Down in the polls to Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum is up with tough new TV ad in Wisconsin, which shows President Obama's face morphing into Romney's.

The script:

“I’m Rick Santorum and I approve this message.

Female narrator: "What if I told you this man’s big government mandated healthcare included $50 abortions and killed thousands of jobs?

Would you ever vote for him? What if I told you he supported radical environmental job killing cap and trade and the Wall Street bailouts?

And what if I told you he dramatically raised taxes and stuck taxpayers with a $1 billion shortfall? 

One more thing: What if I told you the man I’m talking about isn’t him?

[picture morphs from Obama to Romney]

It’s him.

*** UPDATE *** The Romney campaign issues this response: “Rick Santorum is attacking pollsters, attacking reporters and attacking Mitt Romney. It is sad to see him completely lose his bearings and revert to patently false claims. Senator Santorum is at a point of desperation that he will say or do anything. It is pretty clear that he is lashing out at everyone around him in order to prop up his sinking campaign.”

WASHINGTON -- Rick Santorum used the start of oral arguments over President Obama's health-care law on Monday as an opportunity to pounce on his top rival for the Republican presidential nomination.

Standing outside the Supreme Court here, Santorum quickly pivoted from his opposition to the law being discussed in the stately courthouse behind him to an aggressive contrast with Mitt Romney.  The former Pennsylvania senator repeated one of his often-used critiques of Romney, calling him "uniquely disqualified" to face off against Obama because of the similarities between the law being debated today and one that Romney signed as governor of Massachusetts.

"There's one candidate who is uniquely disqualified to make the case,” Santorum said. “It's the reason I'm here, and he's not -- the reason that I talk about ‘ObamaCare’ and its impact on the economy and fundamental freedoms and Mitt Romney doesn't. It's because he can't, because he supported government-run health care as governor of Massachusetts."

Santorum used the backdrop of the Supreme Court's west entrance, where a security detail steered him through a crush of reporters hastily gathered for the press conference.  Advocates of the health law - who vastly outnumbered opponents outside the courthouse during the opening day of arguments – chanted, “Health care is a right!" at points during Santorum's address.

The setting was fitting for Santorum's frequently touted message.  On the campaign trail, he often calls the 2010 health-care law "the most important issue of the day." Repealing the law has been a top priority for Republican voters this primary, and today, Santorum called himself the only person able to do it.

"There's only one candidate that has a chance of winning the Republican nomination who can make this the central issue, that will be a winning issue for us to win the presidency back, and that's Rick Santorum,” Santorum said. “And unfortunately the worst person to make that case is Mitt Romney.”

The fiery rhetoric Santorum has used against his top rival has, at times, caused controversy on the stump. The most recent case happened on Sunday in Franksville, Wisc., when the GOP hopeful called Romney "the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama."

Pressed by reporters about the comments after the event, Santorum lashed out, accusing the media of "distorting" his words and calling questions about his remarks "bull----."

Asked about it today, Santorum did not apologize for the profanity.

"I don't regret taking on a New York Times reporter who was out of line," he said. The campaign is now using the confrontation as a fundraising appeal.

Santorum took a break from campaigning in Wisconsin to visit the nation's capitol, even though he is not on the ballot here for the April 3 primary. His efforts in the coming days will largely be in the Badger State, where he is struggling to keep pace with Romney. 

Romney and the pro-Romney Super PAC Restore Our Future are outspending Santorum and allies nearly 10-to-1. Red, White, and Blue Fund today placed a $305,000 ad buy, but that brings the totals to $3 million for Romney to $340,000 for Santorum.

Santorum has remained dismissive of delegate math that has him far behind Romney. In response to a question about the electoral hurdles he faces, Santorum mocked top Romney surrogate John Sununu.

"I heard Governor Sununu say today that all of the significant people have said that Rick Santorum should get out of the race,” Santorum said. “Well, I guess we'll have to leave it to the insignificant voters of America in the remaining primaries to step forward and challenge the significant people who are speaking here in Washington, D.C.”

*** UPDATE *** Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams sends along this response:

"Senator Santorum is becoming increasingly shrill as his campaign hopes fade. It's important that all Republicans keep their focus on President Obama because if we want to repeal Obamacare we need to defeat him first. Obamacare is bad policy and bad law and when Mitt Romney is president he will get rid of it."

