Steven Senne/AP
Javelin and Petrus. That’s how the Secret Service refers to Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, according to a report in GQ that released their code names.
Both candidates chose their names, and the tradition is a throwback to an earlier era when communications were not encrypted. The only rule of the code name is that the name must be comprehensible over the radio.
Though it’s unknown why the candidates chose their names, “Petrus” is a biblical allusion -- as in St. Peter, the first pope -- and “Javelin” was the name of a '60s muscle car made by American Motors, the company run by Romney’s father.