Again, Why Not Santorum? (He's a true conservative and he can beat Obama)

National Review ^ | 02/06/2012 | Quinn Hillyer

[FerociousRabbit]

Hmmm... Santorum has a shot at beating Romney in Missouri. Why? Because Newt isn’t on the ballot. The conservative vote is split between Santorum and Gingrich. If one were to drop out then Romney wouldn’t stand a chance at getting the nomination.

[RygelXVI]

That describes 20 million people including myself...should I run?

If you think an American citizen with (at least) as much the common sense God gave a donkey would do better than a lying big government Washington politician, as I do, then yes, of course, a private citizen would make a better candidate for president than most of these jokers.

[Elvina]

Me too in Mich.

[joe fonebone]

Why not santorum??? arlen specter..... enough said

[pgkdan]

If a candidate has been widely known, and widely disliked, for a long, long time, that candidate has little room for growth. Very few public officials in American history, for instance, have as longstanding a record of horribly unfavorable poll numbers as Newt Gingrich has had for 17 years now. (His particularly dreadful polling problems among women, for instance, seem flat-out insurmountable.)

Two points. First...Newt's unfavoables are still huge. In the neighborhood of 60% and Santorum's are half that...and since Santo is not nearly as well known he has some upside potential there where Newt has none. And second...the women's vote. Newt's chances there don't just SEEM flat out insurmountable. They are! He'll never get withing 25 points of obama and with those kinds of numbers he simply CAN NOT win!

[reasonisfaith]

At this point, Santorum’s diagnosis is: stalking horse for Romney. Whether he knows it or not. The left and the establishment know it, that’s for sure.

[gitmogrunt]

Santorum is the GOP's stalking horse, designed to portray himself as a conservative, and to divide the Conservative vote. He has fulfilled that function quite well, at least so far.

[ZULU]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[Christie at the beach]

Can someone ask in the media who is funding Rick's campaign since we do not hear a word about his campaign fiances as we do about Newts.

[RygelXVI]

What has happened to the Republican Party? Seriously. The limited government conservatives get nowhere

I assume you're referring to Ron Paul, Michele Bachmann, and ... ... Thad McCotter?

Rick Perry is a populist, though he did run on a somewhat limited govt platform. Pawlenty, populist, did some good things in a tough state for conservatives. Herman Cain, bless his heart, never thought he was going to be seriously considered and thus was not prepared on many levels.

So why did limited govt conservatives get nowhere? Paul is a nutcase, Bachmann couldn't stay on message, McCotter didn't really commit to the race.

Then there are the many candidates who did not run.

[ladyvet]

I know......only the great messiah known as newt leroy....newt is and can...despite the fact that a case of vd is more popular than he is among the general voters

I have many independent/Dem. family members that do not want Obama back for another four but will not under any circumstances vote for Newt, especially the woman. Character counts.

[Sirius Lee]

Newt is the stronger candidate. He’s more conservative, he’s more persuasive, and he can run rings around Rick and Robamaney Intellectually.

Rick’s a nice guy, but we need a fighter, so he needs to either step aside, or just come out and admit that he’s just trolling to be plastic-man’s veep.

[pgkdan]

If you want to. But I think it describes more like 100 million people.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: He’ll never get withing 25 points of obama and with those kinds of numbers he simply CAN NOT win!

__________________________

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/290180/rasmussen-santorum-45-obama-44-robert-costa

Rasmussen: Santorum 45, Obama 44

By Robert Costa

February 4, 2012 2:13 P.M.

As NRO reported on Friday, Santorum’s advisers are committed to staying in the race. The latest Rasmussen tracking poll offers some encouragement:

In a potential Election 2012 matchup, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum is at 45% while President Obama earns 44%. This is the first time in any poll that Santorum has led the president. Several other GOP challengers have led the president a single time in the polls including Rick Perry, Herman Cain, and Newt Gingrich. Each man briefly held the lead while they were surging in the polls, only to fall quickly. It remains to be seen what will happen to Santorum’s support.

