Posted on 04/26/2015 6:56:29 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Rick Santorum was the returning champion at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition forum on Saturday. But inside Waukee, Iowa’s Point of Grace Church, it certainly didn’t feel like it. After his upset victory in the 2012 Iowa caucus – driven largely by the state’s powerful evangelical voting bloc – many expected the former Pennsylvania senator to be welcomed back with open arms.
But compared to the other eight Republican candidates present at the Des Moines-area conference, Santorum’s speech fell strangely flat. The audience didn’t clap much, and when they did it was usually polite and perfunctory. Lines that felt like they were meant to be showstoppers were at times met with awkward silences.
Part of that may have been due to his choice of subject matter. While speakers like Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal emphasized Christian credentials and Rand Paul and Scott Walker pushed muscular foreign policies, Santorum was selling a populist economic message that didn’t seem to land. He called the Republican Party’s supply-side, free trade message outdated and pushed for a minimum wage hike. “We’re keeping down the wages of American families,” he said. “We need to say we’re on the side of American workers.”
Observers believe Santorum may be misreading his audience this time around. “It didn’t resonate,” said Dennis Goldford, a professor of politics at Des Moines’ Drake University. “Santorum sort of moved to that blue-collar conservatism, populist kind of approach . . . That’s not what will sell this particular crowd.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
Good analysis.
This election season has started early but that’s what it takes to raise the big dough.
Cue theater cane from left side of the stage.
Guess they haven’t forgiven him for endorsing Arlen Spector. I haven’t either.
Santorum should stick to helping produce family-oriented movies, shows. Better fit for him. He could be a good cabinet guy if republicans win in 20126.
No Retreads.
Agreed
you are right! Romney not Santorum won in Iowa in 2011,, but news men and every pundit keep repeating that Santorium won. They held this back until after NH-—They did not want Romney-— he might win in Nov. Romney won in New Hampshire but the media was so focused on McCain (their darling) coming in second They ignored the winner.
It seems the media is now ignoring Walker—he may be the only one that can beat Hillary.
I like him and the values he stands for.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.