I think there are two phrases to take away from last night's debate: 1. Romney saying "Arizona is the model" for immigration reform, a phrase that is certainly going to come back to haunt him. 2. Santorum's "Politics is a team sport, folks" which is his explanation for voting for things he says he opposes.
Well, Romney is going right at Santorum's statement last night with this attack:
"He talked about this as 'taking one for the team,'" Romney said to laughs from the crowd at the Associated Builders and Contractors National Meeting. "I wonder which team he was taking it for. My team is the American people, not the insiders in Washington."
Most of Romney's speech was devoted to bashing unions, a popular topic with the conservative business group. He mentioned Santorum's votes against the repeal of right-to-work laws, and in favor of raising the debt ceiling and the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires the federal government to pay prevailing wages for public works projects.
"I don't know if I've ever heard a politician explain in so many ways why he voted against his principles," Romney said.
This is a smart vein for Romney to exploit. The wonderful thing about running against a long serving Senator is that they have to explain their votes. And we all know that the Senate often puts one in a position to have to vote for things they don't like. But in politics, those procedural distinctions mean nothing. "Politics is a team sport, folks" is about the worst thing a Senator running for President can say.
BUT, Mitt Romney still has a problem here: He's still not explaining why conservatives should support Mitt Romney. In other words, this may give Romney a tactical skirmish to help him win out a battle next Tuesday. But what it wont do is put Santorum away for good. Or Newt for that matter. Romney has the jab and maybe some decent footwork, but he's got no knock out punch. Or even a solid left hook to the body. He can't close the deal and pull away from the pack. This attack on Santorum over his ill timed comment wont help either. He still hasn't had an Obamaesque "Final Verdict" moment.
So by the time we get to the convention, guess what Romney will STILL Be doing that late in the game: still trying to win the argument to conservatives. That's exactly where the Obama Campaign wants him.