“Base hostility will now be exacerbated by Mitt Romney’s backers now undoubtedly making a conscious effort to prop up Rick Santorum to shut down Newt Gingrich.”
— Erick Erickson, Red State
Last night I found myself talking to Caleb Howe, who said how much he hated the argument that a vote for Candidate X is actually a vote for Candidate Y. You see how Erickson deploys exactly that argument in claiming that supporters of Rick Santorum are closet Romneyites.
This would have been news to the Santorum supporters who gathered last night at the Citadel to hear the man they think should be the next president of the United States. There were a lot of home-schoolers and pro-lifers and national security hawks at the Santorum event, and I wonder what they would have made of arguments like this:
“People are mad as hell they are about to be stuck with another boring, moderate, uninspiring choice that has at best a 50/50 shot at losing to the worst president since Carter. They are flocking to Newt not because they think he’s a great guy, but because right now, he’s the only one fighting for conservatism . . .”
— Erick Erickson, Red State
Really? “The only one fighting for conservatism”? Somebody needs to tell this to Newt Gingrich, who praised Rick Santorum in his victory speech Saturday night. And somebody also needs to tell Rick Santorum, who released his Sunday and Monday campaign schedule for Florida a half-hour after the polls closed in South Carolina:
Sunday, January 22:
2:00pm ET: Senator Santorum will hold a campaign rally at Wings Plus in Coral Springs, FL.
Location: Wings Plus
9880 West Sample Road
Coral Springs, FL
8:00pm ET: Senator Santorum will appear on “Huckabee” on FOX News.
Monday, January 23:
1:30pm ET: Senator Santorum will hold a “Faith, Family and Freedom” Town Hall in Lady Lake, FL.
Location: American Legion Hall
699 East Lady Lake Road
Lady Lake, FL
9:00pm ET: Senator Santorum will participate in the NBC News/National Journal debate in Tampa, FL.
Location: University of South Florida
Tampa, FL
While nobody has appointed me the Omniscient Arbiter, authorized to write articles titled “What It Means,” I can summarize what one of Santorum’s supporters told me last night about what he expects: Newt and Mitt are going to attempt to destroy each other, and all the while Santorum will keep on campaigning, arguing that he is the “conviction conservative,” steadily accruing support from those conservatives who don’t like either Newt or Mitt.
The Santorum supporter who told me that is a fine young Christian man, and so I did not bluntly express to him what I see as the basic problem with the Gingrich campaign: Sooner or later, people will figure out that Newt is a selfish, arrogant asshole.
And people don’t like selfish, arrogant assholes.
If Newt was in so good with the Republican elite, why did they try to get rid of him? And if it was “conservatives” who tried to get rid of him, why did they act like anything but conservative after they finally got rid of him?
You know what would be cool? Not trying to destroy Newt out of the misguided notion that conservatives would then feel compelled to flock to Santorum. That’s a recipe for disaster as long as Mitts still in the race drawing the support of the establishment and the media, with all his endless resources and organization.
Do you know what would be even more cool? If you have to destroy anybody, destroy Romney. Then let conservatives decide between Santorum and Gingrich. Then the establishment wouldn’t have any say in the matter. Well they would, and my guess is they’d go to Santorum. Then you’ve got to worry about keeping him on the straight and narrow. But at least that would be a strategy that would make a modicum of sense.
It’s not a question of destroying; Newt will do that to himself, he always does. But you’ve got people talking about Newt like he’s Frank Miller’s version of the Lone Ranger riding in to save us and win or lose that ain’t gonna happen.
Romney supporters, pundits, RNC seek salvation…
They didn’t. It was the conservatives who ousted him. Livingston, Hastert, and the rest of the insiders were fine with him once he made his plea deal with the Ethics Committee.
You cannot win the White House without independents, and they have hated Newt since 1995. Hated him more than any other public figure, with a consistency intensity of distaste. As of last week, he was still running about -30% underwater on approve/disapprove.
No one has ever won the Presidency with numbers anywhere close to that.
Obama thanks you for your support.
I was being sarcastic … in describing Santorum’s critics.
Except Obama is there, and Newt has no chance.
You mean like he’s been his whole career without exception?
People are willing to trade four more years of Obama for a little red meat? What a bunch of hyenas.
It’s like the last 16 years never happened, and they see Newt emerging from the sea in a mist, naked on a sea shell, radiant with the glow of the 1994 victory.
I was POed about how Erick represented Perry, as I am an angry Palinista plus I like my Governor. As a matter of fact, Perry & Palin like each other so I didn’t understand the pro-Perry bias that caused the animonsity between the two groups. sigh.
