I for one am hoping it's Santorum and not Romney that gets the nomination

[rpannier]

This has nothing to do with how easily Obama would beat either.
I have little doubt that in the end Obama will beat either candidate quite handily
This has to do with squashing a common meme among the arch conservatives, that when Republicans lose races for the presidency it's because they're not conservative enough
Santorum would easily the most conservative candidate the republicans have run for president in over 75 years -- more conservative than Goldwater or Reagan could ever be

Watching Santorum get squashed on election night might begin to expose the republicans and their surrogates in the media that this reichwing hackery they've been spewing is just that -- hackery

My guess is we'll hear how badly his campaign was run, he is Catholic or he's just not very bright as the reasons he lost.
If they play on the Catholic meme, maybe suburban Catholics will get the message that the reich is NOT their friend. *
If they play on his stupidity, it exposes the base of the party for what they are 'substance-less people who are clueless as to who the vote for.'
Badly run campaign would be a face saver. But it would also expose how badly organized the party is.

* Although given the hysterics by the base over Romney being a members of the LDS Church, I'm not sure why Latter Day Saints have such an allegiance to the Republican Party.

This is just my opinion of course. And I'd prefer someone more progressive as President than Corporate-Obama