Rick Santorum knows his anti-sodomy legal history.
"Rulings like Lawrence v. Texas would be a good thing to know if you are running for president," he said Thursday, as reported by NBC News's Andrew Rafferty.
His comment was a sharp jab at Rick Perry, who punted on a question Thursday about the landmark Supreme Court case that legalized same-sex sexual activity in Texas and 13 other states. Although Perry railed against the decision as governor of Texas, he gave a nonsensical answer about government spending and later admitted he did not know what the case was.
"I don't," he said. "I'm not taking the bar exam."
As Santorum enjoys a late surge in the Iowa polls, he has stepped up the attacks against his rivals, especially Perry and Michele Bachmann, who are competing with him for the conservative vote. He recently criticized Bachmann for "speed dating" her way through 99 counties in a last-minute attempt to woo voters.
"I respect the fact that she's trying to get around, but we did a courtship, we didn't speed date," he said Wednesday. "We went out and talked to folks and had coffee with folks and sat with them and answered their questions. We spent, what, an hour and 20 minutes here. You know, we didn't sort of run in and say, 'Hi, I'm great, vote for me.' I don't think that's what Iowans are looking for."