IOWA — Fresh on the heels of his latest radio spot reminding voters Sarah Palin once said something nice about him, Rick Santorum is on the television airwaves here today with a new ad that asks a simple question.
“Who has the best chance to beat Obama?” the narrator says. “Rick Santorum.”
Talk to an undecided voter in Iowa, and you’ll hear a story about electabilty. All along — and through the unlikely surges of Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain and the rest — reporters have been told by Iowans that beating Obama next year is a top priority for voters here.
Santorum has been promising for a long time that he’s got the right stuff to knock Obama out of office. He points to his multiple victories in Pennsylvania — conveniently leaving out or laughing off his epic defeat in 2006 — as evidence that he can put the keystone state in the GOP column next year. (On an insider trivia note, ABC News’ Michael Falcone notes that footage from Santorum’s doomed 2006 Senate bid made it into the new ad.)
Now, on the verge of the caucuses, he’s taking that argument to the airwaves. Here’s the ad, which started running statewide in Iowa today and the Santorum campaign says will kick off in New Hampshire next week.