Herman Cain 1, Jon Huntsman 0.

Schedule: Finished a 2-day swing through South Carolina. Here's coverage from Spartansburg and North Charleston.