FReepmail “Antoninus” to be added or removed.
Posted on 04/01/2012 11:20:22 AM PDT by Steelfish
Santorum Downplays Romney's Endorsement Haul, Compares Rival To McCain April 01, 2012
Rick Santorum fought Sunday to downplay Mitt Romney's growing list of endorsements from Republican Party figures, dismissing the support as the work of an "establishment" pushing the party to nominate another "moderate" just like John McCain in 2008.
The former Pennsylvania senator, who bills himself as the true conservative in the race, urged the party to draw lessons from the 2008 race. He said the protracted primary between then-Sen. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton resulted in the "best candidate" for the Democrats, while Republicans decided, "We've got to wrap this thing up" and picked McCain as their nominee.
"We came up with someone who ... wasn't able to win," Santorum said on "Fox News Sunday." "We don't need to repeat that again. We don't need to bail out and not have the best candidate to take Barack Obama on in the fall."
Santorum made the appeal as Romney not only builds his delegate lead but picks up big-name Republican endorsements. Over the past week, that list has grown to include Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and former President George H.W. Bush. On Sunday, Wisconsin freshman Sen. Ron Johnson also endorsed Romney.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, while not formally throwing his support behind the GOP front-runner, said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" that "the chances are overwhelming" Romney will win the nomination. He strongly suggested the party should wrap up the primary process.
(snip)
Santorum, though, said Sunday he would "absolutely" stay in the race even if he doesn't win that primary. He dismissed Romney's recent support, since "he has all of the establishment behind him."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
FReepmail “Antoninus” to be added or removed.
The only hope Romney has against 0bama is if he can talk McCain into coaching him.
Starting a pool. Which post # is the very first Savage love anti-Santorum screed.
Dibs on #7.
‘The former Pennsylvania senator, who bills himself as the true conservative in the race, urged the party to draw lessons from the 2008 race. He said the protracted primary between then-Sen. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton resulted in the “best candidate” for the Democrats, while Republicans decided, “We’ve got to wrap this thing up” and picked McCain as their nominee.’
That was a darn good point, but yet, you would think Republican primary voters would remember what happened in the 2008 race on their own.
The entire interview on Fox News Sunday was GREAT, with many good points, including the fact that Rick is doing so well in future primary staets.
I like Santorum as a person, but he is a miserable candidate for general election, as is Gingrich. Romney became the candidate by default once Perry imploded. It is a shame that no other conservatives with experience and “gravitas” decided to run this year.
“I like Santorum as a person, but he is a miserable candidate for general election, as is Gingrich.”
Well, I hope what you write is not true. If so, then the entire nation, not just the GOP, has gone to hell.
IF we cannot run as the GOP nominee, candidates like Gingrich or Santorum....then why even bother to run at all?
There was a reason why Santorum and Gingrich were not registering in the polls when the process started. They are not good candidates. A good candidate for president has great ideas and can sell those ideas to the American public. Gingrich has incredible negatives and Santorum is only getting votes because he isn’t Romney. Very few would/did pick these guys out of a lineup from the beginning.
Sad truth is, I am not sure who is out there. Perry had the conservative ideals and experience, but couldn’t articulate those ideas and experience effectively. We need a dynamic, principle, articulate, visionary conservative (ie, Ronald Reagan) to unite our party and take the country back for conservatism.
Santorum and Gingrich are woefully equipped to do that.
+10
As a nominated VP in 2008, Sarah Palin should have run in 2012.
“We need a dynamic, principle, articulate, visionary conservative (ie, Ronald Reagan) to unite our party and take the country back for conservatism.”
“Santorum and Gingrich are woefully equipped to do that.”
And ROMNEY IS???? You are an absolute raving mad fool. Either Gingrich or Santorum come closer to Reagan than Romney ever will. Either would be someone that actually REPRESENTS the base of the GOP. Romney NEVER will.
You need to change your handle to “NeverAnyPotential.”
Romney is not Reagan. I fought Romney harder and meaner than many on Free Republic and in the conservative media did in 2008 when he was the “conservative” alternative to Huckabee and McCain. But he is the only guy left with any executive experience, whether in the public or private sector and also appears to me to be the only guy left that has any organization in place capable of fighting the democratic machine.
Maybe it is just me, but I can’t take Santorum or Gingrich seriously as candidates. I have been absolutely depressed since Perry dropped out, but if he couldn’t handle the small stage of primary debates, guess he couldn’t handle big stage of general elex debate either.
Sigh.
While I do think Santorum is far more consistent on social issues, I really don’t believe he is all that much more conservative on fiscal issues than Romney. He is just a party guy when it comes to that, agreeing on debt ceilings, pork barrel projects for the home front and other issues.
Guess I can’t get out of my head his endorsing Romney in 2008 as the conservative guy and now telling us he is a liberal. What changed? Rick is running for prez now, not then.
“Guess I can’t get out of my head his endorsing Romney in 2008 as the conservative guy and now telling us he is a liberal. What changed? Rick is running for prez now, not then.”
No doubt that does strain his credibility. However, it doesn’t change the fact that Romney is forever unacceptable.
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