New Attacks Show Mitt Romney's Taking Rick Santorum Seriously

After Rick Santorum swept contests in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri on Tuesday, Republican presidential rival Mitt Romneys team increased their fire against him -- much like the Romney camp did against Newt Gingrich after that candidate won the South Carolina primary last month.

On Thursday, Gail Gitcho, Romeys communications director, slammed Santorum for backing earmarks. U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, followed the same line of attack and reminded conservatives that Santorum had backed Arlen Specters presidential bid in the 1996 election cycle (look for the Santorum camp to fire back with Romneys opposition to Ronald Reagan and support of Democrat Paul Tsongas in the 1992 election cycle). Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for Romney, and the candidate himself, attacked Santorum on earmarks and spending on Wednesday. Saul even took aim at Santorums conservative credentials.

Rick Santorum says that there is not a problem with the way the federal government is being led, Saul said. That is ridiculous and again proves why conservatives cant trust a Washington insider to fix the problems that Washington insiders created.

Romneys team is clearly taking Santorum seriously after his three wins on Tuesday -- but look for the Santorum team to respond by taking aim at Romneys positions when he ran for office in Massachusetts in 1994 and 2002.