Posted on 04/04/2012 10:44:07 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The possibility of a loss in his home state of Pennsylvania might force Rick Santorum to drop out of the Republican primary sooner than he’d planned, say GOP strategists.
Santorum is notoriously strong-willed, and those close to him say that party elders will not be able to convince him to exit the race if he thinks he has a shot at the Republican nomination.
But one of Santorum’s close friends told The Hill that while the former Pennsylvania senator remains confident about winning his home state and using that to build May momentum, if that confidence falters, he might exit the race. Pennsylvania state Sen. Jake Corman (R), a longtime friend of Santorum and his family, said if it appeared Santorum wasn’t going to win the state, the former senator could drop his campaign. “He’s a realist; he doesn’t have his head in the clouds,” Corman told The Hill. “As long as he sees a pathway to the nomination he’s going to stay in it, but he won’t stay in it to prove a point. If he gets to the point where he doesn’t think he’ll be the nominee, he’ll get out.”
Santorum is running second in the delegate count to rival Mitt Romney, and the party establishment is increasing pressure on the former senator to exit the race and clear a path for the former Massachusetts governor.
And while he led Romney by six points in a Quinnipiac poll of Pennsylvania voters out Tuesday, that was before Romney’s win in Wisconsin on Tuesday night. It’s also a decline for the former senator, who led Romney by double digits earlier this month.
Many Republican strategists argue that Santorum has resurrected his political career after a bad 2006 Senate loss with his surprisingly strong presidential campaign — but that another loss in his home state could undo all that work, leading to predictions that if he thinks he could lose Pennsylvania, he might bow out.
“If he loses Pennsylvania twice, that’s going to really hobble him in the future. That’d be very hard to live down,” said Kirsten Fedewa, Mike Huckabee’s 2008 communications director.
Fedewa speculated that Santorum may be encountering what Huckabee faced near the end of his campaign.
“There’s a point on the campaign trail where you start seeing diminishing returns, thinner crowds, you’re not getting the big boost on your website fundraising, the enthusiasm factor is dying down,” she said. “He’s going to be feeling it on the stump and seeing the impact on his campaign. He’s an anti-establishment candidate, so what the establishment does or doesn't do isn’t going to persuade him — but when he sees the intensity factor waning, that’s going to weigh heavily.”
Santorum is campaigning hard in his home state. The last two primary nights he’s held his post-election rallies in Pennsylvania. He’s scheduled to spend Wednesday campaigning there.
The former senator has insisted he’ll stay in the race through the April 24 primaries that include Pennsylvania as well as a number of states friendly to Romney: New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware, and fight on through May, when the map includes a number of states where Santorum could be in good shape.
But Romney is not going to cede Pennsylvania. His campaign sent full-time staffers to the state last week and he will stump there Wednesday. A super-PAC that backs him has made inquiries about the costs of television buys in the state and has indicated it will make a large buy there soon, according to local sources.
Romney also has the endorsement of four Pennsylvania lawmakers — one more than Santorum’s three, according to The Hill’s tally.
On top of that, Santorum’s fundraising might have slowed to a trickle as his star has faded — and if he continues his campaign, there could be severe backlash from establishment Republicans that might limit his future role in the party.
“The biggest problem for Santorum is there’s a three-week lull, no way to break the media narrative that Romney has this sewn up and a continued race will only hurt the nominee,” Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak told The Hill on Monday. “Santorum’s desperately trying to survive until May … when does the pressure become too much?”
PoliticsPA managing editor Keegan Gibson said many of the attacks Romney has leveled against Santorum have even more resonance in Pennsylvania: his endorsement of centrist former Republican Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) over now-Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) in their 2004 primary and his move from Pennsylvania to the Washington, D.C., suburbs with his family. Santorum’s “going Washington” was a major attack line from Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) when he beat Santorum in 2006.
Another factor: Some of Toomey’s Tea Party backers remain angry at Santorum for his 2004 endorsement of Specter. Toomey himself has not endorsed Santorum, but recently praised Romney as a “conservative who will govern as a conservative.”
At a recent conservative confab in the state, Santorum was received politely but not raucously, and failed to garner a majority of the conference’s straw poll vote.
Former Rep. Phil English (R-Pa.), a Romney backer who managed Santorum’s first House race in 1990, called the results “stunning.”
“He’s done nothing to repair the damage that was created in the lead-up to 2006, and a lot of it was self-inflicted,” said English, who praised Santorum for his strong campaign but warned that if he continued to run the GOP establishment might blackball him in the future, which could severely limit his influence within the party.
“I supported Rick Santorum every time he ran for office and was thrilled he did as well as he did … but Rick Santorum has already effectively lost the nomination,” he said. “The question becomes, does he have any role in the future of the party?”
Yeah, me too.
(1) In every state, from now until August, every Santorum loss is a Romney win.
(2a) If Romney wins enough states, Gingrich has NO chance.
(2b) If Romney loses enough states, which in every case will be a loss to Santorum, then there will be a brokered convention, and a chance for a better candidate than Romney, possibly Gingrich.
I guess they consider Santorum to be a worse choice than Romney.
I too am perplexed by the anti-Rick posters. One things for sure, they’re Romnians or they wouldn’t be trying to kill off our last hope of stopping Romney.
They’re getting ready to shake the etch-a-sketch and we are the only ones who can stop them. If you live in PA, get busy. Get the word out how Rick manages his campaign funds vs. Mitt money-grows-on-trees Romney and ask which one people want to manage U.S. economy.
Even if Rick’s not your guy, you can have a choice at the convention if Rick stays in.
If Rick gets out, our options are gone, for good. Please, PA, wake up before it’s too late.
Then she should have run when she had the chance. But she chose not to. She does not want to be elected President in 2012.
