Politics is a fun game to watch, or I should say watching politicians shoot themselves in the foot is fun to watch, and Rick Santorum is the funnest of the bunch. An ultra-conservative Republican candidate has no more chance of winning the White House today than an ultra-liberal Democrat had of winning 30 years ago. Rick might win the hearts of the Tea Partyers, but probably not many others.
We're not a country of "ultra" anythings. The ultra's make a lot of noise and get a lot of publicity, but they alienate so many others along the way they can never win the Big One. We're a nation of reasonable, responsible, compassionate people who work hard and by-and-large keep under the radar. Wasn't it Nixon who referred to them (us) as "The Silent Majority"? We're the ones who will decide elections.
It took the Democrats years to dig themselves out from under the Mondale / Dukakis pile and get back to respectability, and I predict it will take years for the Republicans to prove to the voters they're not still a bunch of cold-blooded Tea Party knuckle-draggers.
'Course I think they're ALL a bunch of crooks. I still love the bumper sticker that says, "Don't vote. It'll just encourage the bastards." (I'm still holding out for a new Third Party that advocates shooting all the politicians and bankers and lawyers and mandates year-round football. ;)
S
Rick can't even win the hearts of his fellow Catholics.
ReplyDeleteWell not ALL the lawyers. I know at least one good one. Just all the sleazy ambulance chasers.
ReplyDeleteIt is said that after the primaries a candidate has to move to the center if he/she wants to win anything. You have to court all the wishy-washy "undecideds" not cater to your base at that point. Though you still have to keep your base interested. The problem for Romney is that thanks to Rush, Karl Rove, and the Tea Party the GOP base has shifted farther to the right, which makes it harder for him to win them over as a more moderate candidate. Also he's a Mormon which for whatever reason they find scary.
I think the best way to look into Rick Santorum is to remember his roll in the Terri Schiavo fiasco. Santorum managed to coerce the Federal government into intervening in what should have been a family matter. Santorum is a Catholic zealot who would like to abolish the separation of church and state. The other Republican candidates are jokes, especially Romney who tells lies every time he opens his mouth, but Santorum is dangerous.
ReplyDeleteWhatever else happens, I guarantee you Santorum will not win the nomination. Romney will win if it's decided during the primaries. If it comes down to a brokered convention (which I think it will, and which I desperately want to see for the entertainment value alone) Paul would no more throw his delegates Santorum's way than a penguin would invite a walrus in for tea.
ReplyDelete(That's a fairly weak analogy, but I'm only my second cup of coffee.)
The combined Romney/Paul delegates will close things out, and that will be that.