[pgkdan]

We need to get behind Newt before it’s too late.

Unless he's the nominee of the party Newt will never get my vote. He's morally unfit for the office and he hasn't got a snowball's chance in hell of winning the general.

[Mozilla]

problem we have now is two fold. One thing is that conservatives are divided over Gingrich and Santorum. The other is that Santorum does good in the Midwest and Gingrich odes well in the South. These are the facts.

People for Gingrich are right that Santorum lost his momentum. People for Santorum are right that Gingrich has baggage that hurts him in the general. At this point I just want Romney out. Gingrich seems to be the best one left. But I am sweating it.

If Santorum pulled it off I would support him. But right now people the state favor only Gingrich. But Gingrich needs to beat Mitt on Super Tuesday.

GOP is going to go the way of the whigs if Romney wins the nomination. As soon as Obama takes a lead on Romney then all chaos will break.

Tea party or someone conservative will attempt a 3rd party run and a lot of people that didn’t want a 3rd party candidates will be begging for it.

So We have to beat Romney. Or there will be consequences. I am sure of it. The people can’t be dissatisfied with both political parties and not have a swamp of 3rdparty people run to tap into that feeling.

[TomGuy]

If one were to drop out then Romney wouldn’t stand a chance at getting the nomination.

In both FL and NV, Romney got more than the combo of Gingrich+Santorum.

Maybe a single conservative in the race might be better, but currently, the combined votes for the two conservatives are not even getting par with Romney.

NV = Santorum 10%, Gingrich 21% = 31%
Romney 50%

FL = Santorum 13%, Gingrich 32% = 45%
Romney 46%

==

Ron Paul is the fly-in-the-ointment. If he dropped out, would his supporters go to Romney, to the conservative or to the Libertarian Party?

[Malesherbes]

I wrote Santorum off before he even began. An 18 percent loss in his Senate re-election bid struck me as “cooked goose” territory. Yet I have watched in admiration as he held on while others dropped by the wayside in the current race. In my eyes, he has rehabilitated himself.

I still don’t trust Romney. I admire Newt and I especially like his views on defending Christianity at home and abroad and his desire to rein in our imperial judiciary. Yet I know that the media is ready to dump on him again, big time, as “the Gingrich who stole Christmas.”

In March, when I vote, I will decide as I walk into the booth: Newt or Rick.

[RygelXVI]

Newt is the stronger candidate. He’s more conservative, he’s more persuasive, and he can run rings around Rick and Robamaney Intellectually.

"...and doggonit, people don't like me!"

Regarding relative conservatism of the candidates, people have different opinions, which I will not rehash. Let's just say it's debatable. Persuasion? If most people do not like him, how persuasive can he be? Intellect? There's no question Newt is smart. He has a lot of ideas. Does he have the wisdom to know a good idea from a poor one, to govern himself as a candidate and as a president?

[Mozilla]

Correcting some grammatical errors.

The problem we have now is two fold. One thing is that conservatives are divided over Gingrich and Santorum. The other is that Santorum does good in the Midwest and Gingrich odes well in the South. These are the facts.

People for Gingrich are right that Santorum lost his momentum. People for Santorum are right that Gingrich has baggage that hurts him in the general. At this point I just want Romney out. Gingrich seems to be the best one left. But I am sweating it.

If Santorum pulls it off I would support him. But right now more states favor Gingrich that are coming up. But Gingrich needs to be able to beat Mitt on Super Tuesday.

GOP is going to go the way of the Whigs if Romney wins the nomination. As soon as Obama takes a lead on Romney then all chaos will break.

Tea party or someone conservative will attempt a 3rd party run and a lot of people that didn’t want a 3rd party candidate will be begging for it.

So we have to beat Romney. Or there will be consequences. I am sure of it. The people can’t be dissatisfied with both political parties and not have a swamp of 3rdparty people run to tap into that feeling.