Not saying Rick should drop, he has a right to be in the race - but Newt is the only real alternative to Romney. We may still lose with Newt, but it would be like throwing a hail mary that might really force actual change. Gingrich would articulate conservatism like no one else in the race can (even if he hasn't always walked the walk), go after the media in a way few other politicians could, and otherwise potentially change the dynamic of the election. Santorum can't do that. Rick is a bland, not particularly charismatic guy who has been stereotyped into a corner as a social issues candidate - and this election will be about the economy not social issues.
That Santorum is actually doing well speaks more to how poor our field of candidates really is, not how terrific Rick is as a potential nominee.
It matters little I suppose. With Newt and Rick both in the race, the chameleon will eventually be nominated and we will go back to having another empty RINO shell as a nominee. Coulter and others will wet themselves with glee, but we all know Romney is not a conservative and can only win if Hussein makes so many mistakes he literally implodes.
Anyone who knows PA politics understands this is because Casey is the son of a popular Pro-Life Democrat ex-Governor. 2006 was a lousy year for any Republican, but running against a socially Conservative Democrat in an anti-Republican year strips Santorum of any advantages he may have had in Western PA.
4-years later Toomey wins the state ... that is just how PA works. Philadelphia and the (liberal) suburbs are very hard to beat except when folks are upset. Then the state goes Red. You can not use that as a measure of how Santorum would run in 2012.
>>If Rick Santorum ends up as our nominee, we are going to lose the election by 10+ points. Sorry, Santorum lost his home state by 18 the last time around - he’d be destroyed by Obama.<<
I used to feel the same way about his loss in 2006. How do you lose that badly? I no longer do, however. It was a weird year, PA was leaning Democrat, and his opponent was respected and ran as both pro-life, and pro-gun, hardly traditional Democrat stances.
As for his beating Democrats, this is how he got started in 1990 (from Wikipedia): In 1990, at age 32, Santorum was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives to represent Pennsylvania’s 18th congressional district, located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. He scored a significant upset in the heavily Democratic district, defeating seven-term Democratic incumbent Doug Walgren by a 51%-49% margin. During his campaign Santorum repeatedly criticized Walgren for living outside the district for most of the year. Although the 18th District was redrawn for the 1992 elections, and the new district had a 3:1 ratio of registered Democrats to Republicans, Santorum still won re-election with 61% of the vote.
Looks like he’s capable of winning Independents to me.
As for his support for Spector, Wikipedia reports: “ Reporters have observed that though Santorum and Specter differed on social policy, Specter provided him with key political staff for his successful run in 1994.”
That was when he won his Senate seat, beating a Democrat incumbent, something that’s usually very difficult to accomplish.
In short, I have no trouble thinking that Santorum can beat Obama. He certainly won’t lose by 10 points in the current environment.
I see Rick as a Rino establishment candidate. I guess we’ll see what happens, but I just think phony when I look at him. Not about christianity but about being a conservative.
>>If Rick Santorum ends up as our nominee, we are going to lose the election by 10+ points. Sorry, Santorum lost his home state by 18 the last time around - he’d be destroyed by Obama.<<
I used to feel the same way about his loss in 2006. How do you lose that badly? I no longer do, however. It was a weird year, PA was leaning Democrat, and his opponent was respected and ran as both pro-life, and pro-gun, hardly traditional Democrat stances.
As for his beating Democrats, this is how he got started in 1990 (from Wikipedia): In 1990, at age 32, Santorum was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives to represent Pennsylvania’s 18th congressional district, located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. He scored a significant upset in the heavily Democratic district, defeating seven-term Democratic incumbent Doug Walgren by a 51%-49% margin. During his campaign Santorum repeatedly criticized Walgren for living outside the district for most of the year. Although the 18th District was redrawn for the 1992 elections, and the new district had a 3:1 ratio of registered Democrats to Republicans, Santorum still won re-election with 61% of the vote.
Looks like he’s capable of winning Independents to me.
As for his support for Spector, Wikipedia reports: “ Reporters have observed that though Santorum and Specter differed on social policy, Specter provided him with key political staff for his successful run in 1994.”
That was when he won his Senate seat, beating a Democrat incumbent, something that’s usually very difficult to accomplish.
I have no trouble thinking that Santorum can beat Obama. He certainly won’t lose by 10 points in the current environment.
Santorum lost by 16 points to the son of a legend in a year when Washington or Lincoln would have trailed by double digits.
Vsent from my phone at CPAC.