TOPEKA, Kansas -- As he aims to frame the GOP nominating contest as a "two-man race," an aggressive Rick Santorum on Friday attacked rival Mitt Romney as untrustworthy and politically moderate at his core.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we already have one president who doesn’t tell the truth to the American people," he told a crowd of about 250 supporters at a railroad station-turned-museum in Topeka.  "We don’t need another nominated by our party to do the same."

Santorum, seeking a strong showing in upcoming Southern primary contests, accused Romney of planning a swift move away from conservative principles if he wins the nomination.

"The Romney campaign can’t wait to get out of this primary," he said. "Guess why? They can start tacking to the middle now, start getting back in the comfort zone."

In his critique, Santorum zeroed in on Romney's backing of mandated health care coverage during his tenure as Massachusetts governor. Romney says he never advocated for such a requirement on a national level, while Santorum pointed to several recently uncovered video clips as evidence to the contrary.

"Washington insider Rick Santorum is lashing out at Mitt Romney because he can’t accept the fact that it’s nearly impossible for him to win the number of delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination," Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul responded, pointing out Santorum's statement in a recent debate that he "took one for the team" in helping pass bipartisan legislation. "This is yet another case of Sen. Santorum abandoning principle for his own political advantage."

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback made an appearance at the Topeka rally, standing in the back of the audience clad in a sweater vest - a garment frequently worn by the presidential hopeful. Brownback told reporters that his presence was no endorsement but was merely intended to show support for the GOP candidates appearing in the state; he also made a stop at an event held by Ron Paul earlier in the day.

Despite a strong performance expected in this weekend's caucuses in Kansas, Santorum's path to victory over Romney remains hazy. 

But Santorum was cheery about that possibility on Friday.

"You know the other day Governor Romney was going through the math of all the delegates and said it would take an act of God for Rick Santorum to get all of the delegates he would need," he said. "Well, I don’t know about him, but I believe in acts of God."

Completing a two-day Southern swing that wrapped up in Newt Gingrich's home state of Georgia, Rick Santorum predicted Thursday that he will win or place in each of next week's primary contests. 

"We're going to do well in every state," he told supporters at an Atlanta-area rally in an airplane hangar. "First or second, every state, right?"

(Of course, as readers and Twitter followers remind, Santorum isn't on the ballot in Virginia -- just Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are.)

The former Pennsylvania senator leads by a wide margin in Tennessee, where he campaigned yesterday, while Gingrich bests him by double digits in the Peach State. 

He implored Georgians to take his side in the state, hinting that a vote for Gingrich would ultimately be a boost to "moderate"  Romney, whom he says would follow in the footsteps of failed general election candidates like Bob Dole and John McCain. 

"Georgia needs to be a part of transforming this race," he said. "The good people in this race, people I admire, but this race is narrowing down and we need the people of Georgia to stand with the conservative to make sure that the Washington establishment doesn't again give us another moderate Republican who will not motivate our country and who will lose this election in the general election." 

Santorum also took aim at Romney for what critics called a high-speed flip-flop yesterday on the so-dubbed Blunt amendment, a measure pegged to the controversy over federal funding for mandated contraception coverage. 

After telling an Ohio radio host that he was "not going there" on an issue he said should be made by families, Romney's team quickly clarified that their candidate did support the bill and that he had been confused by the wording of the question that prompted his answer. 

Santorum appeared unconvinced by that explanation, telling supporters that "after [Romney's] consultants talked to him and then he came back, ‘Oh,' he said, ‘I didn't understand the question.'  Well, maybe he did and maybe he didn't." 

The Blunt measure narrowly failed in the Senate today. 

*** UPDATE *** The Romney campaign passes along this response: “Washington insider Sen. Santorum’s ‘gut reaction’ is to ‘take one for the team’ instead of standing up for what he says he believes in," Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said. "Rick Santorum plays for Team Washington, while Mitt Romney’s team is the American people.”

While Rick Santorum's positions on social issues and religion have been getting plenty of attention, President Barack Obama's campaign team took specific aim today at his economic policies, discussing both Santorum and Mitt Romney's plans for tackling the deficit. 

The conference call with reporters was one of the first times that Team Obama has taken explicit aim at Santorum and placed him at the same level as chief rival Romney. Obama backers alleged that both Romney and Santorum's tax cut and defense spending proposals would actually add trillions to the national debt over 10 years. 

