Does Santorum’s Dazzling Performance Help Romney?

That’s what this guy says. Santorum will take votes away from Newt. The irony might be the highest of the high points of Rick’s performance was completely discrediting Mitt on health care.

My own view: I”m not at all sure they’ll be a Santorum surge in FL. If there is, he’ll draw from both Romney and Gingrich, as I explained before. I hope Rick doesn’t pull a Huckabee by turning his authentic victory into a way of auditioning for VP. He needs to keep the heat on Romney for the good of us all—not to mention his own soul. All the experts are right that Romney’s line about the issue of health care mandates and all that isn’t worth getting angry about will haunt him.

Quick poll update: The studies don’t show that Newt is finished. He’s up 9 over Romney nationwide, and it’s worth noting that Santorum has 18% in the most recent poll. It’s true that polls also show that, even before the debate, Newt was probably toast in FL. Finally—Newt loses to Obama by 18% if the election were held today.