“You gotta know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em. Know when to walk away, and know when to run.”- Kenny Rogers, “The Gambler”
Considering Senator Rick Santorum’s populist approach to this primary, you’d be surprised to hear his education credentials. He is one of two candidates to hold both an MBA and J.D., the other being Mitt Romney, and would carry that MBA into the White House as only the second President to ever hold this distinction, the other being President George W. Bush. Naturally, Mr. Santorum would not want to be linked with either man considering the lives of privilege they have led, as he continuously positions himself as the working man’s candidate for President. But one cannot run from his past, or his education for that matter. And someone as well educated as Mr. Santorum should understand that his current tact as a candidate is not only foolish and deconstructive for his campaign, but the conservative cause in general.
Right now Mr. Santorum is seeing the beginning of the end to his miracle run. And as I imagine for any man gunning for the highest office on the entire planet, feeling it begin to slip away is no easy thing to deal with. His campaign so far has been a surprising administration of political execution. His Iowa win came seemingly out of nowhere, employing the Scott Brown approach to a state wide campaign fueled by a Chrysler pickup and intimate moments with voters. His plain spoken appeal and central campaign themes hark back to the days of Andrew Jackson- positioning himself as the man between the two Harvard Law guys (Messrs. Obama and Romney) as the one candidate for President who can relate to and understand the current plight of our declining “middle class.” Once this was established in his campaign, and Mr. Santorum emerged as a major player out of Iowa, the task was set to hammering the frontrunner.
And there is nothing wrong with that. There is no doubt M. Romney’s central fault, specifically for this campaign, is the issue of healthcare. Considering the President we are trying to defeat is a big government liberal whose central legislative achievement is what may be deemed an unconstitutional healthcare upheaval, it is a real problem that the frontrunner from the outset is incredibly weak on the issue. Sen. Santorum has used this as his central attack on Governor Romney the whole campaign, as well he should have. But now as the delegates continue to amass for Mr. Romney as we move towardTampa, “true conservatives” are beginning to coalesce around him.
Governor Romney is congratulated by Rep. Paul Ryan in Wisconsin on his 3 primary sweep Tuesday. Ryan, as well as other conservatives, are beginning to voice their support for Romney to start to bring an end to the primary process.
Initially, from what we heard from conservative radio heavyweights like Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin, the people supporting Romney in the party were the “establishment types.” Men like Governor Chris Christie who didn’t understand true conservatism: Washington and political elitists far removed from the base and central struggles of the American dream. Granted, this may be a hard sell coming from multi-millionaire radio hosts, but the reason they have that money is because they sell their opinions so well. Somehow overnight, Chris Christie, a conservative governor in a failing liberal state, became part of “the Establishment” after holding elected office for a grand total of eighteen months. Santorum saw his point of attack and ran with this narrative. But as the endorsements begin to roll in for Romney from “true conservatives” like Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Marco Rubio, it is a clear message to Mr. Santorum to close up shop. But he’s not hearing it.
It is a reasonable message to now send to the Senator. Obviously no man can tell him how to live his life, but it does not take a J.D. or MBA to understand how destructive this primary has become. President Obama, whose approval rating still sits below 50% as it has for months, now leads Governor Romney in major swing states across the board, and possesses an even larger lead over the Senator. The image of the primary in which party heads lob grenades at each other constantly, providing the President shade from the spotlight of criticism, does not bode well for any Republican. And now as the math clearly dictates that Mr. Santorum cannot win the nomination without a floor fight at the convention, he seems determined to take it there, arguing it will “energize the party.” When such an obvious falsehood as this is stated by a politician, it is a result of one of two things: an abject display of ignorance or a rationalization so extreme it serves no one but himself. In this case, it is the latter.
This is the point in a presidential campaign where the walls begin to close in on the underdog who overachieved, and the dedication to country and party that drove Mr. Santorum into the Lion’s den of presidential politics is hijacked by hubris and ego. Even speaker Gingrich, who has made similar claims in the past about a floor fight inTampa, seems to be backing off now with the acknowledgement of how damaging it would be to the Party. Mr. Santorum has had a great run, and certainly advanced the conservative cause in his arguments throughout the campaign. But he has also made drastic mistakes to contribute to his own undoing:
- Arguing with college students about homosexuality in New Hampshire only two days after his victory in Iowa- establishing the deconstructive narrative that Mr. Santorum is not only the social issue candidate, but the extreme social conservative.
- Coming out as the sternest and therefore most ideologically driven during the contraception debate, playing into the liberal narrative that the GOP is waging a “war on women.”
- And just recently, reprimanding New York Times reporter Jeff Zeleny for misquoting him over remarks made about Mitt Romney, who in fact was accurately quoting Mr. Santorum, and then cursing at him in a heated fashion.
As in all political campaigns candidates stumble, display lapses of clarity and misspeak. But these three instances listed, as well as the last debate, stand out as Santorum’s worst moments – moments that came in times when he was presented the chance to actually move past Romney as the nominal front runner, and never took advatnage. The last, his attack on Jeff Zeleny, shows a man at the breaking point, who feels his candidacy slipping away and is lashing out at anyone who reminds him so. As seen by the new wave of conservatives coming out to support him, the writing is on the wall for a Romney victory in the primaries, but a general election defeat if this nomination process goes to the floor in Tampa. The only person who can’t read it is the good Senator from Pennsylvania, a man who now more than ever can affect the future of the Republican Party and the country. He may not reach his original goal of attaining the Presidency, but he can help contribute to the collective goal of removing President Obama from office. How he conducts himself over the next two and a half months will determine that outcome.
– John P. Burns
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