Campaign economic advisor and Harvard professor Jeffrey Liebman estimated that Romney's proposals to boost both corporate tax cuts and defense spending -- plus relatively muted spending cuts -- would raise the deficit to at least 6 percent of GDP in 2016. He said the same number could be as high as "7, 8, 9 percent of GDP" for Santorum. 

Obama's proposal, his team says, would reduce the deficit to just 3 percent of GDP in the same year. That's in comparison to a current CBO "alternative scenario" -- which assumes the extension of the Bush tax cuts -- that would put the deficit at 5 percent of GDP in 2016.

On the call, campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt declined to re-address the recent controversy over Santorum's "theology" comments, saying that the campaign responded to it over the weekend. 

(LaBolt last week called Santorum's comment "the latest low in a Republican primary campaign that has been fueled by distortions, ugliness, and searing pessimism and negativity.")

"What's clear is that Sen. Santorum is focused on issues that divide Americans rather than the issues that the American people are focused on right now, which is who's going to restore our economic security for the middle class and who's going to create jobs now," he added today.

*** UPDATE *** The Romney campaign sends along this response: "President Obama is in no position to criticize Mitt Romney's proposals to cut taxes and restore fiscal responsibility," spokesman Ryan Williams said. "After all, this is the President who just proposed the largest tax increase in American history and has given us four straight trillion-dollar budget deficits.  Middle-income Americans have been crushed by the Obama economy and millions of American workers have just given up looking for work.  This was the president who told us that if he didn't fix the economy in three years, he'd be looking at a one term proposition.  It's time to collect."

As was pointed out in First Read this morning, Mitt Romney won the state where his father served as governor by only nine percentage points, coming up with 39% of the vote compared to John McCain's 30%. (That's 338,316 votes for Romney.) Mike Huckabee came in third place with 16% of the vote in the state.

And here's a little more on Romney's Michigan performance, according to the exit polls.

Let's start with a telling data point: Among the 42% of GOP primary voters who said said that "Romney's ties to Michigan" were "important," 58% backed him. But among those who said home state connection was "not important," only 23% said they voted for him.

Romney performed well among a wide range of demographics in 2008. He won a plurality of born-again evangelicals, beating out Baptist preacher Huckabee. He beat McCain fairly soundly with voters both with and without a college degree. And he won all income brackets, except for those earning less than $30,000 a year.

But one data point that might not make Boston smile was his performance among voters -- about a third of the electorate -- who said that their top criterion for picking a candidate was that he "says what he believes." McCain trounced Romney on that measure by 19 points.

He did soundly win GOP voters most concerned that their nominee "shares my values" (44%). And Romney cleaned up among voters most concerned with "electability," although only 5% of Michigan GOP primary voters in 2008 said electability was the top quality they were looking for.

Romney's best performance was in the Detroit area and surrounding suburbs, with his highest win percentage in Oakland County (47%), where all three auto manufacturers have a strong presence. He also broke the 40% support threshhold in the Traverse City area.

His worst performance was in the sparsely populated Upper Penninsula. In Iron -- his weakest county -- he won just 20% of the vote, versus McCain's 39%.

There's chatter today that some Democrats may vote in the state's "open" primary to make mischief. For what it's worth, 7% of those voting in the 2008 Michigan GOP primary identified themselves as Democrats, and McCain won 41% of those voters compared with Romney's 33%. (There was a contemporaneous Democratic primary going on in 2008, but neither Obama nor John Edwards was on the ballot due to wrangling over the primary date.)

While Republicans continue to wrangle over exactly who they should pick as their flagbearer against the Democratic incumbent in the White House, President Barack Obama's re-election team is arming itself against the GOP's arguments against granting him a second term. 

In a move reminiscent of Team Obama's 2008's "Fight the Smears" effort, the president's re-election campaign today launched its "Truth Team" along with three independent web sites offering opposition research and talking points for the president's backers on the ground. 

The "network of supporters" has its hub at Obama's re-election web portal, which contains links to three individual sites. AttackWatch.com monitors the GOP 2012 candidates' slams of the administration's record; KeepingHisWord.com offers examples of Obama's fulfilled campaign promises; and KeepingGOPHonest.com critiques Republican presidential candidates' proposals with opposition research.

