Remember that Santorum was involved in the effort to have Terri given over to her family who loved her, rather than her husband, who I think killed her.
But that's not the way they will portray it. They will portray it as a right-to-die issue.
They will try to make Santorum look like an "extremist" who is against a person's right to die.
They will try to paste the "extremist" label on Santorum, against Birth Control, against, "right-to-die, etc..
Democrats will do this. Romney will do this. So will Ann Coulter.
You make a very good point and even Mike Savage is calling Santorum "sanctimonious".
But here's the thing; Santorum believes what he believes not because its good positioning but rather because he believes it to be true.
And I think because of that he can answer these attacks honestly and effectively.
His answer on women in combat is a case in point. They tried to blind side him w/ that and his answer was not rehearsed in any way but reflected a core understanding of the differences between men and women.
Naturally it pissed off the feminists, but then what doesn't.