Rick Santorum: If I Win The Illinois Primary, I Win The Nomination

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/17/10737243-rick-santorum-if-i-win-the-illinois-primary-i-win-the-nomination ^ | Andrew Rafferty and Alex Moe

[Steelfish]

Rick Santorum: If I Win The Illinois Primary, I Win The Nomination

By Andrew Rafferty EFFINGHAM, Ill. -- Rick Santorum on Saturday guaranteed that a win in the Illinois primary will result in his nomination as the Republican presidential nominee.

"This is a primary, and turnout is everything. You do your job, you do your job, then this is the pledge," Santorum said. "If we're able to come out of Illinois with a huge or surprise win, I guarantee you, I guarantee you that we will win this nomination."

Illinois has largely been predicted to favor Mitt Romney for Tuesday's primary. The vote is expected to be driven by Chicago and its surrounding suburbs, pegged as unfavorable territory for the former Pennsylvania senator's brand of conservatism. But in areas like Effingham, hours south of the Windy City, Santorum hopes to fire up a Republican base that is often overshadowed by its Democratic counterparts to the north.

"You know you don't get a chance to out-vote your friends up in the Chicago-land area very often, but this is a primary and turnout is everything," he said, standing in a warehouse of a local business specializing in kitchen equipment. While stumping in the Land of Lincoln, Santorum said he feels like he's already running in the general election.

“People ask me why I’m the best candidate to run against Barack Obama," said Santorum. "It’s because I feel like, in many respects, I am running against Barack Obama here in this primary because Mitt Romney has the same positions as Barack Obama in this primary.”

The health care bill that Romney signed as governor of Massachusetts is the issue Santorum has been hammering him on most frequently. Santorum says the legislation laid the groundwork for the health care bill Obama signed in 2010....

[Right_in_Virginia]

Okay, I get it. You've got nothing or you would post it. All you can do is divert and insult.

You want Santorum to lead a country without leadership experience.

You have the Constitutional right to be foolish. Good for you for exercising it.

[Eva]

What kind of a leader, leads their state into socialized medicine and gay marriage?

[Right_in_Virginia]

Who's talking about Romney?

I was hoping to get some solid evidence on Santorum’s leadership experience. And since the only real job he's had is in the Senate, I assumed that was where the evidence would be found.

Can't anyone speak to Santorum’s leadership experience and what he accomplished there without pointing fingers at everyone else?

Just a simple answer would be so refreshing.

[NoRedTape]

"Well, I’ll know who to blame if we have four more. And I’m just mean enough to hope you feel the pain a lot."

If Romney is the Nominee, we will ALL feel the "pain". And Romney will lose in a torrential landslide. He will not get the votes, en masse, that he needs from specific groups. There's no way I will attach myself to a Romney vote. Ask around of other Freepers, too. How many would actually vote for Romney? Not many. So, see? It's not "anyone but Obama"; it's truly anyone but Romney, because Romney is the same as Obama.

GO NEWT!

[Tribune7]

You want Santorum to lead a country without leadership experience.

Actually, I'm for Gingrich, but that doesn't mean I have to run down the other candidates or buy into the false claims about them from the Goldman-Sachs establishment.

For instance, it doesn't mean I have to pretend they don't have leadership experience when they spent six years as a leader in the Senate.

Who exactly are you for, btw?

[PreciousLiberty]

"ATTENTION NAYSAYERS:

RICK SANTORUM is beating Obama in four key states; Romney is BEHIND Obama:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2860580/posts

Naysay no more!

Go Rick!"

Indeed. 0bamney is not the "most electable", nor is Newt!

[GulfBreeze]

Look, just because you’ve been Newtered doesn’t mean everyone want’s to hear your sterile rants. Go back to Romney and tell him how great he is.

[GulfBreeze]

Once they have been Newtered they are not much good for anything productive anyway.

[conservative98]

Polls are strippers. Santorum supporters are sounding more and more like Paulbots.

[conservative98]

Polls are for strippers. Santorum supporters are sounding more and more like Paulbots.

[Theodore R.]

In the seven or eight states, such as TX, with master levers or ovals, it will be easy to vote for Romney. Just shade the all Republican line and pretend Romney isn’t on the list.

