海角大神

Rick Santorum had a reason for endorsing Mitt Romney late at night, in the 13th paragraph of an e-mail to supporters.

鈥淲e decided to put it out late at night so it would be sort of the first thing people would see in the morning,鈥� the ex-presidential candidate told Jay Leno on 鈥淭he Tonight Show鈥� Tuesday night. The endorsement had gone out at 11 o'clock the night before.

Besides, Mr. Santorum joked, it wasn鈥檛 really all that late. 鈥淲e have seven kids so we don鈥檛 sleep,鈥� laughed the former Pennsylvania senator, wearing his trademark sweater vest. (He gave Mr. Leno one, too.) 聽

Why was the endorsement 鈥渒ind of buried,鈥� as Leno put it, in the e-mail to supporters? Because, in essence, the message was about him, not Mr. Romney.

鈥淭his was a letter to my supporters 鈥� who were for me 鈥� to say, 鈥榃ell, here鈥檚 now why I think we should rally around Mitt Romney and support him,鈥� " Santorum said.

Leno reminded Santorum that he had once called Romney 鈥渢he worst Republican鈥� to take on President Obama. Santorum said he was referring specifically to 鈥淥bamacare,鈥� the health-care reform based on Romney鈥檚 fix of the Massachusetts system when he was governor. Leno defended 鈥淩omneycare,鈥� saying people in his native state seemed happy with it 鈥� and asked Santorum how he鈥檇 feel if all the states put in place similar reforms, given conservative support for states鈥� rights.

Santorum: 鈥淐an you imagine what 鈥楾he Tonight Show鈥� would look like if the government ran 鈥楾he Tonight Show鈥�?鈥�

Leno: 鈥淚 see what it looks like with NBC running it!鈥�

Leno also asked why Republicans, known for promoting strong defense and fiscal policy, now focus so much on cultural issues, which he called 鈥渄iversions.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 the culture, it鈥檚 not the economy,鈥� Santorum said. 鈥淭he culture matters. Look at every great civilization. They don鈥檛 fail because a foreign power overtakes them. Oh, ultimately a foreign power destroys them, but they were all destroyed before the foreign power took them over. They were falling, they were failing as a culture.鈥�

鈥淭he economy 鈥� yeah, it鈥檚 important,鈥� he added. 鈥淏ut the culture is what holds people together.鈥�

Perhaps this was a hint at Santorum鈥檚 next step? In his e-mail to supporters, he had promised a 鈥渂ig announcement鈥� soon 鈥� one that will involve asking them 鈥渢o once again join forces with me to keep up the fight, together.鈥�

Santorum is best known as a culture warrior. The socially liberal Leno peppered him with questions about gay adoption and teen contraception. Santorum happily stood his ground. But he made clear he doesn鈥檛 think the government should ban all things he personally believes are wrong, such as contraception and smoking.

鈥淪o a gay couple smoking with a contraceptive would be the worst thing,鈥� Leno quipped.

鈥淗eaven forbid!鈥� Santorum laughed.