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LIMA, Ohio It wasnt just the White House, the editorial boards and the entire Democratic establishment that lashed Rick Santorum over the last week for calling President Barack Obama a snob for wanting young people to go to college.

Santorums wife did, too.

Karen Santorum, guarded in public but blunt in private when counseling her husband, advised him to pull back. By Friday, her husband did just that, expressing regret for the controversial comment.

He knows you always separate what you say from the person, said Karen Santorum in an interview Saturday with POLITICO, her first of the presidential campaign with a print media outlet. He should have said what (Obama) said is snobbish. It was a snobbish comment, not he is snobbish. There is a big difference. And he knows that. But everybody makes those mistakes along the journey.

This is the hidden side of Karen Santorum, who is always sketched in the same broad strokes as her husband: parent of seven, devout Catholic, doting spouse, crusader against abortion rights, champion of home-schooling. Rick Santorum described his wife of more than two decades during a speech here to Republican Party activists as my conscience on conservative convictions.

She is all those things and proudly so.

But Karen Santorum most often a silent, if visible presence on the campaign trail compared to other candidate spouses can also be one of her husbands toughest critics. Shes a long-time adviser on issues, messaging and tone who doesnt hesitate to tell him when he screws up.

When youre married, it is everything. Your hair is out of place. You didnt say that right. You shouldve said this. You didnt say that, Karen Santorum said. Before a speech, well talk about the message. Before a debate, What are going to say, how are you going to say it? It is about the kids. What is happening at home.

The day after the Michigan primary, Karen scolded her husband for answering too many questions on the stump about birth control, rather than focusing on how, at that point, he had picked up as many delegates as Mitt Romney.

My advice to him was stop answering the question, she said. Tell em, Im not going to answer this question, let me tell you what I know about national security. I know a lot about national security.

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'Snob' control: Karen Santorum guides husband on gaffe