Has Santorum peaked too soon?

Given the caprice of the GOP's base throughout the race thus far, it might almost seem prudent to say yes:

Santorum’s surge has been the result of dazzling timing that capitalized on his personal life (his daughter’s illness that generated sympathy for the candidate and shown a light on his image as a family man), the way Romney and Newt Gingrich eviscerated each other in dueling negative ad campaigns and President Obama’s attack on the Catholic Church that concentrated GOP minds on social issues. But a week can be a lifetime in politics. If the focus on abortion, gay rights and contraception helped Santorum in one sense, it is his Achilles’ heel in another as the media’s demonization of him can serve to remind Republicans that he will be brutalized by the left on these issues in a general election.

(Image: "Rick Santorum at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 10, 2012, in Washington." Via Bloomberg)