I too was sure of that a couple of days ago. But I'm beginning to wonder if the GOP-e has concluded Santorum is somebody they can work with. I also suspect Romney AND the GOP-e figure after their plain, obvious destruction of 3-4 candidates (most notably and blatantly Gingrich) they truly fear backlash.
Either way we may not see an assault on Santorum until/unless he wins enough delegates to win the nomination...or appears certain to do so.
The Democrats have no fear of a candidate who has led with Social Conservatism all his political life. They'll wait until Santorum is the nominee and THEN use a still-sharp tool: Ridicule.
Pictures of Santorum with preachers laying on hands. Obscure quotes, often out of context, that sound right out of the Assemblies of God Sunday School. References to statements about legislation where he supports or is against, in which he cites God or Jesus as the source of his reasoning.
You won't hear anything about taxes, spending, programs or national defense.
Culture war 100% and non-stop in every possible media environment...facebook, internet ads, search engines, tv, radio, newspapers, magazines and ALL the commentators in all of them.
They will take the VERY SAME TACT with Romney only it'll be about Mormonism.
Obama 60% of the vote and 45 states if Santorum or Romney gets the nomination. Significant losses in the House and Senate for the GOP.
Whether we like it or not, a culture war is NOT what we can lead with and we can't put a candidate up like these two if we want to win.
I know many think I'm crazy or amoral for saying it, but I believe it...and that's NOT an endorsement.
Romney can only win by going scorched earth against his rivals and Santorum is unscathed. It’s his turn. Romney hasn’t spent $50+ Million to see his ambitions fail at this point.
Gingrich has to rebound and he started tonight by not even mentioning his rivals.
GO NEWT!
You’re precisely correct about the methods of attack that will be used against Santorum in a general election.
But Newt wouldn’t do any better. They’ll get all the moderate and independent women to hate Santorum based on his abortion and gay rights views....
But all of those women ALREADY hate Newt.
Mariner, I get the point that economic and military conservatives often are uncomfortable with social conservatives. I get it — I really do. We need all three legs of the stool to win, and I don't want to torque off my colleagues who are conservatives of a different stripe than me.
But look at the buzzsaw President Obama ran into over the mandated contraception coverage on the Roman Catholic Church. Apparently even VP Joe Biden opposed that.
Social issues make religious voters very, very, very angry... enough to get out and vote in ways that demographics say they shouldn't vote.
That means key swing states turn Republican that should be Democrat.
If Obama keeps antagonizing Hispanic Roman Catholic voters, he has lost the race if Santorum is the nominee, and he may lose it if Gingrich is the nominee.
Also remember that the incredible vitriol the left wing of the Democratic Party will pour out against Santorum won't go down well with reasonable Americans. Code Pink and ACT-UP may win votes in San Francisco, but they make the Democrats look like crazies. Go google “Santorum” and “gay anal sex” if you want to see how bad those people get.
Most middle-of-the-road Americans will take a Roman Catholic who sounds a little crazy over pink boa-wearing half-naked homosexuals running around the streets in leather thongs bashing Santorum’s stance on gay marriage.
116 posted on Friday, February 10, 2012 8:41:23 PM by gov_bean_ counter: “Santorum’s appeal is more limited than his supporter will want to admit. Florida aside Santorum will not win the Right to Work South.”
That's not a minor issue.
My read is Santorum believes in state's rights on union matters. I support that.
You may well be correct that Gingrich, with his anti-union history, can win the South more easily in the primary. But where will those anti-union voters go if Santorum is the nominee? Certainly not to Obama. Where will pro-union workers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and other key industrial states go if Gingrich is the nominee? I'm afraid Obama starts to look a lot better to a socially conservative ethnic blue collar worker who usually votes Democrat if the race is between Obama and Gingrich, or (even worse) between Obama and Romney.
Again, that is **NOT** defending unions. Freedom of association is a constitutional right, and while I don't have a problem with workers joining unions if they want to do so, I have a big problem with forcing them to join unions. On the other hand, if a company owner wants to say that as a condition of employment you have to join a union, I am very hard-pressed to say the government should tell companies what their employment rules should be.
My point is that right-to-work legislation isn't as simple as it might appear to be at first. I don't support companies telling workers they have to join unions, but I'm not sure I like the government telling companies they can't make their own decisions on that matter. I can see both sides of the issue and I think the best solution is to have open shops with employees making their own decisions based on whether they think the unions are helping or hurting them.