What did he do to earn my support?
He already was my number two when Cain got in, where Cain was my number one.
Why was Cain stronger? I loved Cain’s plan to fix the system, gut the right things from the budget and the fact that he was solid on prolife cause, and on gay marriage? Sold.
I liked the fact that Cain was an outsider.
Now, what did Santorum do to rank being second? Solid on the prolife cause, solid on gay marriage, faithful Catholic, opposed to contraception.
Less strong on the fiscal conservative end, sitting Senator, on the inside. So his record earned him a number two on my list.
When Cain was savaged and pushed out, Santorum earned my support by simply standing up for the right things at the right time.
I actually had Gingrich ranked 5th, behind Paul when Cain was still in.
Gingrich, advantages -
Stronger on the military. Stronger on fiscal policy, stronger on Israel, stronger on gay marriage.
Paul, advantages
Stronger on prolife - Much stronger fiscal conservative, Not even in the same ballpark as Newt. Stronger on marriage and family overall than Newt, stronger on economic globalism, stronger on the environment, stronger on Obamacare than Newt, which was the deciding factor - even over Gay marriage. I can’t support someone who’s supported O-Care even if it was ‘just in the past’. I simply can’t trust them on that issue.
Perry, advantages - across the board over Newt.
Perry, advantage over Santorum - better fiscal conservative, executive experiencem, Santorum is stronger on the prolife cause, and that was my deciding factor for Santorum over Perry.
Bachmann/Santorum, but Santorum as a Senator has more experience than Bachmann. The two are really close, but for me, I wanted a guy. :)
So in order:
Cain
Santorum
Bachmann
Perry
Paul
Newt
Romney
Huntsmen
Ok, so you are a social conservative, and by that mark Santorum is probably the closest to that from day one.
However, he was always the strongest social conservative from day one. Yet he had no support until just before the end in Iowa.
Santorum will likely be down to single digits by Florida, or shortly there after. At best he’s playing spoiler at this point. Though if Gingrich keeps his momentum, even that won’t be true.
We have very different views on effective candidates, some believe find the one closest to your beliefs and stick to them, while that is noble, it is also not very effective. If you don’t win, it doesn’t matter.. sad but true fact of Politics.
Now, these are my opinions, and mine alone and they are going to differ greatly from yours, so, lets just agree to disagree before we get into any flaming.
Cain & Bachmann were political jokes in my opinion, Bachmann comes across as a shrew, and her political hyperbole is so over the top that it makes Newts most outlandish statements during his heyday of Hyperbole seem mild by comparison. She plays a populist bent by screaming what people what to hear, regardless of the truth to the statement. A good foot soldier perhaps, but not a good leader.
What you consider an asset for Cain (absolutely no political experience) is in fact to me a rediculous liability. I would never go out to hire someone to do a job with zero experience in the field, EVER, not in any field of endeavor I have or will ever engage in.. other than an entry level job, and while we may not see eye to eye, I think we can agree, that the highest and most powerful political job on the planet is not an “entry level position”. Some will say,he has business experience, and I say, so what. I’ve worked in Business and with Government, and what makes an effective Business Leader, does not remotely make a good Political Leader. Business Leaders have the luxury of saying JUMP and those below them say HOW HIGH.. that is not how it works in government, not even close. Cain would have been a disaster had he made it to the White House, and he wasn’t going to make it there. He was an affiable enough fellow with a one hit wonder, that he drove into the ground, but did not have the skills or capacity to run a campaign, let alone the executive branch of government. We alread have a neophyte incompetent at 1600 PA Avenue, I am not going to send another one there, just because this one has an R beside his name.
Perry, he at least has a track record, and some executive exprerience. However, he wasn’t up to the task, which became blidingly obvious during the debates.
Santorum, with santorum, as a constituent of his during his political career, I can tell you, he is far more liked outside of PA than he is inside, and there is a reason for that, and its not simply because of his Spectre endorcement, as many here claim. Yes, he is probably the most socially conservative of the class of 2012, but he’s also not all that politically astute, very little charisma, and has shown that he can’t handle a tough campaign. He lost PA not only by a large margin, but lost it to a virtual no show of an oponent, he was effectively defined as extreme, and honestly never ever offered an effective counter to the criticism of him, and that was in a state race where far less effort and energy to destroy him was spent than will be spent against the Republican in the coming Presidential battle. Santorum, certainly is a social conservative, but he doesn’t have the intellect or ability to articulate the conservative viewpoint effectively. He alienated those that he needed politically by repeated actions over his tenure, hes NOT a fiscal conservative in the lease, he can’t articulate the conservative philosphy, because he doesn’t believe in it. He’s not a raging liberal obviously, but he is not a “get out of my wallet and get off my back” conservative. For those reasons and others, I see no way he can win a national campaign.
This leaves the field with Romney, who sucks, but is a “safe” candidate, he’s not going to offend anyone.. he looks presidential, stands for little if anything, and has name recognition etc etc. Can he win a general election? Yes he can, especially when put against the most incompetent administration of the last 60 years at least. Will he be a great president if he wins? Nope, budgets will continue to expand, social liberalism and nanny state will continue to grow, government intrusion will continue to move forward, just at a slower pace.
And Newt. Newt may have his problems, and yes he may not be as small government ideologically pure as many would like, but Newt has the experience, intellect, and frankly nads to take it to Obama, and make the election a true ideological choice, not simply a turd sandwhich vs deuchebag competition. In fact, he’s the only candidate who has been focusing on OBAMA from day one, not sniping at other republicans.. Yes, he has put out negative ads after Romney released the hounds, but his message when he speaks is still about BEATING LIBERALISM and OBAMA< and offering exact, real plans to effect that if elected. He is without question the smartest guy in the room, and will make the election an ideological decision, not just a who’s the lesser of two crapholes.
I see a Romney V Obama matchup of being 45-55 Romney, or in that ballpark range, and a Gingrich v Obama being a 40-60 range. That’s a “safe” candidate vs a failed Presidency, with no major wave making etc. When articulating the philosophical differences, and contrasting them, forcing a decision of record and beliefs, it will easily gain a 5 point swing to the Republican. The electoral map won’t break down as bad as other elections due to population distributions, but the electoral disaster waiting the democrats if Newt is the nominee hasn’t been seen in a long long time.. and frankly if Newt doesn’t have a temper losing event, and keeps the debate and pressure on and at the ideological record level, Obama will likely not even get 40% of the vote. IMHO.
2008 was more of a repudiation of Bush, than an endorcement of Obama... and Obama was a joke of a candidate who offered nothing but essoteric rhetoric and a minority face. That’s not going to be 2012.. The repudiation of this administration, barring something completely unforseen and massive is going to be insane, if someone like Newt were to be the nominee.
Obviously the future isn’t written, and time will tell.