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[quote]At Stax, Santorum accepted the endorsement of Gary Bauer, a social conservative icon and former policy advisor to Ronald Reagan. Bauer even referred to Santorum as “the next Ronald Reagan.”[/quote]

This guy’s estimation of Ronald Reagan must be pretty low then. I have no doubt that Santorum is a good guy. I respect many of his positions; however, most of what he says is rather vapid, or aimed at satisfying itching ears of conservatives. He doesn’t present any substance. He doesn’t propose any “radical” reforms of the system that the other candidates don’t already do; and compared to the other candidates, his “reforms” are lackluster.

A vote for Santorum is like a vote for the Generic Republican that sometimes goes head to head against Obama in Presidential polls. In fact, he’d probably be more popular if his name was actually Generic Republican.

I see Santorum’s rise as merely a consequence of a desperation vote; and now that he has this “surge”, conservatives are bandwagging on him in the same way they got on the Newt Gingrich train perhaps just a few days prior. It has nothing to do with real policy positions. It is merely about a desperate desire to get behind a non-Romney candidate for fear of Romney getting the nomination.

That is perfectly understandable. But replacing Romney with a Generic Republican isn’t ideal either.

I was for Cain early on until the GOP turned their backs on him and let him fry in those accusations. Perry is the last real conservative standing. Despite the reputation of being weak on illegals, Perry has actually been pretty strong with them. I don’t believe it is a legitimate issue. His record as Governor is incredibly conservative and deserves consideration. He may look and talk like GWB, but he is far more conservative than GWB. He also has the charisma and substance that the other candidates lack.

Good points.

Rick Perry is anti-establishment-business as usual, and “they” know it.

D.C. does not want the Perry wreaking ball swinging their way.

Be we should. He will be our voice and work for us.

Perry: “You have my back and I will have yours in Washington D.C.

And he means it.

This guy’s estimation of Ronald Reagan must be pretty low then. I have no doubt that Santorum is a good guy. I respect many of his positions; however, most of what he says is rather vapid, or aimed at satisfying itching ears of conservatives. He doesn’t present any substance. He doesn’t propose any “radical” reforms of the system that the other candidates don’t already do; and compared to the other candidates, his “reforms” are lackluster.

Yeah, heralding Santorum as the 2nd coming of Reagan, is pretty laughable.

Santorum's made himself more than apparent as a big government guy with a collectivist worldview. Santorum is not a conservative. Populist social conservative, yes. But not a conservative. His message is one which will ultimately turn off everyone but diehard SoCons. More than likely, Santorum's presence will spoil the vote to ensure Romney's coronation.

I'd much sooner vote for Perry than I would Santorum. But Perry doesn't seem to be getting any traction, and it's hard to see that he'll be able to reignite any momentum, all things considered about how his candidacy has played out thus far.

At this point, I’m not keen on bashing any of the remaining conservatives. You don’t have to tear down Santorum to save Perry. All conservatives should focus on Romney. He’s the real threat.

I couldn’t agree with you more. I loved Bush but Perry is far more conservative.

As to Rick Santorum, his core values seem to be mutable.

He panders to whatever state he’s in. He pandered to the ethanol subsidies in Iowa.

He pandered to the union voters in New Hampshire (anti right to work - though he tried to spin it later)

He doesn’t look like a president or act like one. His surge was based on one caucus and it doesn’t look as though he’ll be able to maintain it.

As to Newt ... well, that’s a whole other story.

I just hope South Carlolina will wake up.

I am greatly troubled by Santorum's protection of unions. He filibustered "right-to-work" legislation.

It will not be possible to get this country back on the right track to prosperity and and job creation while allowing unions to kill jobs.