I don’t think anybody is objecting to appealing to crossover voters in principle. The question is whether pursuing those voters by hitting Romney on his opposition to the auto bailouts, which Santorum also opposed, really advances conservative principles. (I agree that supporting TARP and opposing the auto bailout makes for bad politics in places like Michigan, but that is a separate question.) I don’t know anybody who thinks it is bad for a Republican to use his conservative positions to attract Democratic votes, as Reagan did.
