The same thing happened with the 1980 election. The left was praying for Reagan, and did everything to make it happen.
Actually the same thing happened in reverse in the 1976 election. The right was laughing at the idea of the Democrats nominating a hick peanut farmer from rural Georgia who not only openly talked about his religion, but claimed to be a born again Christian and felt bad about "lusting in his heart after other women." The pre-election portrayal of Jimmy Carter is very, very different from the left-wing liberal one you know today. Carter was considered a baptist religious extremest--at least that is how he was portrayed by the press.
Santorum's campaign looks a lot like Jimmy Carters. Spent a year going door to door in Iowa and came out of nowhere. Relying heavily on religious conservatives, and is unafraid to talk about religion on the stump (you might even say both went out of their way to do it).
It was an effective strategy for Carter, there is no reason it won't also be effective for Santorum. People point out that the majority of the country isn't overly religious, which is true. But, what the forget that the vast majority of the country are not atheist either. Being a religious person is not a negative with most of the country--in fact, I would argue it's a positive.
It is a fine line though. Carter managed to walk it in 1976. There's no reason to think Santorum can't walk it in 2012.
We were a vastly different country in 1976, than now. Carter was a Dem too. He was treated differently than a Repub would have been. Santorum is portrayed as a nut, and given what he kind of conversations he gets into (contraception), I’m not so sure he is ready for a general election campaign. I don’t know if he knows what is wrong with his focus on irrelevant things such as contraception. Americans may be pro-life, but they aren’t anti-contraception. He is letting himself get drawn into things he shouldn’t.
The liberals want Santorum because he is the most corrupt of the Republicans running for President, and the Democrats know this.
In 2005-2006 he was considered one of the most corrupt Senators in the U.S. Senate due to “Pay-for-Play”.
1. Santorum’s charity “Operation Good Neighbor” (2001-07), doled out just 36% of income as grants, far less than the 75% of responsible causes. It can only be coincidence the charity which spent most of its money on lobbyists, aides and fundraisers closed after he was defeated for reelection.
2. Santorum’s “leadership PAC,” called “American’s Foundation,” was worse—just 18% went to actual candidates. That’s well below similar PACs. The rest went into overhead like trips to Starbucks for staffers.
3. The $500,000 mortgage for his Leesburg mansion came from a private bank run by a big campaign donor. By all appearances, Santorum was not eligible for the closed program since it was for high-wealth investors in the trust.
4. Santorum bilked a Pennsylvania school district out of $72,000 to pay for home “cyberschooling” of five of his kids ... in Virginia. (He makes a great Tea Party candidate, don’t you think?)
5. As the third-ranking Republican, he worked closely with House majority leader Tom DeLay, now felon, on the “K-Street Project” to grow ties between the GOP and major lobbyists. Twenty-three of his own staffers landed well-paying jobs at lobbying firms. When he was fired by the PA voters? Santorum turned to lobbyists.
6. This supporter of Medicare Part D was so important to this culture of crony capitalism, an internal memo at pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline said his loss “creates a big hole that we need to fill.”
7. Before anyone heard of Solyndra, on behalf of a major supporter Santorum was securing $100 million federal loans for a coal-to-liquids plant that was never built. The project’s lobbyist was PA’s top GOP power broker, Bob Ashner, and paid nearly $1 million.
That’s seven places just to start. Besides his unheard of 18-point loss for reelection, putting electability in question there’s also his hypocrisy of campaigning on requiring health insurance in 1994, on his public tort reform position vs. his testimony in his wife’s own legal case, his “problem” with working women, his union pandering and more. Lots more.
What has this failed lawyer and career politician really done? What credibility does he bring to reform, what does he propose to “drain the swamp” he help create as project point-man while part of the leadership?
We all know what Romney is.
Newt’s been vetted for more than a decade.
Can you honestly say you know all there is you need to know about Rick Santorum?
Don’t fall for his “family values” cover; open the book on Santorum and start reading.
The idea the former third-ranking Republican is some how not part-and-parcel of the establishment is ludicrous on its face. He made his choice for traitor Spector over conservative Toomey in the senate GOP primary. The result? Specter provided the 60th Senate vote to pass Obamacares.
Courtesy of newzjunkey at Free Republic