Why Rick Santorum can win the election

According to David Brooks in his article in the New York Times, "Workers of the World Unite" 
 Rick is exactly what Reagan Democrats and working class Republicans are looking for and not finding in the rich 'front-runners' of either party.
Brooks explains:

It’s a diverse group, obviously, but its members generally share certain beliefs and experiences. The economy has been moving away from them. The ethnic makeup of the country is shifting away from them. They sense that the nation has gone astray: marriage is in crisis; the work ethic is eroding; living standards are in danger; the elites have failed; the news media sends out messages that make it harder to raise decent kids. They face greater challenges, and they’re on their own.
The Republicans harvest their votes but have done a poor job responding to their needs. The leading lights of the party tend to be former College Republicans who have a more individualistic and even Randian worldview than most members of the working class. Most Republican presidential candidates, from George H.W. Bush to John McCain to Mitt Romney, emerge from an entirely different set of experiences.

 Rick is man of the people who understands the real suffering this economy is inflicting on those of us who wonder if we can afford to buy gas if it goes up to $5/gallon. Do you think Romney ever pumped his own gas? He can't even wear a pair of Levis convincingly.
Rick's Made in America plan to revive the manufacturing sector is based on his experience in rust belt. His down to earth style and honesty are winning hearts and votes, in the Heartland. Pittsburgh whose empty factories experienced a renewal through the medical technology industry.

Here's how Brooks sees him;

Santorum is the grandson of a coal miner and the son of an Italian immigrant. For years, he represented the steel towns of western Pennsylvania. He has spent the last year scorned by the news media — working relentlessly, riding around in a pickup truck to more than 370 towns. He tells that story of hard work and elite disrespect with great fervor at his meetings.
His worldview is not individualistic. His book, “It Takes a Family,” was infused with the conservative wing of Catholic social teaching. It was a broadside against Barry Goldwater-style conservatism in favor of one that emphasized family and social solidarity. While in Congress, he was a leader in nearly every serious piece of antipoverty legislation. On the stump, he cries, “The left has a religion, too. It’s just not based on the Bible. It’s based on the religion of self.”

Rick is a Catholic first and a Republican second. Of course pundits and GOP leadership are not comfortable with that. I think I actually saw Sean Hannity trying not to wince as he announced Santorum's victories. But that non-conformity with the elites in each party may the the reason he resonates so well in the Heartland.