Politics

Rick Santorum waded into a controversial issue today when he gave an interview to El Vocero, one of the biggest newspapers in Puerto Rico.

The issue? The island's primary language.

The paper asked the former Pennsylvania senator if he would back Puerto Rican statehood if Spanish along with English remained its official languages.

Mississippi and Alabama were big wins for Rick Santorum in the fight for the GOP presidential nomination.

While never considered strong for Mitt Romney, those states further revealed the vulnerabilities of his campaign, specifically, problems identifying with many elements of the Republican base.

The next big contest is Tuesday in Illinois.

It's a state rich in delegates (69) and in something else that should be good news for Romney: more moderate Republicans. But he still needs to connect with even those voters.

Time for a few unconventional thoughts:

• Newt Gingrich is still in good enough shape to win the Republican presidential nomination at a brokered convention in Tampa.
• By staying in the race, Gingrich actually helps, not hurts, his rival Rick Santorum.
• Gingrich's situation resembles Abraham Lincoln's in 1860.