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The Spectacle Blog
“There’s not much that Obama can really use to destroy Santorum.”
I like Rick Santorum better than Newt Gingrich too, Quin, but this statement suggests a lack of creativity. Obama would run against the impending Santorum theocracy and turn him into a red state cultural icon like Sarah Palin. That could backfire — it will certainly fire up the conservative base and in light of the administration’s recent HHS ruling, they can ill afford to be seen as declaring war on faithful Catholics — but it could also help the Democrats recreate their 2008 turnout among liberals, young people, and even minorities (despite their relative social conservatism).
As for the nomination, there are certainly anti-Romney majorities to be had in many states. They are virtually there for the taking. Santorum’s enemy is the calendar. Romney has a campaign that is built to compete in multiple states and media markets simultaneously. Santorum does not. He needs to grind it out in states, taking advantage of free media and retail politics. We are entering the phase of the race where the candidates won’t have weeks to work a single state. That’s why it was important for a conservative candidate to emerge in the early states, while everyone was competing on more or less even terms. Both Gingrich and Santorum have failed to qualify for the ballot or submit full slates of delegates in states they could conceivably win.
I’m not saying it’s impossible to beat Romney. Mickey Mouse could beat him in many Southern primaries. But the race is moving in a direction that will make it harder.
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More Blog Posts by W. James Antle, III
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/02/01/santorum-vs-the-calendar
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Siegfried X| 2.1.12 @ 1:58PM
Also, the "system", with winner-take-all primaries in large Democratic states, strongly favors the candidate on the left (Romney).
The reality is that Santorum doesn't have the support. If he did, then he'd have the money. His win in Iowa gave the party a chance to support a real conservative, and they rejected it. It's sad, but true. They also had the chance of supporting Michelle Bachmann, and declined it.
Gadfly| 2.1.12 @ 2:49PM
Honestly, I think it's probably better to nominate a candidate who does better in moderate and Democratic states than the south. Unless there's a 3rd party candidate, Obama's not going to take and states in the deep south. Even Romney can win SC, AL, MS, etc in the general election. Gingrich or Santorum would win most southern states running away, but might have a harder time in swing states like NV, AZ, FL, or NH.
Barone Fan| 2.3.12 @ 11:49PM
Santorum repeatedly points out that he can win states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania. These are the people who have left the Obama camp (even more so in recent days due to his assault on religious freedom in health care), and these are the states which will swing the Electoral College.
Romney is unlikely to win these states because he will be seen as the rich guy. Gingrich could win Ohio and Pennsylvania, but it is more likely that Santorum can do so.
Gadfly| 2.1.12 @ 2:53PM
The thing I like about Santorum is that he actually makes this a battle of ideas - it lets the country have a debate about conservatism versus liberalism rather than making it about who's the better technocrat (a la Romney v. Obama) or who's the bigger jerk (a la Gingrich v. Obama).
The thing that scares me about Santorum is that he's a much bigger social conservative than he is a fiscal conservative. These days, especially in this economy, I think the fiscal conservative message is stronger. Secondly, Santorum just doesn't seem to have a lot of charisma. Reagan was a great champion for conservatism because he could sell it; Santorum, not so much.
Sean| 2.1.12 @ 6:41PM
Santorum needed a media created surge to get basically a three way tie in Iowa. He has no chance to win the nomination. His job is to help split the antinewtromney vote.
Bill| 2.1.12 @ 7:20PM
Santorum lost his senate bid in 2006. He was never fit for being a President, rather he should have gone for a re-match with Bob Casey, as George Aleen of VA are already vying for his old senate job.
Clint| 2.1.12 @ 11:12PM
Big Government Ricky Santorum's Record On Voting For Earmarks, Even The Bridge To Nowhere, His Support For The Lobbyist "K-Street Project" , His Tariff Votes, Medicare Prescription Drugs, No Child Left Behind,Etc. Is Gonna Sink Him With Tea Party Patriots.
The Tea Party Rebellion Heads To Nevada & Maine.
Dai Alanye | 2.2.12 @ 12:21PM
Let's not surrender at this stage of the game. Instead of decrying Santorum's weaknesses, we ought to get behind the man, the truest conservative in the race.
Rick's biggest problem is lack of nation-wide name recognition. His second is a weakness of self-presentation (charisma, etc) but he seems to be improving. His lost election looms large in the eyes of some, but Romney and Gingrich have had their losses as well. Newt, after all, lost the Republicans control of Congress, while Romney only wins via swamping his opponents with money.
Of course, Romney has now come out with a sure-fire winning issue -- raising the minimum wage. But he's far too cautious. Instead of 50% he ought to demand tripling it. Once the minimum wage is above twenty bucks an hour the economy will surely come roaring back. Now all we need is a moon base to assure Republicans of the space alien vote.
FeFe| 2.3.12 @ 10:36AM
I cannot hear any concern for Rick Santorum's charisma and not see a concern troll. My sister most heartily agrees. Rick is NASCAR without trying, and I think this doesn't play well with the intelligentsia, for he articulates man's natural conservative bias in individual sovereignty and moral social order. Rick holds a crowd but more importantly they walk away not just learning something of his bold conservative agenda but understanding more of the conservative cause. A foundation of truth is less susceptible to media bias.
What is Newt's agenda? Let me count the white papers and parse positions past. What is Mitt's agenda? "There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead."
Silver Bullet| 2.3.12 @ 8:01PM
Santorum does have time. "46 States to Go," said the posters held aloft behind Gingrich on the night of the Florida primary. The same goes for Santorum -- there are 46 States to go.
All he needs is a clear-cut victory (not like in Iowa where his "victory" was not clear-cut) -- such as in the Missouri non-binding straw poll, which is only 4 days away. Gingrich didn't qualify for the ballot, and polls have shown Santorum leading by 11% over Romney.
Give Santorum a week or two. What he needs, mostly, is for people to get past the self-fulfilling belief that he "can't win." Suspend the dis-belief -- as may occur in Missouri, when the anti-Mitts have nowhere to go, and Santorum will suddenly look like the sun rising -- inevitable.
Conversely, give Gingrich a week or two, and he is as likely to implode as explode.
Romney is proving to have big-time "clay feet" with his "I don't care about the very poor." True conservatives know that this is a rather condescending attitude that belittles the poor's ability to WORK their way up the economic ladder and condescends to them by offering to "fix" the "safety net." We also know that this is exactly the kind of tone-deaf utterance that would come out, say, mid-October -- just in time for Obama's $1-billion war machine to ridicule Romney right into defeat come November 6th.