Tim Carney says that the HHS controversy helps Rick Santorum’s candidacy. Excerpt:

If this were an isolated incident, it might not mean much. But the contraception mandate is part of a pattern of Democrats using government to force religious conservatives to act against their will.

Obama took a firm stand in the budget fights of 2010 and 2011 for federal funding of Planned Parenthood, which amounted to forcing taxpayers to subsidize the nation’s largest abortion provider. As a candidate, Obama promised to sign the “Freedom of Choice Act,” which could force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions. The Obama administration has also tried to gut a legal principle known as the “ministerial exemption,” allowing religions to set their own standards for whom they employ as clergy and what conditions they place on their clergy.

The liberal news media reserve the label “culture warrior” for religious conservatives like Santorum who inveigh against societal decline and try to curb abortion. But it’s pretty clear that Obama and his fellow liberals are “culture warriors,” too, and that it’s the activists on the Left who are on the offense these days — with government as their weapon.

So, we’ve got a culture war now, and for the Right it’s not a war of choice, but of self-defense. [Emphasis mine — RD] Romney, avowedly pro-choice in past campaigns, hasn’t quite been a good soldier in this struggle. Santorum is not only a seasoned culture warrior, the issues also play to his strengths.

If the economy keeps improving, Carney argues, culture war issues become more salient. Though I generally agree with his social views, I have ignored Santorum because of his hyperhawkish foreign policy. I think a number of conservatives will take a second look at him given what we’ve learned about how the Obama administration regards religious liberty, and what the likelihood of same-sex marriage’s constitutionalization portends for religious liberty. Whatever Rick Santorum’s faults, on these issues, the man is a rock.

Take a look at the recent NYT/CBS poll. It’s astonishing how much deeper and stronger the support among Republicans is for Santorum than for Romney. Read down into the poll. Romney and Santorum both have a 50 percent favorable rating, but Romney’s unfavorables are more than twice Santorum’s. Santorum is ahead of Romney by three points in the overall national poll. And in a head to head matchup against Obama, both Republicans would lose, but Romney beats Santorum’s showing by only one percentage point — a virtual tie. To be sure, that same poll shows that voters are overwhelmingly focused on the economy, not social issues. But if GOP primary voters have a sense that the economy is improving, and polls show that Santorum has an equal chance of beating Obama, then the two practical rationales for voting Romney go out the window.

If the Right is engaged in a culture war of self-defense — and it is — then conservative voters may well ask themselves which of these two top candidates is likely to be a better fighter. That question is not hard to answer.

UPDATE: Daniel says Santorum’s past performance shows that he is kryptonite to independents.

UPDATE.2: Daniel further opines that Santorum’s better numbers reflect that he is not as well known as Romney. And he draws attention to the fascinating response in that poll in which Santorum rates far, far higher than Romney on who will do the most to help the middle class.