Prominent conservative blogger endorses Santorum

GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum received the endorsement of Ed Morrissey, a prominent conservative who blogs for Hot Air.

"Very early in the process, I promised Hot Air readers that I would disclose my choice for President in the primaries when I had fully made up my mind. Just as I did four years ago, I didn’t fully make up my mind until shortly before the caucus," Morrissey wrote in a blogpost Sunday. "Last time I caucused for Romney; this time, if I had the opportunity, I would caucus for Rick Santorum."

Morrissey quickly cautioned in his endorsement that he would "happily" vote for former Gov. Mitt Romney (Mass.) or former Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) over President Obama. But, he continued, Santorum is "the last consistent conservative standing, and the only one both promoting the conservative agenda and campaigning as a conservative in the race."

"Even more than that, though, Santorum has demonstrated a level of personal integrity in this race that outshines the rest of the field," Morrissey wrote. "He could easily have tipped over into class-warfare populism while Gingrich and Romney bashed each other over their work at Bain and Freddie Mac in order to ingratiate himself with that sector by playing on latent envy. Instead, he defended capitalism and both of his competitors on the campaign trail more effectively than either could defend themselves."

Throughout his campaign, Santorum has worked to position himself as the "one true conservative" not only on fiscal issues but on social issues as well. The former Pennsylvania senator has won and touted his endorsements by prominent social conservative icons, many of which aren't politicians, but still trails Romney and Gingrich in national polls.

A week ago, Santorum received the endorsement of Hot Air's founder, Michelle Malkin.

—This story was updated at 11:36 a.m.

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