SANTORUM AS A POPULIST?

I recently heard a reporter state that Rick Santorum has a populist following among GOP primary voters and I thought that was exaggerated but I guess Ricky has been trying to portray himself as a sort of conservative version of Bernie Sanders:

--A SANTORUM AIDE TELLS THE NOTE: "The focus on the Senator's remarks tonight will be about the need to fight for the American worker that has been left behind by big government, big business, and both political parties. He will also be contrasting his record with that of Secretary Clinton throughout his remarks. He'll be giving his speech from a factory floor just 10 miles from where he grew up and at a company -- Penn United Technologies -- that he visited when he first ran for the Senate in 1994. At that time, they had just one building, today they have a 100 acre campus with 600 employees. They epitomize the type of manufacturing renaissance Sen. Santorum talks about."

This pivot by Santorum makes about as much sense as trying to square the circle.
UPDATE: Media Matters also notes this farce.