WASHINGTON -- A jubilant Rick Santorum is leveraging victories in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri to increase pressure on Mitt Romney, labeling him "a well-oiled weather vane" who often shifts his positions.
Santorum told CNN Republican conservatives "are beginning to get it" that he's best equipped to take on President Barack Obama.
The former Pennsylvania senator acknowledges Romney has a substantial advantage in political fund-raising, but said, "We feel like going forward we're going to have the money we need to make the case we want to make."
Santorum said Romney "had a great career in the private sector, but we're not running for CEO of the country. We're running for someone who can lead the country."
He said that the race was now "in a little bit of no man's land."
Santorum was asked about Foster Freiss, the main donor to his super PAC, who stood behind him Tuesday night as he made his victory speech. "Foster Friess doesn't run my super PAC," said Santorum. "Foster's been a long personal friend for twenty years."
On MSNBC's "Morning Joe," he said, "Mitt Romney is not the best choice to go up against [President] Barack Obama on the central issue of the day--government oppressing and taking away our freedoms."
He dismissed the effectiveness of the Head Start program, which is run by the Department of Health and Human Services and provides health and education services to low-income children and their families. "You look at the research on Head Start, it's not particularly impressive, sir, I mean look at money invested in Head Start and you look at two, three years out of people who've left Head Start, they're basically back where they were with everyone who else who didn't participate in Head Start," he said. He added that he thought that keeping families together to raise their children was a better solution.
On Fox News, Santorum said that President Barack Obama is "a very hostile president to people of faith."