Posted on 02/07/2012 9:46:14 AM PST by mitchell001
Rick Santorum was thrown out of Pennsylvania when as 12 year incumbent, he lost his 2006 Senate race to Bob Cssey by 17 percent. It was literally thrown out of office. Are there any Pennsylvania freepers or history buffs that can shed light on why Santorum was literally thrown out of office? Casey's margin of victory was the largest ever for a Democratic Senate nominee in Pennsylvania, and the largest margin of victory for a Senate challenger in the 2006 elections. Can we more thoroughly vet Santorum by listing why he lost so badly?
I have been saying this all along. He couldn’t even beat Casey in PA???? WHO is bankrolling Rick? I mean...I like Rick but the whole thing seems a little shady!
He was tossed out on his arse because he deserved to be, that’s the begining middle and end of it. Believe me, this guy will be destroyed in a national election if he his the nominee.. He’s not politically savvy, intellectually astute, or personable enough to win what is going to be a nasty nasty race... he’ll at best get 45% of the vote, and more likely wind up with 40% or less.
Brokered convention all the way!
Several reasons (note, these are observations about local politics and do not reflect my opinion of the man):
- 2006 was a bad year for Republicans, and the mid-terms turned out to be a referendum on GWB.
- Many conservatives were disgusted when Rick S. endorsed Arlen Specter over Pat Toomey in the previous Senate Race. Some have still not forgiven him.
- Some voters were upset that Santorum billed the State of PA for his childrens’ cyberschool education, while they were living in VA. They complained that his listed address in Penn Hills, PA was an empty apartment and that he never lived there. etc.
2006 was a “Wave” election. I don’t know if anyone could have won in PA. Also, Santorum had supported that numbnuts Specter over Toomey in 2004. That cost him votes, bigtime!!
He's the stalking horse for the GOP, to keep a conservative from getting the nomination.
Also, Bob Casey, Jr. was billed as a “pro-life” dem, who’s father was a very popular governor.
I think I’ll go with Santorum over Romney.
I still have the letter Casey’s father sent me in the mid-90s, in response to mine in which I thanked him for his stance against abortion.
Do you remember when Casey (Sr.) was shut out of the DNC convention for being pro-life?
This is a bunch of nonsense.
Do you have any proof of this? If you do I’d like to see it.
Casey’s father was governor of the state..strong following in the Scranton area among others..lots of money...and a 2006 Republican backlash. All those helped defeat Santorum. What we are doing in Pa. now is finding the right person to run against Casey THIS year. And that man is Sam Rohrer.
Santorum lost because he followed Karl Rove’s advice and backed Spector against Toomey. The “genius” Karl Rove was responsible for turning two Republican U.S. Senators from Pennsylvania into two Democratic Senators.
I wrote about this for the Phila. Bulletin back in 2007. I also interviewed Santorum in 2006.
Mike Tremoglie
Santorum cannot create a firewall, that’s the issue here. Santorum is not a top tier candidate, never was, never will be and if he’s the nominee, Obama is getting 4 more years.
Santorum was routed, and I mean ROUTED in PA because he deserved tobe , it wasn’t because Casey had name recognition,it wasn’t because it was a bad year for republicans, it wasn’t becuase he endorced spectre, though none of those things help, they are not remotely WHY he lost by 17 points.
He lost by 17 points because he was painted as a radical, and he had no response for it at all, he lost because he alienated many republicans in this state by talking out of both sides of his mouth far more often than not.
Santorum is no small government Conservative, he’s a social conservative, but is not someone who believes in smaller government.. he doesn’t believe in right to work, he doesn’t believe in limited government. He is more along the lines of Bush in the whole compassionate conservative, big government “conservative” mold. Santorum is a social conservative, and that gives him play in some areas and with parts of the electorate, but hes not a top teir talent, and he’s not a small government conservative, never was, never will be.
in his last election he had nice anti amnesty stuff on the english version of his web site, and lots of pro amnesty stuff on the spanish version... his game playing finally cuaght up with him and the people of PA threw him out on his arse. They didn’t vote for Casey, who literally no showed the entire campaign, they simply threw the bum out.
The very idea that this guy could win a national election shows how completely ignorant too many voters are to the realities of politics. I think Santorum could be a decent VP ticket, if it wasn’t for the fact that he is so hated in PA that with him on the ticket, its likely whoever is the nominee will lose PA no matter what... but VP is about the top of his true abilities... he can be a good attack dog, but he’s not a great or astute politician.
Santorum will be painted as an extremist should he get the nod, and just like his Senate race, he won’t have an answer for it, and wind up being routed once again.
The fact that he ever won in PA is amazing. Nobody should be surprised that he got trounced in 2006.
Bob Casey, Jr. was the progeny of a very well-loved politician, and 2006 was a disaster for the GOP.
Also, Santorum had a reputation for being very conservative. I think liberal PA became tired of it.
Santorum has been a much more reliable conservative than Newt Gingrich. He’s stuck to his guns over the years despite the abhorrent treatment he has received from the liberal media for his view on gay marriage and abortion. In fact, the sodomites use his name to describe something as disgusting as can be imagined.
He has been a stalwart defender of the unborn, most notably in his debate with Barbara Boxer in 1998. He authored the Partial Birth Abortion Act.
He is not the ideal choice, but he is a lot better than Mitt Romney. And he would be able to win a lot of blue collar voters in states like OH, PA, and MI.
Did Santorum made a mistake by supporting Specture of Toomey, yes...but I believed he should be forgotten. I would like to see Newt have him as a VP since it would be a great ticket (or Newt/West)
One backer is John Templeton Jr from Pennsylvania a former Romney supporter.
I really don’t see the point in destroying Santorum on a day when he’s the only one with a possible chance of taking some wins from Romney.
2006 was a horrible year for all Republicans. Bush was re-elected with a wave of enthusiasm in 2004, and proceeded to fritter it all away.
Two other factors contributed.
1. Casey’s father was a pretty conservative Democrat, with a pro-life record. Casey ran as a blue dog Democrat, said that he was pro-life like his father, and played the Vietnam veteran card. It turned out that he was a liar.
2. Bush and Rove leaned hard on Santorum and demanded that he should endorse Arlen Specter, who was “electable” and whom they needed to get conservative judges nominated. Santorum regretably agreed, partly because Specter had earlier endorsed HIM, so he was repaying a favor. But Snarlin’ Arlen then proceeded to concentrate on his own race, and never endorsed Santorum again in return.
The conservative base was furious about the Specter endorsement, and many refused to vote for Santorum. That, and the very negative feelings about Bush, was enough to sink him, in a state that doesn’t necessarily vote for conservatives anyway.
The people chiefly to blame for this fiasco were Bush and Rove—although Specter did keep his promise to push conservative SCOTUS candidates over the top, before he returned to his usual rotten ways, lost his base, and turned Democrat—which happily finished him off for good.
Maybe Rick made a mistake. But was it worse than Newt endorsing Dede Scozzafava, when there was nothing but personal ambition to motivate this endorsement? Santorum only failed that once, but it really came at a terrible moment and killed his Senate career. And Bush and Rove just shrugged.
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.