O/T Stacy are you angry at Cain now he took votes away from Santorum in SC. ? http://tinyurl.com/7s8fba5 Just wondering. (can’t have it both ways.)
Hoping everyone starts playing by the same rules and finds a point of civility as this division in the GOP does not win elections. This is the most serious Election of our lifetime.
People can say “Romney can’t win” or “Palin can’t win” and it is just opinion. In Gingrich’s case, he has consistently been the most hated man in America. Independents and swing voters have always overwhelmingly despised him.
It’s not opinion to say “Gingrich can’t win” it’s just recognizing reality.
It’s a shame so many conservatives are willing to throw away their common sense and forget being shafted over and over and over by this jerk, just so he can throw a few pieces of red meat over the fence.
It’s poisoned! Don’t swallow it!
brain bleach. stat.
Just like Romney is the only electable one, right? 😉
If Mitt wins fair and square, I’ll support him. If not, then while Obama’s thanking me he might want to consider dropping you a fruit basket. Now come on back and tell me you hope the real reason I’m against Mitt is not because he’s a Mormon.
If you took an axe and split Adjoran’s head open Newt would come jumping out and immediately commit an ethics violation.
Wrong Adjoran. I have my concerns about Newt and I’ve expressed them multiple times. But I do see his positives as well. You’re the one who only sees the one side of Newt, the bad side. If anybody sees any candidate as a savior riding in on a white horse, or naked on a seashell, that would have to describe you and your little Romney god.
Let us pray to the great god Romney. Repeat after me-
Homina homina homina
Homina homina homina
You mean like that stubborn fact that most of us prefer Gingrich to Romney?
You mean on those ethics charges where he agreed to pay a fine on one charge and was found not guilty of all the others?
And by the way, if I don’t vote for Romney in my primary, that should be a big worry. I’m sure his closest opponent will somehow manage to have a few of his votes “lost”.
It’s a pretty rare occasion that you’ll see people line up for tofu.
Because a guy who can’t win over even a third of his own party will do better at winning over 51% of Americans.
Right?
…and playing to independants worked ever so well back in ’08, when President McCain did it.
Right?
Yeah, the three hundresd thousand dollar slap on the wrist.
As if four years of Romneycare McGuncontrol WOULDN’T be four more years of Obama?
27% Mitt will reign triumphant over 40% Newt! Right ON, brother!
…Where? Behind the stage, setting up the lights?
“Newt is a selfish, arrogant asshole. And people don’t like selfish, arrogant assholes.”
Really? When was the last time — if ever — those “people” didn’t elect a selfish, arrogant asshole to the White House?
“Like the last 16 years never happened.”
Kinda like, to Mittens supporters, basically his whole political career and every stance he’s taken on all sides of every issue… never really happened?
[…] don’t think Stacy McCain cares too much for Erick […]
This message brought to you by the Committee to Re-Elect barack Obama. Hope is Here!
By definition, a Republican speaker of the house is part of the GOP elite. You don’t get that job without cutting the necessary deals and knowing the secret handshake.
What does that mean?
And find only….
[apologies to Gustave Dore]
I support Ron Paul and Stacy supports Rick Santorum. So it’s only natural that I would go after Santorum. But to make you happy, I’ll also state for the record that I don’t care for Gingrich or Romney either.
But I will support who ever the eventual GOP nominee is. Will you do that?
No, Rick Santorum is not nasty and he is a nice guy.
Nasty is not what we need: it’s toughness.
The Raygun was nice and tough. And so is Mr. Santorum.
I think the best thing to do with Ericktile Dysfunction Man is to ignore him.
Don’t link the bastard or anyone at Red State.
Same here. This is what we must all do. Make him insignificant and, yes, make it uncomfortable for those who stick with him by posting at Red State.
ERICK ERICKSON DELENDA EST!
What disturbs me about the SC voters who pulled the lever for Newt knowing full-well that he was an arsehole is that they used the same logic as those who supported Caesar and his crossing of The Rubicon.
Caesar was part of the Elite and then he ‘ran’ as an outsider.
Good one.
Erick has to answer for Santino, er, Palin.
Those people are the descendents of the folks who thought Julius Caesar was the Lone Roman.
I didn’t mean YOU in particular, it was a generalized point that I have noticed on other blog sites. That’s all.
I’m keeping my powder dry.
Adjoran,
Yes, they are willing to give 4 more years to Obama and make socialized medicine a reality in the US.
But the debates will be super awesome! Newt will get red in the face and stuff!
Moe Lane’s not bad. The rest of RS, I dunno; I don’t read the main site.
Well, this is what we hold the votes to find out, isn’t it?