Santorum exits after a campaign that beat all expectations
Everyone who had Rick Santorum making it until the Tuesday after Easter, not giving up his presidential campaign until he’d contested 26 of the 56 primaries/caucuses and won the second-most delegates in them, take your bow.
Or maybe we should just leave the applause to Santorum himself.
A campaign that started with little money and few believers, on the ashes of a blowout of a failed Senate re-election six years ago, pushed Mitt Romney to the brink in such key states as Michigan and Ohio and defeated Newt Gingrich across much of the Deep South. Santorum won Iowa by a hair — though he wasn’t recognized as the winner for a couple of weeks — then used a trifecta of upsets over Romney to become the last serious challenger to him.
He didn’t always help himself by talking at length about social issues in an election year bound to be dominated by dollars and cents, but that’s who he is — and Santorum’s authenticity is part of what drew more than 3 million GOP primary voters to him. Like Mike Huckabee in 2008, he proved there’s still a sizable contingent of evangelicals who are willing to buck the establishment and vote their consciences in a Republican primary. And he may have gone farther than Huckabee in demonstrating an economic platform that conservatives could embrace.
What ultimately did him in were two things. First, he had a way of talking about social issues that, in my view, was unnecessarily abrasive. As I considered whether to vote for him, I couldn’t escape the belief that he could have made the same points in a more appealing way — and that the way he made those points endangered his ability to win the presidency and act on them.
Second, he couldn’t shake his association with the 2000-2006 era of the GOP-led Congress, when Republicans lost their fiscal bearings and turned spendthrift — losing the gains made after 1994 and setting the stage for even bigger blowouts once the Democrats took control in 2007. His votes for big-government Republican policies, and his wince-inducing defense of them as unavoidable in the “team sport” of politics, couldn’t be reconciled with the necessity of paring back government.
It will be crucial now for Romney to woo the voters who chose Santorum instead of him during the past three months. There is some debate about whether they would actually sit out the election, possibly handing it to President Obama. Romney can’t take them for granted, and can’t take that chance. He would do well to be very visible in reaching out to Santorum and to do whatever it takes to get Santorum to bury the hatchet — it was a very ugly primary at times — and work to elect him.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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261 comments Add your comment
tiberius your lightning rod of hate!
April 10th, 2012
6:51 pm
Kroger cards you no matter how old you look.
Aquagirl
April 10th, 2012
6:53 pm
Those won’t get the dog from point A to point B.
Why does the dog HAVE to get to point B? If the dog is such a valued member of your family that his absence would ruin the vacation, you probably treat him better than a piece of luggage.
@@
April 10th, 2012
6:55 pm
My hair isn’t gray. IT’S BROWN!!!
ragnar danneskjold
April 10th, 2012
6:56 pm
After reading the leftist comments on the blog today, “sentient” was an apt choice of terms.
saywhat?
April 10th, 2012
6:59 pm
New research comes out and its bad news for conservatives. It certainly explains ALOT about the people on this blog though…. http://psp.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/03/16/0146167212439213.abstract
Look on the bright side conservatives. If you just stop drinking so much, focus a little, and work a little harder, you may eventually see the light.
Aquagirl
April 10th, 2012
7:00 pm
My hair isn’t gray. IT’S BROWN!!!
If that’s what your driver’s license says, that’s your legal hair color.
tiberius your lightning rod of hate!
April 10th, 2012
7:00 pm
It was certainly a stretch when describing the liberals on this blog, ragnar.
saywhat?
April 10th, 2012
7:02 pm
(The study) As summarized in the McCune-Miller article, “If we don’t have the time or energy to give a matter sufficient thought, we tend to accept the conservative argument.”
_______________________________________________________________
“Sentient” must not mean what Rags thinks it does.
tiberius your lightning rod of hate!
April 10th, 2012
7:10 pm
That is about as contrived a conclusion as I have ever read, saywhat.
Pizzaman
April 10th, 2012
7:14 pm
Who are you Publican’s going to vote for now? The Black Man or the Non Christian?
tiberius your lightning rod of hate!
April 10th, 2012
7:16 pm
Pizzaman, you’re late. The bigots like you have already been chased away.
jconservative
April 10th, 2012
7:18 pm
“It will be crucial now for Romney to woo the voters who chose Santorum instead of him during the past three months. There is some debate about whether they would actually sit out the election, possibly handing it to President Obama.”
Kyle if the Republican base is that low on the IQ scale, then we deserve another 4 years of Obama.
Romney needs to woo the independent voters who decide every single presidential election. If the Republican base is so dumb that they will sit out, well they get what they deserve.
@@
April 10th, 2012
7:20 pm
As John F. Kennedy put it in 1963 when he endorsed a cut in this tax: “The tax on capital gains directly affects investment decisions, the mobility and flow of risk capital” as well as “the ease or difficulty experienced by new ventures in obtaining capital, and thereby the strength and potential for growth in the economy.”
