Some Things Never Change: Santorum Would Lose PA, Poll Finds

Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum has insisted that losing reelection in 2006 in his home state by a whopping 18 points is a badge of honor for sticking to his principles - which he says will be rewarded by GOP primary voters. But Keystone State voters are still unimpressed, according to a new poll.

Santorum would not only lose his home state to President Obama in a general election match-up, but he'd also lose a primary there to Republican front-runner Mitt Romney, the Quinnipiac University poll found.

Santorum loses to Obama by 11 points, 49% to 38%. And he loses to Mitt Romney by five points, 21% to 16%. That small number of Pennsylvanians - 16% - picked Santorum out of a lineup of Republicans. More people said they were undecided than went for their former senator.

None of this might matter much to Santorum, who brushed off Meet The Press moderator David Gregory on Sunday when asked what's changed since losing in Pennsylvania.

"One of the things I learned from that race is that losing isn't the worst thing that can happen to you," he said. "Not standing up for what you believe in and fighting for those things is the worst thing."

If not by his own account, one poll seems to indicate little has changed since 2006.