[demkicker]

Face it, Romney may win the nomination. My biggest fear is the GOP will self-destruct. I’m no Romney supporter and hope he doesn’t get the nomination, but IF HE DOES, we better come together and support him - even if we hold our noses while voting for him AGAINST OBAMA.

I’d vote for Mickey Mouse if he were my only other choice besides Obama & “principled” conservatives better be willing do ANYTHING to keep Obama from winning another term. If Obama wins another term, our country is truly lost.

[Theodore R.]

Saint Rick just lost all delegates in Puerto Rico, and as I understand it, Romney will win the majority of delegates in IL no matter what the “beauty contest” shows. So where does Rick rebound? LA — last time Huckabee won the primary there and got no delegates at all; a rigged state. The opportunities are indeed few for him and even fewer for Two-State Newt.

[AmericanInTokyo]

If Newt Gingrich withdraws from the race, there will be a chance for the conservative frontrunner Santorum to do well in many of the other states along with way in a neck and neck race with Romney. But I doubt that will happen at this point; egos and kamikaze missions just out of spite or "payback" or whatever, power trips, are not easy to mitigate. Accordingly, there is a better than even chance that this goes to Romney, who has been declared an enemy of Free Republic from years back, most specifically nearly a year ago on here, since this is an independent CONSERVATIVE FORUM. This is not a forum for RINOs or moderate libs.

This once every four year rigged template (the conservative vote split and the media and GOP officialdom pushing one of their moderate shills to be nominated who later goes on to a spectactular defeat by the Democrat by incompetence or outright throwing the elction) is a worn out template, so predictable in both its essence and application, is something I will never countenance. To be an idiot and played like a fiddle, marginialized at the convention but used as a bloc (conservative), but given only a few insignificant federal agencies as a reward, is a game I am "hep" too, and will nill not participate. To do the same thing over and over and over again and expect different outcomes is the classic definition of insanity.

[AmericanInTokyo]

If Newt Gingrich were to drop out of this race, and Santorum stayed in (lets say for family reasons, health reasons, money, what not, Newt threw in the towel in the next few weeks), would you support Santorum in a head to head with Romney in the remaining races?

If a viable Alternative Conservative Party or candiate who is ballot qualified on enough states to have enough electoral votes and stands for the principles of Free Republic, would you support a) the Conservative, b) the RINO (i.e. Romney), c) the Marxist (Obama)?

Just two basic questions I have for you at this time.

I would particularly like your input on question a), because if it were reversed, ie. if Santorum left he race and Gingrich was the only one opposing both Romney and Paul, I would support Gingrich. No WAY would I support Romney over Gingrich. So hopefully you would share your insight with me.

[Eva]

Santorum showed leadership when he had the guts to speak on the Texas sodomy case, saying that state laws should be left up to the state, that nullifying the state sodomy laws which were seldom every prosecuted, was federal over-reach and could lead to a slippery slope, which it has.

[Eva]

I am going to add that Romney didn’t really lead, he followed and the people that he followed were Democrats. Romney was nothing but a rubber stamp for the worst Democrat political policies that this country has seen in thirty years.

[Kenny]

Of course he is. But you must remember that there's a sizable contingent of closet abortion/sodomy huggers here on FR who hate Santorum every bit as much as the left does

I am seeing that there are some real haters here. Such a shame, instead of helping us get a conservative in, they help the left pile on.

[Theodore R.]

Two-State Newt is determined to stay in; it might be a financial thing. It’s certainly not a plan to be nominated.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Over the last few months, many of the scurrilous, mocking, nasty anti-Santorum comments here, were literally indistinguishable from comments against his social conservatism that I saw on libertine, permissive, moral-decay-based Democratic Underground, Huffington Post, MSNBC chat, etc. At times it was the exact same narrative! (Calling him "St. Rick" or "Sanctimonium", etc. etc.) I think Rick did not or does not appeal to a certain segment of "conservative" FReepers because of things in their personal lives through which they were challenged and/or personally convicted based on Santorum's brand of moral conservatism. They were either libertarians, or personally in there lifestyles, condone homosexuality, pornography or abortion, and call themselves "conservatives". Yes, even Log Cabin type gay Republicans will often say they are "conservative", despite such ugly unhealthy and forbidden acts they engage in with the same sex behind closed restroom doors. Yes, we have some, fortunately not a lot, of FReepers in our midst of this low caliber, sad to say.