Today’s Democrats in Washington are no Jack Kennedys. As President Obama told Charlie Gibson of ABC News in 2008, whether or not a higher capital-gains tax raises more revenue is irrelevant to him. He wants a higher rate as a matter of “fairness.” The soup may be lousy but he wants more of it.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203918304577241513296604128.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
Pretty much sums up the difference between a Democrat and a Liberal.
saywhat?
April 10th, 2012
7:20 pm
tiberius your lightning rod of hate!
April 10th, 2012
7:10 pm
That is about as contrived a conclusion as I have ever read, saywhat.
_______________________________________________________________
Of course that is your initial reaction Tiberious. However, a little more effort and deeper thinking on your part may change your opinion. Go ahead. Put down the beer and give it a try. Don’t settle for low effort thought.
Rafe Hollister
April 10th, 2012
7:22 pm
Chain restaurants require wait staff to ask for ID. Had a future son-in-law fired when he forgot once and the sixty year old guy he was waiting on was a big wig with the chain. No argument, broke the rules, outta there.
Linda
April 10th, 2012
7:25 pm
Rafe@4:28, I made a comment to Kyle yesterday about the problem, but he has completely ignored it.
tiberius your lightning rod of hate!
April 10th, 2012
7:27 pm
Saywhat, in a contest of deep thinking, you wouldn’t even be in my same zip code. I’ve read your posts.
Pizzaman
April 10th, 2012
7:27 pm
TB, I’m a 68 year old white man who knows enough to realize all the Obama hate in the south is because he’s Black. I also know Rednecks think Jesus was a Christian and Mormon’s aren’t Christian. I know a lot more but your to hard headed to ever engage in an intelligent debate. Blue Side Up!
Rafe Hollister
April 10th, 2012
7:28 pm
@@
Oblama wants the capital gains tax raised because he feels it is “unfair”. Charles Gibson asked him something to the effect, since stats show that raising the capital gains rate reduces the amount of capital gain revenue the government receives, why would you want to raise it. Obama said because it is unfair.
So, he is for the Buffet rule because it strikes him as fair even though it will result in less money coming into the government. Talk about delusional economical policies. Much of the liberal economic plan involves punishing the rich, not increasing revenue.
saywhat?
April 10th, 2012
7:31 pm
tiberius- deep thinkers know that deep thinking contests are judged geographically.
And I know you have read my posts, I have waited long and patiently while I watched your lips move.
Rafe Hollister
April 10th, 2012
7:35 pm
Oblamer is also dishonest when he lies through omission. He often points out that he wants the rich to pay the same rate as their secretaries. He deliberately leads the willfully uninformed to believe that the rich are paying a lower income tax rate than the middle class. He knows the rich have little income and pay mainly capital gains. Class warfare is his game and election strategy.
The Buffet rule brings in about 4 B a year, we spend that much on a daily basis. He has this as his chief economic policy for the 2012 campaign. Only the willfully uninformed would thing that this man has a plan or economic policy.
MarkV
April 10th, 2012
7:35 pm
The arguments I see here about Walmart, Kroger, big chain restaurants carding somebody or everybody, makes me wonder if those people know what the debate was about. It was about the people most likely to lack a photo id, old people in small rural places. Can somebody see the barman in such a place say, “Bubba, I know you have been coming here every Friday for the last 20 years to drink your pint, except when you had that chopping wood accident two years ago, but I have to ask you to show me your photo ID to see if you are really the Bubba I know?”
Or Grandma Betty coming to pick up her medicine and the pharmacist saying, “Betsy, I know doc Martin has been prescribing you your blood pressure medicine for some decades already, but you have to show me your photo ID so that I can be sure it is you. You do not have one? Too bad, no medicine”
GoPackGo
April 10th, 2012
7:36 pm
Kyle wrote: “First, he had a way of talking about social issues that, in my view, was unnecessarily abrasive. As I considered whether to vote for him, I couldn’t escape the belief that he could have made the same points in a more appealing way”
So, help me understand something, Kyle. You don’t actually have a problem with the content of his extremist views on social issues, you merely have a problem with how he presented those views?
tiberius your lightning rod of hate!
April 10th, 2012
7:37 pm
Pizzaman, you’re an anachronism stuck in the early 20th century. And you’re a bigot. Face reality
Now with Ten Percent More Flavor
April 10th, 2012
7:51 pm
Romney’s “Mormon moment” was bound to happen sooner or later in this campaign. Four years ago, during his first presidential campaign, it happened when the chatter over Mormonism got loud enough that the former Massachusetts governor saw fit to deliver a major speech on faith. Most memorably, it was presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, who made headlines by wondering out loud if Mormons believe Jesus and the devil are brothers. He later apologized to Romney, but the damage may already have been done.
