The Other McCain

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Ed Morrissey, Phyllis Schlafly, Michelle Malkin, David Limbaugh, Tom Tancredo: Gosh, Everybody’s for Santorum Now!

Posted on | February 6, 2012 | 19 Comments

Show of hands: Who remembers the “Earthquake in Vanuatu” on Dec. 1? Who remembers ”Santorum Express Sunday“ on Dec. 4? Who remembers when I had to scrape around to find articles from Iowa newspapers to put together Santorum campaign updates, back when a CNN/Time poll showed Santorum in sixth place in Iowa, at 5%?

OK, so having endured those lean, lonely and seemingly hopeless weeks of early December, I am not even slightly daunted now, and am in fact greatly encouraged to see that more and more conservatives are climbing aboard the Santorum Express. The latest is Ed Morrissey of Hot Air:

Why Santorum?  In my estimation, Santorum is the last consistent conservative standing, and the only one both promoting the conservative agenda and campaigning as a conservative in the race.  . . .
Santorum has demonstrated a level of personal integrity in this race that outshines the rest of the field.  Santorum has campaigned with blue-collar Reagan Democrats in mind, pushing for an economic plan that would revitalize manufacturing and small business.  He could easily have tipped over into class-warfare populism while Gingrich and Romney bashed each other over their work at Bain and Freddie Mac in order to ingratiate himself with that sector by playing on latent envy.  Instead, he defended capitalism and both of his competitors on the campaign trail more effectively than either could defend themselves.  In contrast, Romney keeps demonstrating a lack of fluency in conservative politics and philosophy, while Gingrich has conducted a personal, angry campaign that threatens to reinforce every negative stereotype about conservatives, both at times putting themselves and their ambitions above the party they seek to lead.

Every time a blogger endorses Rick Santorum, an angel gets his wings, and Ed has now added his name to a growing list of worthies in support of the Consistent Conservative. While I was in Florida last week, I missed David Limbaugh’s endorsement:

I don’t believe that the science of electability is as certain as those promoting it would have us believe. . . .
I reject the conventional wisdom that Rick Santorum could not win the general election, because I believe he represents the best contrast to Obama and is the least vulnerable to attack, among other reasons.
I will support whoever emerges as the Republican nominee, but I do not apologize for supporting Rick Santorum.

Michelle Malkin endorsed Santorum a week ago, Phyllis Schlafly says she’ll vote for Santorum in Tuesday’s Missouri primary, and Santorum also got the endorsement of former Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo. During his years in Congress, Tancredo was the “gold standard” for immigration enforcement, and his endorsement of Santorum makes perfect sense when you look at the Numbers USA immigration report card on current presidential hopefuls. (Newt Gingrich? D.)

On “Fox News Sunday,” Santorum said: “I think we’re  going to do very well here in Minnesota. I think we’re going to do very well in  Colorado, and we’ve got a one-on-one match up against Mitt Romney in Missouri, while there’s no delegates, it is a key state, it is a primary. And we think we can do exceptionally well in the state of Missouri.”

Despite placing third in Florida and fourth in Nevada, Santorum actually had a very good week and his campaign is now more hopeful than ever. In a press release summarizing the week’s developments, Santorum campaign communications director Hogan Gidley said, “Time brings clarity, and this week proved that former speaker Gingrich was simply not up to the task of being the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. Rick Santorum has a long, tried-and-true track record of unapologetically standing up for the conservative principles that make America great. He’s the full spectrum conservative who’s never wavered on our core principles. It is Rick Santorum who conservatives can rally around as their standard bearer, and poll-after-poll is now showing that the two-man race is now between Santorum and Romney.”

Gidley cited polls showing Santorum leading in Minnesota and ahead of Gingrich in Colorado:

Minnesota:
Santorum: 29%
Romney: 27%
Gingrich: 22%

Colorado:
Romney: 40%
Santorum: 26%
Gingrich: 18%

Meanwhile, a national poll by Rasmussen Reports showed Santorum the only GOP contender leading Barack Obama.

Santorum will speak Friday morning at CPAC, and his supporters are hoping to get a big boost as the campaign moves forward, with the next debate (Feb. 22 in Arizona) still two weeks away. Finally, while this isn’t quite an angel-wings endorsement, Dan Blatt of Gay Patriot offers some words of respect for Santorum:

Maybe Santorum is doing well because he comes across as a nice guy. He enjoyed that reputation when he served on Capitol Hill.  Although, to be sure, the Senator has said some strange things about gays, he has treated the one member of his staff who has been publicly “outed” as gay with dignity. Indeed, his one-time spokesman Robert Traynham said “was open with Santorum about his sexual orientation” and that he had “never heard Santorum voice an anti-gay or bigoted comment” in the ten years he had worked for him.

