"Romney by virtue of organization and time and experience is logistically a front-runner," Holman said. "If Rick decides to do this, he is a credible candidate."
David Girard-DiCarlo, who served as Pennsylvania state chairman for President George W. Bush's presidential campaigns and later was appointed ambassador to Austria, said a Santorum campaign would raise Santorum's profile and allow him to push his issues.
"He's a young man in politics. It does not surprise me that he's trying to retain some currency," he said. "There are many who think his ideas are too extreme. But he gets them out there. He gets it discussed."
Girard-DiCarlo predicts that Santorum faces a looming question about why he lost to Casey: "If he didn't win Pennsylvania, how can he win the United States of America?"
"Pennsylvania is my home. It's what I care about," Santorum said yesterday, adding that he still lives in Virginia but that he would not want to win the presidency without support from the Keystone State. "I always felt really blessed to represent a state that's so diverse."
Santorum noted that he won Pennsylvania for his Senate seat in 1994 and 2000.
"I won it two times and lost it once," he said. "So the odds are two to one that I'll win it again."
Santorum said he hopes for a "conservative who can win in the fall" of 2012 if he decides not to seek the nomination. He could not say who that might be.
"I think it's way too early to tell that," Santorum said. "If I had somebody's name on the tip of my tongue, I probably wouldn't be sitting here talking to you. I think it's going to be a whole new field in 2012."
Charles Kopp, who like Girard-DiCarlo is a lawyer at Cozen O'Connor, said a Santorum candidacy could be good news or bad news for Romney. Kopp, who was Romney's state campaign chairman last year, said Santorum could lure some of the party's more conservative voters who have misgivings about Romney.
But Santorum could help split up those voters if more than one right-leaning candidate vies for the nomination.
Either way, Kopp said Santorum's direct-mail spending is a smart political move.
"I think it's a good idea for Sen. Santorum because it accomplishes two good things," Kopp said. "One, it reminds people that he is still in the political arena. And two, delivering a message and asking for money is effective because most people who make a contribution have an invested interest and their vote usually follows."
