[Windy City Conservative]

This Ponnuru is probably the worst apple at National Review. Sounds like a trojan horse in the social conservative movement as well.

[American Constitutionalist]

Sounds more like they are just obeying their marching orders from the establishment to help Mitt Romney.

[cripplecreek]

I’m sure the Mittbots will all agree. After all, what could be better for conservatives than a liberal republican. /s

The thing is, anybody who believes in social and fiscal conservatives as separate entities is a liar or an idiot.

[Da Coyote]

And RINOmney doesn’t?

I’ll nevah vote for the vapid dork.

Nor will I vote for the wimpoid quota baby.

Guess I’ll just have to leave the president block blank, cuz it just will not matter which idiot gets in.

CW-II, here we come.

[Vigilanteman]

Rick Santorum has done a splendid job of keeping socially conservative issues at the forefront in a way that neither Mitt (with his Massachusetts baggage) or Newt (with his schlong control baggage) could never hope to do.

I've never understood the short-sightedness of some economic conservatives who think they can build a firewall between social conservatism and economic conservatism. If you think it was expensive keeping the pink mafia out of the military, just as one example, then wait until you see the bill for allowing them in it.

[winner3000]

Sorry to say that he’s right. For all of the leftist extremism of Obama, and the cynicism that can be induced by Romney, with all of this rich and outrageous material for Santorum to pick from, he again and again picks on issues that the public has accepted and is not outraged by. His political judgment has been terrible. I have got to say that when his preachiness and moralizing gets to rub ME the wrong way, I can’t imagine what it does to people in the middle and on the left. Even though I am both a fiscal and social conservative, it’s people like him that makes many people nervous about giving too much power to social conservatives, even though social liberals keep using the power given to them to force people to act against their conscience. Seeing Obama and Santorum in action makes one see the many advantages of libertarianism.

[Carriage Hill]

Agree 100%. He’s a plant/tool to disrupt us from our fiscal/social goals.

[detective]

I have been a Santorum supporter and I have watched the media distort his principled positions and often lie about him. Social Conservative is actually an inaccurate and misleading term. It implies that someone is negative and is not concerned about economics and the economic well being of our country and its citizens.

The term I would use is morally strong or morally courageous. It is someone who actually stands for something other than political correctness, government hand outs and self-gratification. The political arena has become so amoral and dishonest that is a pleasure to see someone willing to speak the difficult truth and identify the moral corruption that is harming America.

That being said, I think if Santorum had been able to better articulate his ideas and deal with the media he would be the front runner right now. It is true that the media attacked him and lied about him. It is true he was massively outspent and subject to a continual barrage of negative advertisements coupled with media attacks. But if Santorum could have done a little better identifying a theme and hammering it home he would have won.

The problem with Saqntorum is not his positions. They are great. The problem is his inability to articulate them effectively in the face of a hostile and dishonest media.

[dforest]

The pressure is on for Santorum to get out so that Mitt can save money and finish this off.

I don’t know if anyone heard Crazy Ann on FOX this morning, but she was totally hysterical.

Gretchen asked her why the process upset her so much when the GOP set it up the way it is to keep the interest going longer.

Honest to God, I have never seen Ann so tongue tied and left speechless. She looked so foolish. Ann is fallin’ on the sword to have her some Mitt love.

[SECURE AMERICA]

In the fall of Rick Santorum’s second year as a senator, he asked an impertinent question of his colleague Russ Feingold (D., Wis.)

Impertinent?? Says all I need to know about the writer.
Since Feingold was championing the killing of babies how could any question be impertinent?

[throwback]

But the evidence for that view is much weaker than the evidence that Santorum’s brand of social conservatism — with its abrasive tone, its lack of strategic discrimination, its proud refusal to acknowledge political reality — is destined for defeat.

I'm convinced. The only way to advance the social agenda is to voice the message so subtly and with such nuance that the voters will be unaware that they are being convinced to vote for a socially conservative candidate without realizing it. Obama said deciding the issue of when life begins was above his paygrade. That's pretty nuanced. Maybe Obama qualifies as a social conservative. Why do I need Republicans again?

[JSDude1]

This article is laughable, if not down right stupid.

[Lazlo in PA]

This dude is fully 100% in the tank for Romney. There is a reason he is coming up with idiotic arguments why Rick is somehow hurting a cause this dope would wish disappear.

Ramesh Ponnuru’s Mitt Romney Endorsement

[WPaCon]

Nice picture of Santorum at the site. /s

National Review went down the toilet. I can’t imagine writers from the early days of National Review like Buckley, Bozell, and Kuehnelt-Leddihn would ever demonize Santorum like that.

Someone should start a magazine that was similar to how NR originally was—severely conservative and staffed with highly intelligent contributors. Now, the magazine’s conservatism and intelligence are middle of the road.