Many people disagree with Santorum on issues, but still respect his sincerity and consistency and, like a lot of other Republicans, Dan was disgusted by Newt’s Nevada meltdown.

So we await further developments and who knows? By this time next week, the headlines may be all about the latest Santorum Surge. There was another earthquake in Vanuatu last week. I’m just sayin’ . . .

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Category: Election 2012, Rick Santorum

Comments

  • http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

    Good news. 

    Maybe we can stop the Mitt Madness in time.

    Maybe the Sweet Scent of Santorum can overpower the Miasma of Mitt.

  • Anonymous

    It’s late in the game, but after watching the Giants’ comeback against the Patriots, never say never.

  • http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

     I bet I was the only native New Englander rooting for the Giants.

    It’s bad enough in the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl every bloody newscast turns into The Patriot News, but when they win it goes on for another week after.

    Then there’s the rioting.

    Then there’s the damn victory parade which snarls traffic for those trying to get home from their jobs.

    Panem et circenses.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_MJGP4QXZ5PRW2MFA5E25CV2WNU rosalie

    I know how you feel.  We’ve been inundated with stories about a local guy by the name of Hynoski who plays for the Giants.  They even had a Hynoski Day!  Now that they’ve won, it may go on for another week.  I never thought about a parade.  I hope that’s not next.

  • http://twitter.com/coloredopinions Vincent Harris

    Tancredo’s endorsement of Santorum makes indeed perfect sense. Didn’t he endorse Romney last time? Same communitarian wing of the GOP. Not my cup of tea. 

  • http://twitter.com/FilmLadd Ladd Ehlinger Jr.

    Meanwhile, other folks are worried about Congress and the Senate… http://youtu.be/vBLAMcyjxYw

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  • Finrod Felagund

    Enh, I’ll take Todd Palin’s endorsement over any/all of those.
     

  • Quartermaster

    I doubt Santorum will the nominee, but am not willing to make that a definite ‘no’ by any stretch of the imagination. But, Santorum is not the preferred man of the Sorosian eastern establishment (which inludes Dhimmis and Reps), and won’t get the support that Mittens would get.

    Armey’s concern is for Congress and I think keeping the House and taking the Senate is a good thing for his group to concentrate on, and well within the realm of possibility. I think a lot of people will stay home if Mittens is the man, but Armey is right about boxing Mittens in as well.

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  • Tennwriter

    Communitarianism=Against Illegal Immigration?

    See that’s the thing I notice about Libertarians, they don’t honestly come out and say “I’m against this Santorum for THIS reason”, but instead, they come out with some vagueness that supposed to sound threatening.

    And this is why I say Libertarians are the lapdogs for the RINOs.  The Conservatives want to defeat the RINOs and restore Constitutional Government, but because its only 90% like the Libertarians like, the Libertarians are out there causing division and confusion.

    Perhaps we need to kick the Libertarians out of the GOP first so as to get a clear field of fire to destroy the RINOs.

  • http://twitter.com/badmrbunny43 steve benton

    The ABM vote = anyone but Mitt. NEXT!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/EU5DQWQTTHTPO4A4ZYSL3AAV2U Adjoran

    Gingrich is going to sink like a stone.  It’s already begun, he managed two great debates with help from hapless questioners, and has been lackluster at best ever since, lapsing into the nasty SOB we remember more often as time and his chances go by.

    Santorum appears to be the last Not Romney standing, leaving Paul aside since he isn’t a serious contender for the nomination anyway.  Like the rest of the field, he is far from perfect, but he won’t do anything to embarrass his supporters or Republicans in general, is by all accounts a decent and honorable man, and isn’t the most hated man in American public life over the last 16 years.

  • http://twitter.com/surfcitysocal Teri

    And yet, Morrisey, in his endorsement, said he’d “happily” vote for Romney or Gingrich if he had to. A fair-weather fan? Maybe. But I’m still scratching my head over all those conservatives and tea partiers supposedly voting for Romney (in Iowa, Florida and Nevada) which makes no sense at all.  

  • Quartermaster

    No sense at all. What it tells me, OTOH, is that the TEA Party types aren’t the conservative bunch a lot people hoped they were. Either that, or they are on drugs of some kind when they’re voting, because Romney is the same sort that Obama is. That Gingrich campaign ad is devastating to Mittens, if anyone is listening.

  • cabensg

    Has anyone actually listened to any of Santorum talks before audiences. It’s really pathetic almost embarrassing. It’s really beyond me why anyone would endorse or prefer him over Gingrich.

    I watched a talk on CSPAN last night where Newt gave a talk in Colorado followed by questions. As usual it was enlightening, concise and intelligent. Unlike debates the questions were complicated and explicit.

    Santorums talk before the same audience followed and I couldn’t even watch all of it. What I heard was platitudes and fumbling. So this is who we think will go up against Obama? Give me a break. 

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