WASHINGTON -- "A conservative and a moderate and a liberal walk into a bar. The bartender says, 'Hello Mitt!' ''

That was Rick Santorum's introduction from his SuperPAC patron, Foster Friess.

Following him to the stage of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, the former senate never mentioned Mr. Romney by name, but his remarks made the same point. Mr. Santorum reprised his argument that Mr. Romney would be a flawed general election candidate because he would not be able to present sharp contrasts with President Obama on issues from health care to the environment.

Mr. Santorum received a warm, if not tumultuous reception from the crowded ballroom. Flanked by his wife, Karen, and five of their children, he said that The Affordable Health care Act, "Obamacare,'' to Mr. Santorum and other Republicans, represents not just bad policy, but a threat to liberty.

"When government gives you rights, government can take away those rights,'' he said. "Obamacare will crush economic freedom. As a result government will own you.''

Referring to the controversial policy on contraception coverage that White House was backing down on even as he spoke, M.r Santorum said, "He's now telling the Catholic church that they are forced to pay for things that are against their tenets and teachings,'' he said. "This is not about contraception. It is about economic liberty ... it's about government control of your lives and it's got to stop.''

Turning to the Republican candidate he had bested in GOP contests in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado Tuesday, he contended that Mr. Romney would have a hard time making the same case.
"Who has supported the stepchild of Obamacare,'' he demanded, referring to the Massachusetts health care law signed by the former governor.

Mr. Santorum was the first of three GOP candidates who would address the Republican gathering Friday. Mr. Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich would follow him to the podium later. Texas Rep. Ron Paul, the winner of the CPAC straw poll for two years running, decided to skip this year's event, although his son, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, addressed the group Thursday.

No surprise here, but for the record:

Freshman US Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, made his reelection run official today. No other Republicans are in the race, but PSU professor Missa Eaton is among those challenging him on the Democratic side. (An exact list should be available next week when petitions are due.)

Kelly had $242,610 in cash at the end of the year.

Full Kelly camp statement below:

A quick Daily Santorum update this morning, reminding all Santorum watchers that he takes the spotlight at roughly 10:25 a.m. this morning at the 39th Conservative Political Action Conference in DC. It's here live at C-Span.

Things sure change for the ex Pa senator -- check out this February 2010 story from the Morning Call's Colby Itkowitz, when Santorum was testing the waters for his presidential bid and only getting 2 percent in CPAC's straw poll. Today he's surging, matching the fading Newt Gingrich at 20% in the latest national polling data from Gallup, with Mitt Romney leading at 34%.

He's now raised about $2.2 million since his 3-state sweep on Tuesday, USA Today reports, and in another show of his new status he's been going after President Obama more in his stump speech rather than Romney, according to ABC.

And in the new Fox News poll, he is second to Romney too, but in polling over the last two nights he was tied with Romney among GOP primary voters at 30%. And what do they see in him? Well, says the Atlantic, three things Romney doesn't have: an appealing personal story, backbone, and culture-war cred.

Finally, for your viewing pleasure (above) Santorum talked fracking in Oklahoma this week. The P-G's Beth Ponsot, Erich Schwartzel and (from a secure bunker somewhere in the state Capitol) Laura Olson discuss that and more in this week's In the Pipeline.

You paid for it. You shouldn’t have to pay to read it.

That’s Congressman Mike Doyle’s attitude about federally funded research.

Today he introduced legislation that would require reports generated by federally funded research projects to be made available online within six months of publication of articles in scholarly journals.

“Americans have the right to see the results of research funded with taxpayer dollars,” Mr. Doyle, D-Forest Hills said. “Such research too often gets locked away behind a pay-wall, forcing those who want to learn from it to pay expensive subscription fees for access.”

His bill would apply to federal agencies with annual research budgets of $100 million or more.

Mr. Doyle introduced similar legislation during the last session of Congress. He has been working since 2006 to ensure that taxpayers can access research they’ve paid for.