I think the most productive way to advance this discussion is, how do you define a conservative? What is it that makes someone a conservative in your understanding.
I know what it is for me. And I can describe why I support him, but I don’t know about you.
For me - what catches my eye is his consistant support for unborn children, his outright rejection of abortion, contraception and gay marriage. I’m a convert to Catholicism. This really resonates with me seeing a candidate who not only supports the things that I do but is outspokenly in favor of them.
As for the rest, Santorum has a solid spending plan, to cut spending to 2008 levels, and 5 trillion on top of that. That’s important that he has a plan, but that plan is not why people support him.
It’s not something that’s going to change. What you see is what you get. You’re not going to come back 5 years from now and go, whoa. Where did that come from?
I also take a look at his enemies. Who hates santorum so much that they put up a site with his name to try to smear him? You never get an enemy, unless you’ve stood behind something. Churchill said this. Santorum has been so consistantly in support of these things that he’s come by his enemies honestly, and I respect that.
I’ve had to deal with these folks myself and that is why Santorum appeals so much to me, because he knows what I have gone through.
But that’s just me. I can appreciate folks being skeptical. If you want someone like Paul who wants to slash government spending to that degree - then you should probably vote Paul. But if you want a solid conservative then Santorum’s your man.
Which is good.
The problem I see is that his past record shows that he's never seen a spending bill he didn't like. And with a deficit bigger than our entire national GNP, this is a massive danger.
Furthermore, his past record on the US Constitution shows that he believes it good and proper to disregard it when his personal beliefs are in question. Which is just the same as Obama and his beliefs. That also is a great danger.
(http://www.redstate.com/louisianapatriette/2012/01/12/perry-santorum-and-the-evangelical-dilemma/)
At a time where our nation is so very close to bankruptcy... and at a time where our nation is *ALSO* so very close to losing it's very ideal of a federal republic, I don't think we can afford to have yet another President trample over our Constitution and spend our money like a drunken sailor.