If Protestantism is, as Santorum suggests, on life support, then it desperately needs revival as a belief system that recognizes the value of the unfiltered grace of God. Protestantism, indeed Christianity in general, is here to tell the world that there is something more than what we see around us and to point to transcendent truths. If the American church wants to really reach its Divine potential, it needs to elevate humanity, not by confirming itself to the secular society or forcing secular society conform to its religion, but by pointing the world to a better alternative.
If the faith community can truly embrace this calling, and it is a calling, not a prodding, it will achieve the transformation that it seeks to achieve in the hearts of Americans and people around the world.
A likely scenario:
The Protestant mainline denominational churches have already succumbed to Secular Humanism and belief in big government, the nanny state. When govt. coercion or worse hits the Catholic Church and the smaller evangelical and fundamentalist churches with full force, the smaller churches(not Catholic) , the individual pastors/preachers/reverends will have to make a decision to either have smaller congregations and risk not paying bills and closing or adjusting their message and adjusting their preaching to new cowed wider audience, to the new standard...capitulation! This will happen as most of these smaller congregations are not part of a group where the weaker congregations are being supported financially by the group.
Protestanism in the main will fold.
Of course there will always be heros and martyrs, but financial realities and being of the world and in the world dictate alot of things.
We need to start acting like the Bride of Christ rather than the Whore of Babylon - but that is true of all Christians in general not just Protestants.