In addition to offering new online and social media tools for Obama fans, today's exercise also serves as an initial run for the localized rapid-response infrastructure that will activate "validators" in swing states who can quickly respond to Republican attacks in person-to-person meetings and local media markets. 

Press conferences to unveil the "truth teams" -- groups of between five and 15 state legislators and other opinion leaders -- are being held in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, and Virginia. Teams are also being announced in Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. 

In Florida, for example, state Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith, as well as five state legislators, will hold a 4:30 pm press conference in Tallahassee to unveil their team. In Minnesota, it's a team of over a dozen that includes the mayor of Minneapolis, the DFL party chair, and civil-rights figure Dr. Josie Johnson. In Arizona, local leaders will also use the "Truth Team" announcement to bracket Mitt Romney's visit to the 2012 swing state -- where Team Obama is expected to open its fourth field office soon. 

Those teams will be augmented by local leaders, voters, and labor and interest group voices, the campaign says. The effort is designed to deploy a multi-tiered supporter network that can counter GOP criticisms of the president from statehouses to neighborhoods. 

In an email to supporters, deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter called it "the grassroots communications team of the Obama 2012 campaign."

"Communicating about the president's record -- and that of our opponents -- is what I do full-time," Cutter writes. "But people don't just want to hear from campaign statements or ads -- they want to hear from the family and friends they trust."

WASHINGTON, DC -- Wild applause for talk of "gutter politics," flat taxes, and "stupid people who are ruining America."

Time to party like it's 9-9-9.

Former presidential candidate and current rock-star-reception recipient Herman Cain addressed a packed hotel ballroom at the conservative CPAC conference Thursday, encouraging the audience to back his famed 9-9-9 plan and explaining his rationale for exiting the 2012 contest.

"There were two reasons I dropped out of the race," Cain said. "Gutter politics. And, No. 2, I chose to put family first."

Invoking the biblical tale of the underdog, Cain added: "And in making that decision, I knew that we together could change Washington, DC from the outside and from the bottom up, even if your David didn't make it to the White House."

Cain later said that he did not regret his decision, one that came after weeks of scrutiny for accusations of sexual harassment from numerous alleged victims, because "there is more than one way to skin a cat."

The onetime pizza executive mainly used his remarks to plug his 9-9-9 tax plan, urging conservatives to get federal candidates to "adopt" the idea before winning office.

And he touted his support for one such candidate, "Joe the Plumber," who is running for Congress in Ohio this cycle.

Cain, like earlier CPAC speaker Rick Perry, did not mention Newt Gingrich, the candidate whom both former candidates endorsed after exiting the race.

But he did repeat one of his most popular refrains from his brief tenure as a presidential front-runner.

"We need another revolution in this country! It won't be bombs and bullets, not this time. It will be brains and balance at the ballot box."

"We must outsmart the liberals! We must outsmart the stupid people who are trying to ruin America!" Cain said to raucous cheers. "We outnumber the stupid people. Trust me. I counted em!"

And he promised to stay in the spotlight.

"A lot of people thought that after the character assassination that was launched against me, that Herman was going to shut up and sit down and go away," he said. "Ain't gonna happen."

President Obama personally signed off on his campaign's decision to actively encourage donations to Democratic Super PAC Priorities USA, according to senior campaign officials who spoke on a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning.

But an official would not characterize the tone of Obama's agreement to back a policy that is at odds with his previous vocal opposition to the Citizens United decision that allows Super PACs to solicit unlimited donations.  

Conversations among top advisers about the need to "lend support" to the outside fundraising effort have been going on for "weeks," and the decision was made after a review of FEC filings from the Super PAC committees supporting the GOP presidential candidates, officials said. 

As a result of the decision, some White House officials, campaign aides, and cabinet members will appear at Priorities USA events to "amplify [Obama's] message" but will not directly solicit donations. The president, First Lady, and vice president will not attend any Priorities USA events, however. 

The campaign said Tuesday that it will not encourage donations to a related 501(c)4 organization that does not disclose its donors to the FEC as the Priorities USA SuperPAC will. 

The reversal opens Obama -- who has long bemoaned the influx of money into the political process -- to accusations of hypocrisy as his campaign now hopes to lure big donors to the fundraising body founded by former White House aide Bill Burton. 

Officials maintain that the decision "not to unilaterally disarm" by rejecting Super PACs is simply a response to the millions expected to be spent by GOP interests to fight Obama's re-election. 