I just don’t accept any claim from Kyle that “liberals” will be at the forefront of the attacks on another’s religion.
Rafe Hollister
April 10th, 2012
7:51 pm
Linda
His blog, he makes the decisions. Guess we will have just have to ignore or step over it when the Trashman Cometh.
Fundamental Decency is a Concept that is Dying in the Republican Party
April 10th, 2012
7:57 pm
@@Rafe Hollister
April 10th, 2012
4:28 pm
Kyle, the Trashman Superstar is back. Is it Ok to use multiple names, like Republicans Beware, Trashman Superstar, Fred, Fundamental Decency? He has a new name for every blog. Just wondering what the rules are.
@Linda
April 10th, 2012
7:25 pm
Rafe@4:28, I made a comment to Kyle yesterday about the problem, but he has completely ignored it.
*************************************************************************
Maybe the reason he has not answered is because I AM NOT the Trashman Superstar.
Multiple names are not prohibited.
Anyone can change their blog name if they choose.
As long as it does not infringe on anyone’s rights.
td
April 10th, 2012
7:58 pm
Pizzaman
April 10th, 2012
7:14 pm
Who are you Publican’s going to vote for now? The Black Man or the Non Christian?
Do you mean the non Christian or the non Christian? I can guarantee you the same people that think Mormonism is not Christian will tell you Liberation theology is non Christian as well.
Fundamental Decency is a Concept that is Dying in the Republican Party
April 10th, 2012
8:00 pm
@Rafe Hollister
April 10th, 2012
7:51 pm
Linda
His blog, he makes the decisions. Guess we will have just have to ignore or step over it when the Trashman Cometh.
***********************************************************************
The Trashman must be a pain to you and Linda.
However, I AM NOT THE TRASHMAN.
Kyle knows who I am.
Rafe Hollister
April 10th, 2012
8:05 pm
MarkV
You are once again straining at gnats. Those people you describe have to leave their hometown haunts eventually. They have to go to the hospital in the “big city” eventually. Many of them “go to the beach” at least once in their life. They travel to reunions, weddings, funerals, and to visit aunt Eunice in the mountains. They eventually have to apply for Soc Security. They need and have some form of ID.
As with any statement, there are a few exceptions. If some rural yahoo is forced to drive to the Big City to get hisself an IDee, then fare the well. At least, we may stop some of the dead folks and illegals from canceling out your and my vote. Of course, Dems love to stir the victim pot and point fingers at those that they say want to poison the air, kill granny, burn black churches, and “disenfranchise minority votes”, it is called politics or pure blather.
tiberius your lightning rod of hate!
April 10th, 2012
8:05 pm
“I AM NOT THE TRASHMAN”
Yeah, and the Zapruder film proved that JFK shot first .. .
Finn McCool (Class Warfare === Stopping Rich People from TAKING MORE of OUR MONEY)
April 10th, 2012
8:06 pm
Dusty, I didn’t say “use your child as a publicity stunt”, I said you don’t hide your child because they have a defect.
Big difference.
Rafe Hollister
April 10th, 2012
8:09 pm
ten percent
Take this blog as a microcosm and go back and count who brought up Mormonism. Liberals, all.
Hillbilly D
April 10th, 2012
8:10 pm
It was about the people most likely to lack a photo id, old people in small rural places.
Like I said last night, I live in a small rural place. I know lots of old folks (including my parents) and I don’t know anybody who doesn’t have a photo ID. They’ve been asking me to show ID at the polls, at least back into the 80’s. One time the person asking me was also asking me how my folks were doing, said she hadn’t seen them in ages. Another time when they were asking for my ID, my first cousin was a poll worker, sitting in the next chair from the person asking. It’s just not a big deal to be asked for ID to vote.
td
April 10th, 2012
8:12 pm
New word for you libs to chew on for a while:
Ineptocracy
*_Ineptocracy_****(in-ep-toc’-ra-cy) – a system of government where the least
capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded
with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number
of producers*
Linda
April 10th, 2012
8:19 pm
Rafe@7″51, I’m not sure that Kyle is paying attention.
MarkV
April 10th, 2012
8:25 pm
“You have to have a photo id to buy a beer, buy tobacco, get in a bar,…”
False.
Now with Ten Percent More Flavor
April 10th, 2012
8:26 pm
Rafe Hollister
April 10th, 2012
8:09 pm
ten percent
Take this blog as a microcosm and go back and count who brought up Mormonism. Liberals, all.
This blog has what, ten or fifteen highly opinionated anonymous posters. What do you expect to deduce from their posts on any given topic. Further, as I indicated in my earlier post, Mitt’s problem with religion does not stem from “liberals”.
