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Posted on 02/06/2012 9:58:28 PM PST by Steelfish
FEBRUARY 6, 2012 Again, Why Not Santorum? He’s a true conservative and he can win. By Quin Hillyer
Missouri’s “beauty contest” primary on Tuesday could be Rick Santorum’s big chance. If he defeats Mitt Romney in that event, as at least one poll shows he is poised to do, the punditocracy and public alike might finally recognize the considerable upside he would offer Republicans as their presidential nominee.
Rick Santorum can win the Republican nomination. Rick Santorum can indeed beat Barack Obama in the fall. And Rick Santorum can and would govern at least as conservatively as Ronald Reagan did.
The evidence of his principled, mainstream conservatism is unambiguous, as is his record of winning long-shot races. What hasn’t been fully understood yet is why, and how, Santorum could win the Republican nomination and the presidency.
Let’s start with a few underappreciated realities about opinion polls held so far in advance of a general election. First, favorable/unfavorable ratings, along with the level of name identification, are far more important than direct “horse race” numbers. Second, poll “internals,” along with focus-group data if possible, should be interpreted to assess how much growth potential a candidate has, along with what his downside political risks are.
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.)
Santorum, on the other hand, is far less well known, so he has a greater chance to move polls in either direction as voters get to know him better.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
Wow, just 2 posts down is the “Santorum is a Tea Party Phony” thread. Things are heating up here at FR.
Oh I’m all about Santorum. I am not stupid enough to think he wouldn’t have a tough row to hoe ... but it’s a row I’d love to hoe right along beside him.
Go Rick!!!!! Let’s do this!!!
I have been asking this for a long time. It seems like everyone is just nuts this primary season. Thank God that our Savior Jesus Christ is in charge of this great country and seems to be intervening in the mess and straightening it out. He was trying to stay out of it but found that morals were not taken seriously during the primary and he finally said enough and his choice seems to be Santorum. Prayers help and everyone should be praying for Rick Santorum our next President of the United States of America.
Principled conservative, yes. Thru and thru. Perfect? No. Go Santorum!
If all it took to get elected was position papers, then you or I could do it.
Santorum reminds people of the class nerd who got rid of the glasses with contact lens, but is still the class nerd.
He isn’t Mr. Charisma.
It’s not Rick’s time; it’s Newts. RS needs to bow-out and send votes and support Newt’s way. Santorum is just divding the votes, and beginning to ruin his future chances within the party by doing so...
"This whole idea of personal autonomy, well I don’t think most conservatives hold that point of view. Some do. They have this idea that people should be left alone, be able to do whatever they want to do, government should keep our taxes down and keep our regulations low, that we shouldn’t get involved in the bedroom, we shouldn’t get involved in cultural issues. You know, people should do whatever they want. Well, that is not how traditional conservatives view the world and I think most conservatives understand that individuals can’t go it alone." [source]Check out his brochure, 50 Things You Didn't Know About Rick Santorum, where he proudly defends food stamps, increasing minimum wage, stem cell harvesting, college tuition subsidies, bloated school funding, working with Bono to fight world poverty, etc.
"What was my vision? I came to the uncomfortable realization that conservatives were not only reluctant to spend government dollars on the poor, they hadn’t even thought much about what might work better. I often describe my conservative colleagues during this time as simply ‘cheap liberals.’ My own economically modest personal background and my faith had taught me to care for those who are less fortunate, but I too had not yet given much thought to the proper role of government in this mission." –Rick Santorum, p. IX It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good (2005)
"I suspect some will dismiss my ideas as just an extended version of ‘compassionate conservatism.’ Some will reject what I have said as a kind of ‘Big Government Conservatism.’ Some will say that what I’ve tried to argue isn’t conservatism at all. But I believe what I’ve been presenting is the genuine conservatism our Founders envisioned. One that fosters the opportunity for all Americans to live as we are called to live, in selfless families that contribute to the general welfare, the common good." –Rick Santorum, p. 421 It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good (2005)
"If you're a conservative, there really is only one place to go right now. I would even argue farther than that. If you're a Republican, if you're a Republican in the broadest sense, there is only one place to go right now and that's Mitt Romney." –Rick Santorum, 02/1/2008 [source]
Santorum will get much of the Catholic vote in the present context, he is telegenic and unlike Gingrich whose unfavorable ratings are “terrible,” Santorum can move up his favorability ratings up. Besides as one with white collar appeal he is capable of bringing home the Reagan Democrats. If he wins PA as “favorite son” candidate, its curtains for Obama. Besides its the “culture stupid.”
Gingrich’s unfavorable ratings are sky high, he has never led Obama in Gallup’s national polls, is un-telegenic, loses the female vote by 20-points, and carries the $1.6m Freddie Mae albatross around his neck. In contrast, Santorum is an easier sell.
I agree..Santorum is loosing his chances for further positions by staying in ...he should leave soon. But he won’t, h’e too much involved in the glory this will get him in his mind.
We know he’ll never be able to bat against the obama machine let alone obama.....and the press will make mincemeat of him fast.
Newt’s the only one that’s prepared to take on congressional lleaders and obama when he hits the ground.....Rick just doesn’t have it yet...and he has a ways to go before he can play hardball.
Gingrich’s unfavorable ratings are sky high, he has never led Obama in Gallup’s national polls, is un-telegenic, loses the female vote by 20-points, and carries the $1.6m Freddie Mae albatross around his neck. In contrast, Santorum is an easier sell.
Blah, Blah Blah, and are you not for Newt?
The Missouri contest is just a sideshow that awards no candidates, so it is meaningless. Out of the 4 candidates, he is dead last and likely will remain so.
I am not slamming Rick. Hell, I prefer him to obama, Romney, or Ron Paul.
Rick is a nice guy! But! His campaign never has caught on!!!
Again, because Rick Santorium is a sanctimonious prig, a brittle, judgmental, arrogant, slow-witted, hypocritical, betrayer and coward, the sissy boy at the beach who gets sand thrown in his face and runs away crying mommy, his ambition surpassed only by his self-righteous self purity.
Sanctimonium has taken to referring to Newt as Congressman instead of Speaker - in an attempt to diminish Newt - apparently he doesn't realize he's diminishing himself for everyone to see. I don't think I've ever heard anyone speak about their mentor the way Tricky Ricky has been talking about Newt...
It helps when you use your own intelligence and analysis.
FACT CHECK: Gingrich overstates his Fla. results
AP foreign, Tuesday February 7 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) — After losing Saturday’s Nevada caucus race, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich sought solace in what he called an encouraging statistic: that his supporters were turning out to vote more enthusiastically than those of his chief rival, Mitt Romney.
“I think it’s amazing, if you go look at Florida, every county I carried in Florida had an increased turnout. Every county Romney carried in Florida had a decreased turnout. Now that should sober every Republican in the country,” Gingrich told reporters.
He repeated the assertion in appearances on CBS, NBC and CNN.
His numbers were off, however. While Gingrich carried 34 counties in the Jan. 31 Florida primary, 13 of those recorded lower turnout than they had in the last such GOP voting, in 2008.
And while 32 of the 33 counties Romney carried in winning the state did see declines, it wasn’t as absolute as Gingrich put it. One — Sumter County — showed a nearly 20 percent increase in turnout.
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A better sell to whom? Idiots and morally bereft... Gingrich is merely a sinner being saved by grace... there is a remedy for that. Sanctimonium is a selfrightous self purist, who believes God has called him to run for President, and that he has the kind of superior character that belongs in the White House compared to the other candidates.
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