George Will's column today quotes Rick Santorum on something we've come to know well from the ex-Pa senator: "Never," he says today, "underestimate the power of the social issues."

Santorum is well-known in conservative circles, appearing on Fox News and hosting Bill Bennett's radio show on Fridays, Will writes, and should not be counted out of the 2012 presidential race, despite his reelection failure in 2006:

How can he, having lost his last election, run for president? Isn't he a spent political force? Well, was Richard Nixon defunct after losing the California gubernatorial race in 1962?

Santorum is judged to be "rising" in Hotline's latest Presidential Power Rankings.