Continuing your minute-by-minute coverage of the apparent Rick Santorum-Sarah Palin spat: After speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference today in Washington, Santorum said he has “had exchanges” with Palin, through an intermediary, though he wouldn’t reveal details of their correspondence.

“There is no problem between Sarah Palin and me on that issue,” he said.

The hullabaloo around Santorum here is much bigger than it was a year ago, when he spoke on a sleepy Saturday morning and moved unencumbered by media. This time, a large news media scrum greeted him when he left the stage and television cameras followed him as he signed autographs for well-wishers.

His speech carried the typical Santorum highlights of not forgetting about the social issues and a trumpeting of “American exceptionalism,” but it was notable for its emphasis on foreign policy.

Santorum sharply criticized Obama for failing to come to the aid of Iranian protesters last year while supporting Egypt’s this year, even though Iran is a foe and Egypt is an ally.

“What message are we sending to other countries that when things get tough we walk away and to our enemies that when things get tough, we’ll be on your side?” Santorum said. “This is not a policy that’s going to add to the security of our country.”