Monday, February 13, 2012

The Case Against Rick Santorum

Update: And so it begins-here is one conservative woman leading the charge along the lines I suggest below
AT THIS LINK




Rick Santorum is the latest Non-Romney to rocket up in the polls, and effectively Santorum has had a free run. The late night comedians are just starting to zero in on him-gently at first with the "sweater vest' jokes a la Hillary's "pant suit" jokes-but if Santorum continues to be in the top two they will turn vicious without a doubt.

 Next will come the leftist hate blogs and the Romneyite "conservative" blogs and media, and the Beltway talking heads and of course the Super Pac's.

We shall see what Santorum's support looks like when all that gets under way like it did with Newt. IMO apart from an economic calamity before November, Santorum is unelectable because I can't see non-evangelical women voting for him. 

The worst aspect of that would be the conservative element would be knocked back, as the comment that only a true conservative, not a RINO can be elected would be seriously damaged by a landslide against Santorum.

Yes, we need a genuine conservative but one that women could support on social issues like Palin. I see that Palin hater Doug Mataconis's  "Outside The Beltway" site is calling for a Santorum candidacy to "once and for all" as they sees it, destroy the Tea Party wing-he has a point regrettaby.

Frankly, and sadly, I think there is little to disagree with this key element from "Beyond The Beltway's" call for Santorum to be nominated to effectively destroy the conservative wing.


"when it comes to the core issues of social conservatism, there’s nobody left in the race that’s as hard core as Santorum. Whether it’s abortion, marriage and other rights for gays and lesbians, or even evolution, Santorum takes the social conservative position on each issue and turns it up a notch.

This is the guy, after all, who doesn’t recognize any exception to his opposition to abortion even in the case or rape or incest, who wants to roll back Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and who said that same-sex marriage would one day lead to men marrying dogs, and who peppers his speeches with warnings about the threat to the Republic posed by the so-called “gay agenda.”

If you’re a social conservative, there’s a lot to like about Santorum. Of course, at the same time, if you’re not a social conservative there’s a lot to dislike about him as well.That last part, and the fact that most Americans don’t share the extreme positions that Santorum takes, would seem to make the electoral outcome of a Santorum- Obama General Election inevitable:If you were worried that Team Obama could turn a Gingrich nomination into a referendum on the speaker’s history, Santorum would make that look like child’s play.

Gone would be discussions of the president’s paltry record on job growth or the disastrous downstream effects of his environmental regulatory policy. The DNC would dump hundreds of millions of dollars into running 24/7 advertisements in the fall featuring grainy, black and white clips of Rick Santorum reading off the quotes I cited above and many, many more. Tens of millions of moderate and independent voters who are currently looking with dismay at Obama’s record and are kicking the tires of a possible Republican alternative would thunder for the exits. In short, I believe a campaign such as that would lead to Barack Obama winning in a landslide."

Thus the end result of a Santorum nomination would be the absolute certainty of a Romney ( or of his ilk) nomination,"business as usual" candidacy in 2016. It would mean the end of any possibility of a Palin (or her ilk) candidacy in 2016 as she would be, as would all Reaganite, uniting, possible candidates, unfairly of course, tarred with the Santorum electoral disaster brush.

A depressed turnout, this time because although the base might turn out, moderates might not which could also severley impact the down ticket slots.The possible loss of the House, or not gaining the Senate, would also be a disaster in an empowered second Obama term.

To encapsulate the discussion here is a possible comment,changed from the original but with the same power, which applies and sums it up.

"Senator Santorum I knew Ronald Reagan, I worked with Ronald Reagan and, believe me, you are no Ronald Reagan"










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