In the 1960 U.S. presidential election, an unaffiliated poster that featured a shifty-looking Richard Nixon snidely asked, “Would you buy a used car from this man?” U.S. voters suggested by their election of John F. Kennedy that they wouldn’t. Since then, the casual use of the question in discussions of political candidates has become standard, a rather fun and punchy way to measure whether voters trust pols.

For what it’s worth, Republicans in the 10 Super Tuesday states said they would rather buy a used car from Rick Santorum than from Mitt Romney. According to an IBOPE/Zogby poll commissioned by craigslist, 60 percent of Republicans in the Super Tuesday states say they would buy a used car from Santorum, while just 46 percent would buy one from Romney. More from a press release:

Indeed, more Republicans (47%) in the Super Tuesday states say that they would NOT buy a used car from Romney than the percentage that would (46%). Only 27% of them say they would NOT buy one from Santorum.

“It seems like Romney’s reputation for flip-flopping has hurt his prospects of a career in the used car business,” says [craigslist spokeswoman Susan] Best.

Republicans nationwide and Americans in general also said they’d be more likely to buy a car from Santorum than Romney. Among independents, Santorum fares better by 10 points. Thirty-seven percent said they’d used-car shop with Santorum, but just 27 percent said they’d let Romney sweet-talk them into a purchase.

Romney scored slightly better with Democrats than did Santorum, though. Fifteen percent said they’d buy from Romney, while just 12 percent said they’d buy from Santorum.

Nothing about this poll should come as a surprise. Romney is a salesman who has been criticized repeatedly for doing exactly what folks supposedly so abhor in, well, salesmen: He’ll supposedly say whatever to seal a deal. Rick Santorum has been criticized for the opposite — a supposed stodginess that doesn’t budge on even the most controversial issues. The man didn’t abandon his staunchest conservative convictions in his bid for reelection to the Senate in 2006 even though he suspected they’d cost him — and they did. He’s certainly consistent. As Morton Blackwell once said of Santorum, “The longer and better you know him, the more you like and trust him.”

That’s why the Santorum campaign has to make the case for the ongoing importance of momentum in this primary race: He’s not going to win more delegates than Romney today, but, if momentum matters most and he wins enough states, he might be able to claim he won Super Tuesday — and eventually beat Romney delegate-wise, as well.

In any sale of a shoddy vehicle, the used-car salesman alone isn’t to blame; some hapless customer allowed himself to be taken for a ride. Republican voters presumably have vetted what all the GOP candidates are selling better than that. No matter who we choose in the end, we won’t be able to say we didn’t know what we were getting.