Give Santorum His Chance
Well the punditry has pretty much come down to determining that Republican choices are Gingrich or Romney. Here’s the big Kahuna of Conservative Commentary on that very subject.
In my quest to avoid voting for Romney I have pretty much picked through the remainders of announced candidates this year. In that piece I ruled out Perry and Huntsman and my criticisms are only more justified now. The best candidate for my money left early. In that piece I dismissed Bachman as unelectable and so she remains. I left Herman Cain before he claimed to be a man who, unbeknownst to his wife, paid the monthly bills of a woman he never slept with. Newt is not my guy either. Paul is obviously not for me.
But I never came back to Rick Santorum.
Senator Santorum, after a successful run in the House knocked off Harris Woford in a Senate race in 1994 to represent Pennsylvania. Woford had upset a former attorney general two years earlier to give a boost to the health care Democrat-style. The ruin of Hilary’s plan was his ruin. In domestic and foreign policy Santorum is easily the closest to the views I hold and has been fearless in fighting for them despite vitriol and slander that would cow other Republicans (see Romney, Mitt).
Pennsylvania is a state where President Obama is not doing to well, even with Scranton’s own Joe Biden at his side.
Senator Santorum has done well in debates. He is articulate and can defend conservative positions well---and he actually appears to hold those positions from conviction. He is excellent on foreign policy and on the threats this nation faces. He has an impeccable family life and walks the walk on marriage and family. As David has pointed out he has a good message to the Republicans who don’t sit in board rooms.
Why is he not the perfect Republican antidote to RomGrich? Sure, he has no obvious executive experience but neither do many on the stage. The real reason is because he lost his last run by double digit figures and because he is no longer a happy warrior. That run was the perfect storm against a Republican. It was 2006 before the surge worked in Iraq. He was pledged to reform social security in a state with more seniors than most. He had supported Arlen Specter against Pat Toomey alienating conservatives, and, in Bob Casey he was running against the son of a pro-life legend in Pennsylvania. George W. Bush was in his 6th year.
When Santorum ran against Woford he was young and charged up. In these debates he seems annoyed and peevish. When you are going to make a long shot campaign for President as a conservative Catholic you have got to have a spring in your step. In comparison I give you two Irishmen from opposite ends of American life. Pat Buchanan, who entered a primary against a sitting President, discovered middle class grievance and had the time of his life. A far as politics goes you’d be hard pressed to find an angrier politician than Buchanan but when he went into a fordoomed race his joire de guerre was palpable. It was also infectious.
On the other end of Hibernian politics is Senator Chris Dodd. He ran a quixotic campaign for President where he camped out in Iowa and had a ball. He thundered in patented Irish liberal style against the malefactors of great wealth, laughed in town halls and restaurants and seemed pleased to be taking a flyer in the big leagues even if he was never going to get a ticket to Manchester from Des Moines.
Whatever happens in Santorum’s life he has a big family, people who love him, and he’s fought the good fight for his country and his Church. When you do that, even if it is the “Long Defeat” you don’t have cause for sourness. Politically he has nothing to lose and can make a difference for those things he believes in. A glimpse of the glee of Newt Gingrich even when he was written off, or the joy of Herman Cain when he was known by no one would give Santorum a shot at lightening in a bottle in Iowa. They say there are three tickets out of Iowa. Whose to say Rick Santorum shouldn’t have one?