It’s a shame, but I hope he releases all his delegates to Newt if he does this.
Renee Lynn, NO ONE would host hundreds of town meetings, through the roughest of weather, just for the sake of helping a guy who would have voted against him half the time had he been a Senator. Your conjecture is NOT rational, with all due respect. Bob
Gee, what a shock, a Huckabee comparison!
I think Santorum has caused enough trouble in more ways than he may even realize. The insiders and the media used him ( to stop Newt Gingrich of preventing Romney of having nearly a 4 year old promise; that he is next in line to run at the top of the ticket ) Yes, even Rush (loyalty to his boss and the Bushes), did as well. This entire primary has been hard to watch since we are missing a perfect opportunity to have much needed reforms. All that we will end up with is either Obama or a liberal democrat who feels more comfortable working with liberal ideas than a conservative idea. Because he does not fully understand conservative ideas. Romney’s wife even made a remark that she doesn’t know any conservatives. Romney’s record is troublesome and gives us proof for those concerns. We are not extremists. The conservatives have to see, there is no place for them where we are wanted at the table of ideas. Moderates are winning the debate and Romney’s win will do much damage to the party. Do they think voters will respect this kind of leadership!? Romney, attack to win strategy.
Rush is saved-his family values base never figures it out. Palin stepped aside after Rick Perry got in> that’s when her Jesus moment came> there was not room for a number of conservatives aiming for a specific group of voters (the party’s base). She knew this was going to happen-divide us like before. Rick, if only he had put his country first (not his faith), had united with Newt long ago, we could be looking at a different outlook. Palin would have helped Newt more and the party knows that. Look at the signals she gave.
Drudge, Ann/ Andy, Daily Caller, The Hill, Fox News and others have been doing whatever it takes to put out misleading stories. Rush set up the weak guy so others would go towards Mitt. The longer Rick stayed in, the more voters went to Mitt. The media’s next step will be to destroy Rick Santorum. Maybe, he should go for his own peace of mind. The only thing we can do is pray that the delegates at Tampa will refuse Romney on site- they don’t have to accept him-and who cares if the party’s world is embarrassed and Liberal Mitt is told that he is not trusted.
Mitt Romney looks like an undertaker-who will say anything to get your trust. Romney is not better than Obama distrustfully, a lair and appears to be set up candidate. There is no way that I will be supporting him nor voting for him. The more that I see of this primary, it looks to be rigged. It will be interesting to see the GOP getting a slap down because it is coming and the Obama people know it. We will never set our conservative agenda in place with the moderates. It is not working when you have 2 parties almost of the same. I am done watching Mitt Tv-. From Rubio, Paul Ryan being Mitt’s best friend to further their careers, nothing more. This stuff is not inspirational, it’s divide and conquer practices only.
The GOP Establishmen has learned it's lesson well, put up a 'social conservative' to divide the conservative vote and let their guy coast to victory.
You know Newt stayed in the race and Sanotorum beat him. Sick of all this talk about he should have teamed up with Newt. Had that happened, they would have both been out a long time ago. Newt lost his support, plain and simple. Nothing to do with anyone else.
Meanwhile, though I don’t like everything about Rick, I like that he’s a fighter. He’s been smeared far more than Newt yet has managed to win time and again. And I like that he views money as a finite resource, not to be tossed out like to the voters like candy in a parade like Mitt.
If this country is going to get back on its feet, we need to stop Romney. So stop all the Rick sucks crap and get on board or at least, get out of the way.
No matter how many of these threads you propagate, Newt will never be President, and neither will Romney.
Seems to be that Newt has done the most for Romney. Not sure it was a conspiracy.
It’s not easy to accept the fact that our presidential candidates are more selected by the establishment, than elected by the people.
You say, Neither will Romney-
are you threatening him.... or living in fairy land....
They enjoy their delusions that Newt is gonna win it all. LOL
Kool aid is a powerful drink.
That is a fabulous idea, but it would likely wind up like the case of Bush’s appointment of Alberto Gonzales. The Senate and House had a melt down over such a “Conservative” justice on the courts.
After Santorum went on national television to say that George Zimmerman was guilty before all of the evidence came out. What are you thinking?!
The things he said about Ryan and Johnson last night during his PA “victory” speech, did not sit well with most of the electorate and like a recurring rash, Santorum injured himself further again, by opening his oversized mouth.
Do not lose hope, Bush Senior endorsed Romney. Romney is
a bishop in a non-Christian sect. How does that work? Romney supports abortion no matter what he says now, there is no evidence of his change.
Heaven is watching...pray for Santorum and offer the smallest sacrifice or suffering.
http://www.holylove.org/messages_by_year.php#bottom
April 1, 2012
St. Joseph says: “Praise be to Jesus.”
“Tonight I come to you somberly under my title - Terror of Demons. As this Holy Week opens, be assured that Heaven needs your every prayer and sacrifice. Entire nations are following the path of Satan’s deception, which he presents under the guise of ‘religion’. These ones are bent on self-destruction and the demise of all who are not similarly persuaded.”
“Christ suffered for all, and is not in this mentality of death and destruction to usher in the arrival of another and false messiah.”
“You must recognize Satan and his designs to destroy you before it is too late. Your prayers and sacrifices are the arsenal Heaven needs to destroy Satan’s plans.”
“I have been sent here tonight not to frighten you, but to encourage you and to enlist your aid.”
“It’s a shame, but I hope he releases all his delegates to Newt if he does this.”
Newt is running behind Paul in some polls. Maybe Newt should release his to Paul?
Newt is holding on to see if he can broker a deal to get Romney over the top so he can get a plum spot. If Santorum wins too much, maybe Romney can’t get over the top even with Newt.
Newt just wants to be relevant, and doesn’t care who has to pay for his intransigence, even if it’s America.
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