It appears that Rick Santorum might be getting more competition for that religious right vote. CBS News is reporting that Roy Moore, the former Alabama supreme court justice who erected a Ten Commandments monument outside the courthouse, is coveting his neighbors' political race and is looking to mount a presidential run. (For the record, that is Charlton Heston above, not Moore.) That would certainly intrude on the space Santorum and Mike Huckabee are looking to occupy in the crowded presidential field.

Santorum has long been a favorite of the anti-abortion crowd, and we told you yesterday about his comments connecting the Social Security crisis with abortion. Friend of the Blog Colby Itkowitz at the Allentown Morning Call did some numbers crunching to show that particular comment didn't exactly square with reality:

Here's some rough math: About 1.2 million abortions are performed in the United States each year, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which promotes sexual and reproductive health. If each person earned $60,000 a year and paid a Social Security tax of 6.5 percent, that's $4.6 billion a year. If you double it for the employer's share, that's $9.4 billion a year. In 2010, Social Security paid $695 billion in benefits.

The AP had other news from his New Hampshire appearance, in a story Santorum tweeted to his followers this morning, particularly concerning Santorum's daughter's illness that kept him off the trail in Iowa last weekend. Santorum said Isabella will factor into his presidential decision -- but her influence could push him to run as much as it would push him to stay home:

“It actually weighs in my mind both ways,” he said. “Obviously she’s fragile, we don’t know how long we’re going to have her and we appreciate every day we do have her. She’s a great blessing.”

On the other side, he said, “I look at how society looks at little children like Bella.”

A high percentage of children with trisomy 18 are aborted, Santorum said, and many who are born with that and similar conditions aren’t given appropriate care, particularly in countries with socialized medicine.

“These children are simply denied care because they don’t have long life expectancies; they’re not seen as useful economic units,” he said. “In one respect, I feel like I have to go out and fight for people, for children like Bella, and for the dignity of human life irrespective of their economically productive ability. I think Bella’s had a great impact on many, many people.”

Santorum also backed off those Social Security/abortion comments somewhat with the AP, saying he agreed with the radio caller that such an argument can be made, but he doesn't plan to push it.

The Schedule: A couple of New York City radio interviews today. According to a newly released schedule, Santorum will be in Texas tomorrow and South Carolina on Saturday.

Polling: Gallup, via The Hill, shows Santorum's "positive intensity score" slipping slightly among Republicans in the past couple months. In the No. 1 slot, consistently, is Huckabee.