"We can't afford hundreds of millions of dollars by corporate special interests on the air drowning out our message, while we're fighting hand-to-hand on the ground," said one official. 

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC -- Just over five months after his campaign began, Texas Gov. Rick Perry today exited the presidential race and endorsed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

"I know when it's time to make a strategic retreat, so I will leave the trail and return home to Texas and wind down my 2012 campaign organization," the governor said in a cramped hotel ballroom here at a hastily-called press conference.

"As I have contemplated the future of this campaign, I have come to the conclusion that there is no viable path to victory for my candidacy in 2012," he said.

Spokesman Ray Sullivan told reporters that Perry made the decision to drop out late yesterday and alerted some senior staff last night. (Sullivan found out while eating at a Charleston area Wendy's.) His determination came as multiple conservative commentators were calling for his exit, and as several key endorsers in the state defected from his campaign.

Announcing his endorsement of Gingrich -- whom he had criticized during the campaign as a "Washington insider" and supporter of the individual mandate -- Perry alluded to the former speaker's checkered personal past.

"Newt is not perfect, but who among us is?" Perry said. "The fact is there is forgiveness for those who seek God, and I believe in the power of redemption, for it is a central tenet of my own Christian faith."

Perry -- himself an evangelical Christian who proudly cites that he married the first woman he dated as a young man -- was joined at the press conference by his wife Anita, his son Griffin, and "Lone Survivor" author and decorated veteran Marcus Luttrell and his wife.

"Now the journey leads us back to Texas, neither discouraged nor disenchanted, but instead rewarded for the experience and resolute to remain in the arena and in the service of a great nation," Perry said.

As did his decision to remain in the race after the Iowa caucuses, today's decision came as a surprise to many members of his staff on the ground, who believed that Perry might want to appear at one last redeeming debate after becoming famous for his shaky performances early in his run.

Sullivan said on Wednesday that Perry has not ruled out a run for re-election in Texas nor another run for president in 2016.

MYRTLE BEACH, SC -- In a wide-ranging forum that was a cross between a town hall, a focus group, and an appearance on Oprah, Texas Gov. Rick Perry reflected on how his rocky presidential run has affected his relationship with his God, his country, and his marriage.

With his wife of 29 years seated beside him, Perry's voice was thick with emotion as he told host Frank Luntz of his "best friend": wife Anita. "If I just had to walk away from all this, if she was walking with me, it'd all be OK."

Perry, whose once-swaggering campaign appears to be limping toward an end after the South Carolina primary, also seemed on the verge of choking up as he spoke with pride about America's role in the world.

"When I'm standing on that stage getting ready to debate, I'm standing at attention. And I'm standing with my hand over my heart to reflect my belief what a great and incredible country we live in," he said. "And those symbols of this country should never ever be used in any other way than to hold up America for the great freedoms and the hope for this world that it reflects."

Speaking before an audience of mothers at the event sponsored by website CafeMom, Perry fielded questions on education and immigration policy. But one of his most candid answers came in reply to a question from Luntz about his faith.

"You know God didn't say 'I want you running.' But ... there were certainly things that I tested God on before I made the decision about this," he said of his late entry into the presidential contest.

"He sure didn't tell me I was gonna win," he added to laughter. "But I know I'm doing God's will for my life. And I agree with Anita that my life -- and particularly my spiritual life -- has been substantially strengthened. I've matured as a Christian in the last six months as I've gone through this process."

Anita Perry also discussed the increasing role that faith has played in her life since Perry joined the race. "The longer we are in it the more dependent upon that faith and prayer that I become," she said.

The Perrys lost their closest personal friends in the race this morning, when Jon Huntsman formally bowed out of the race five days before the South Carolina primary. On Monday, Perry called the former Utah governor "a dear friend" with "a beautiful, wonderful, fun family." Perry also said he hoped to get an endorsement from Huntsman's high-profile daughters.

While the mom-focused event focused heavily on the softer side of the Perrys and their personal relationships, Perry did offer a warning early in his remarks that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's failure to publicly release his tax returns could result in an "October surprise" in the general election.

"And every candidate up there, they should put their taxes out, including Mitt," he said. "You know, November, or excuse me, September and October, is not the time for us to be finding out that, whoops, there’s something out there that is a problem. We need to know it now.”