I’m inclined to believe this, just like Newt in 2012.
Newt? Newt wasn’t there to help Romney, but Michelle Bachmann and Santorum were.
The anti-Reagan Santorum started out as Romney’s stalking horse, and the dislike for Romney was so strong that Santorum came to think that he had a chance.
“Santorum 1990: I’m not a Reagan Republican
The Reagan line echoes Romney’s own memorable remark from his 1994 Senate campaign, when he said that he didn’t “want to return to Reagan-Bush.”
Santorum reportedly made a similar statement on a separate occasion. According to an October 28, 1990 piece in the Pittsburgh Press, the afternoon newspaper that eventually became part of the Post-Gazette, he described himself as a “progressive conservative” in his campaign manual…”
Santorum comparing Romney to Reagan, (Romney really despised Reagan and left the party because of him).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMy5J_UJw4U
Santorum was a Romney/Arlen Specter man.