Posted on 01/01/2012 9:07:13 AM PST by SmithL
A month ago, Rick Santorum's Republican presidential campaign wasn't just an afterthought, it was a non-thought. The conservative former Pennsylvania senator had raised less money than all his major rivals, recorded dismal poll numbers and drawn attention mostly for whining about not getting enough screen time during the GOP's televised debates.
But on Saturday, Santorum found no shortage of media attention as he stumped at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum in Knoxville. After 250 appearances similar to this in Iowa - more than all but one of the top GOP candidates in Tuesday's caucuses combined - and the endorsement of key evangelical Christian leaders, Santorum has a decent shot of finishing among the top three.
A sure sign of Santorum's ascent: The candidate who raised the most money in the third quarter - Texas Gov. Rick Perry - is now attacking the two-term senator as a "Washington insider."
Santorum's improbable rise is only the latest forehead-slapping chapter in the political reality show that can best be described as "GOP Survivor: The Heartland."
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Having listened to former ‘Republican’ Senator Specter’s recent hate filled comedy routine, I have to question Santorum’s judgment. Didn’t he back Specter over a real conservative recently?
Having listened to former ‘Republican’ Senator Specter’s recent hate filled comedy routine, I have to question Santorum’s judgment. Didn’t he back Specter over a real conservative recently?
Oh give it a break. He has zero baggage compared to Newt. We need Rick Santorum to win this thing as he is our moral conservative!!!!! I am so proud of Rick Santorum and Iowa!!!! Rick has started commercials in NH. We need Bachmann and Perry to drop out today and Newt to drop out after NH. If this were to happen, Santorum would run the South. Oh how things are coming my way!!! My prayers are being answered!!!!!
Santorum endorsed Specter because George Bush asked him to. It was a mistake. Santorum knows it was a mistake.
Whichever conservative (Newt 90% ACU rating, Santorum 85% ACU, Perry the Conserv gov, or Michelle the Conserv c-w) beats Willard the Flaming Lib for FIRST PLACE in IA is a friend of mine on Tuesday...
Prediction?
Santorum: ~24% ..Will prove that the ingenious Hucka-WAY of visiting every county, campaigning in every Pizza Ranch, shaking every man/woman/farmer/home schooler’s hand and kissing/holding/hugging every baby from Iowa WORKS GREAT!!!
Romney: ~22% ..LESS than he got in ‘08 when Huck LANDSLIDED poor Willard
Paul: ~16% ..He’s sliding hard now perhaps BELOW Newt
Gingrich: ~14.99999% ..I think Newt can hit 15% tops — the $10,000,000 in attack ads sadly worked well, costing him 50% of his support
Perry: toast
Bachmann: toast
Huntsman: toast
2004...over seven years ago. Newt endorsed Scozzafava in 2009, but nobody seems to want to talk about that.
what the hell is going on here?
Suddenly we all want Santorum??
I am not buying it
They are using Santorum to destroy Newt, so they can end up with Romney- this is GOP establishment game playing
I will absoultley PUKE if i have to listen to smarmy pablum from “Mitt” trying to debate the communist kenyan
I would pay good money to see Newt debate Obummer
Did you leave a trail of breadcrumbs so you can find your way back to the real world?
Try breathing into a paper bag.
Hmmm. I have no love for Gingrich. I was just asking the question.
I hope he (Santorum) doesn’t let political pressure influence him again. If he gave the endorsement out of loyalty of some kind, I think he made a horrible choice.
If he has admitted that, hooray. I haven’t kept up.
I’d happily vote for Santorum.
He has no real baggage, conservative credentials and core beliefs.
And he comes from a big industrial state.
Newt Gingrich is too moderate for my tastes and I can’t vote for him and he brings a lot of personal baggage to the campaign.
If we don’t want Mittens, I think Santorum is the only one who stands a good chance of beating Obama.
No one is dropping out.
Whether Santorum is going to be more than the latest GOP Flavor Of The Month, we’ll see.
santorum is too whiny in the debates to be any good against Obama- whereas Newt would DESTROY obama in the debates.
that said, I would GLADLY vote for santorum over romney, and would def. vote for him over Obama- but I would rather sit home if the GOP forced “Mitt” for brains on us
If by ‘recently’ you mean 7 to 8 years ago, yes. Specter had also gone to the mat and had put all of his own clout on the line to help Santorum in his previous close races which no doubt helped put him across the finish line, including in 2000 where the head winds were against him with Gore carrying the state. When Specter found himself in a tight spot Santorum returned the favor. It would have required a lack of personal and professional integrity for Santorum not to have done so. Integrity is a disqualifier for some based on the nonsensical vitriol spewed toward Santorum over this issue, but not to me - nor to Pat Toomey.
Nope...I went over to Santorum after Cain dropped out...not to “destroy Newt.” Santorum was nowhere at that time, just as Cain was nowhere when I first starting supporting him.
Thanks for the well reasoned response. I’m sure it helped a few people out.
How I hope this is true about Santorum, but the critics say he can’t win anything else even if a miracle happened in IA.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say “No one is dropping out.”.
By all accounts Bachmann’s campaign is all but dead.
She wasn’t drawing flies to her appearances yesterday.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.