Former Pennsylvania Republican Senator Rick Santorum, whose 41.3 percent showing in his failed 2006 reelection bid was one of the worst showings for an incumbent in recent memory, is getting a little worried:

I believe Obama has an ace in the hole among Senate Republicans. This unlikely ace can deliver not only the GOP moderates needed to break a filibuster, but also the stamp of bipartisanship: the 2008 GOP standard bearer, John McCain.

McCain was once the mainstream media darling, back when he joined Democrats on a host of issues. He prized his maverick moniker and used it to propel himself onto the national scene in the 2000 Republican presidential primary. Early in the Bush years, he shored up his status as the media's favorite Republican by opposing Bush on taxes and the environment.

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In McCain's mind, however, losing the presidency will not be the final chapter of his life story. He knows the path to "Big Media" redemption. Working with the man who vanquished him in November will show them all the real McCain again.

Remember, it was this onetime prisoner of war who led the charge to open diplomatic relations with Vietnam. If that past is prologue, and McCain's legislative record is any guide, he will not just join with Obama but lead the charge in Congress on global warming, immigration "reform," the closing of Guantanamo, federal funding for embryonic-stem-cell research, and importation of prescription drugs.

I have written about this before, and I think Santorum is right to be concerned. While I don't necessarily foresee the relationship between Barack Obama and John McCain developing to the same degree as the post-1940 election relationship between Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Wendell Willkie, the defeated GOP nominee who subsequently became a diplomat on behalf of the Roosevelt administration, it does seem apparent that all of the reaching out Obama has done to McCain -- the face-to-face meeting, retaining Bob Gates at the Pentagon, hiring James Jones as National Security Advisor, standing up for Joe Lieberman, etc. -- could well pay off.

The fact of the matter is that Obama will not need McCain on most issues, because the Democrats will already be so close to breaking GOP filibusters with their 59-seat majority, not all of which (but the vast majority of which) will support the President on important votes. That said, having McCain on board would help not only get the Democrats to 60 in the Senate but also help draw popular support for Obama's measures, which is also important. So if the tea leaves do turn out as Santorum worries and I believe highly possible, this could be a bad few months, or even years, for the far right of the Republican Party.