Just participated in a press/”opinion leader” conference call with the senator. Some highlights:

1. The senator wants personal accounts–and he’s against any bill that doesn’t have them. “I will not vote for it, and it will not get out of the United States Senate.”

2. On the Democratic line that there’s no major problem: “Even among seniors, it’s not working.”

3. In response to a question about falling poll numbers for personal accounts, Santorum says that the president has not been making the case for them over the last two weeks–although he says that is starting to change. We knew the other side would be “armed and dangerous.”

4. He thinks the argument has to be about “retirement security,” not about the program’s “solvency” or “trust fund,” which is “green-eyeshade talk.”

5. Democrats are happy to talk about raising the payroll-tax cap because “that’s a safe field for them.” That’s all they’re talking about.

6. Santorum did not seem to find the idea of raising the payroll-tax cap and lowering the rate appealing. Since the two policies would counteract each other in terms of revenue, he didn’t see the point. [But wouldn’t the question be whether the combination won some Democratic votes?–RP]

7. Greenspan was “tremendously helpful.”

8. Santorum is “happy to campaign on this in 2006″ if it comes to that–even in the second-most senior-heavy state in the country.