@@
April 10th, 2012
8:30 pm
Tiberius & Linda:
Ignore him/her…then watch him/her create a new persona with whom he/she can converse. I’ve witnessed it before. It’s hilarious.
He/she will have to work overtime to avoid mistakes.
tiberius your lightning rod of hate!
April 10th, 2012
8:35 pm
I will never be as proud of this country as I will be the day after election day when our first Mormon president elect is Mitt Romney.
Linda
April 10th, 2012
8:35 pm
Rafe@7:52, Comments that I made since 7:25 prove what we have been talking about & complaining about since the weekend. Kyle has lost his desire & ability to control his blog & censor inappropriate comments from commenters that seek to shut down comments from conservatives by intimidation. It’s really a loss to Kyle, the newspaper, our city & our state. Personally, I am insulted.
tiberius your lightning rod of hate!
April 10th, 2012
8:41 pm
Linda, the general inability of the great majority of liberals on this blog to stick with the topic and generate even a small amount of intelligent discussion has dragged the quality of this blog down to Bookman lows.
td
April 10th, 2012
8:45 pm
tiberius and Linda,
This is not unique to this blog. I have noticed over the past few weeks that there are a great deal of blogs being invaded by progressives and it seems that their main objective is to shut down conservative political thought by intimidation or just being outright nasty.
@@
April 10th, 2012
8:46 pm
Further, as I indicated in my earlier post, Mitt’s problem with religion does not stem from “liberals”.
MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell (a liberal) sho’nuff attacks Romney’s faith.
tiberius your lightning rod of hate!
April 10th, 2012
8:48 pm
Its because their Messiah can’t run on his record, so they’ve got nothing else but to attack us personally.
tiberius your lightning rod of hate!
April 10th, 2012
8:50 pm
Lawrence o’Donnell has no soul and no shame.
Linda
April 10th, 2012
8:51 pm
@@ @8:30, You would need to view the comments from over the weekend to understand the extent of the problem. Their was nothing to be “ignored.” It was harassment & other commenters referred to it as stalking. He/it DID create a new personna as he/it has done over & over again, for weeks & months. It’s time for Kyle to stop it.
Rafe Hollister
April 10th, 2012
8:52 pm
Mitt’s problem with religion does not stem from “liberals”.
Then why do you guys keep bringing it up.
It seems as if you think, if the conservatives learn this deep dark secret, they will suddenly become enlightened and support free stuff for all Oblamer. I don’t care if Mitt has been on board the “mother wheel”, worships a golden calf, and had an outerworld experience, he has my vote. No other choice left to me if I want my children to inherit a sound, stable, free America.
Fundamental Decency is a Concept that is Dying in the Republican Party
April 10th, 2012
9:22 pm
@Linda
April 10th, 2012
8:35 pm
Rafe@7:52, Comments that I made since 7:25 prove what we have been talking about & complaining about since the weekend.
Kyle has lost his desire & ability to control his blog & censor inappropriate comments from commenters that seek to shut down comments from conservatives by intimidation. It’s really a loss to Kyle, the newspaper, our city & our state. Personally, I am insulted.
***********************************************************************
LINDA you have a HABIT of trying to ban people who do not agree with YOU.
You are a habitual WHINNER.
We are INSULTED that you keep trying to SILENCE people who don’t agree
with you.
REMEMBER THIS:
Linda
January 13th, 2012
10:26 pm
Vampire@9:59 & 10:17, Get off this blog NOW or I’ll hit “Report This Comment” to Kyle. He knows who you are & where you are blogging from. You are not in any shape to continue.
Linda
January 13th, 2012
10:29 pm
Vampire@10:26, This is my last warning. It’s for your own good.
getalife
January 13th, 2012
11:38 pm
What?
No freedom of speech on this blog because Linda said to get off the blog?
Too funny.
td
January 13th, 2012
11:59 pm
@getalife
January 13th, 2012
11:38 pm
What?
No freedom of speech on this blog because Linda said to get off the blog?
Too funny.
Please, how many times have I been told by people to get off of Jim’s or Jay’s blog each week?
@@
April 10th, 2012
9:27 pm
Linda:
I took a quick looksee at the weekend comments. It’s not what I’d call stalking. When a blogger goes offsite and injects him or herself into your personal business, THAT’S STALKING. I know, it happened to me at Bookman’s.
Anyhoo, what we have in our “stalker” is someone who is desperately seeking attention. Must be a void in his/her life. Everytime you acknowledge him/her, you give him/her what he/she seeks.
If it is Fred from Bookman’s, I can tell you that he/she draws no line between love and hate. Either/or will suffice.
Fred once told me that everyone wants to be liked. Was puzzled by why I didn’t care whether I was liked or not.
Weird!!!!