Is Rick Santorum Electable?

[ABM]

May win the Iowa Caucuses.

Wow, talk about swooping in from out-of-the-blue.

[TripTango]

'Fraid not, and all thanks to a peeved flaming advice-columnist...

[TripTango]

This headline just appeared on the Catholic Online webpage:

The Iowa Derby: In the Final Lap Rick Santorum Comes From Behind

I'm... I'm speechless.

[MARIS61]

That's just the way Rick rolls.

[MARIS61]

Iowans have got to be the dumbest, most malleable people on Earth.

[BrianFromWA]

The Iowa Democratic Presidential Caucus occurred on January 3, 2008, and was the state caucuses of the Iowa Democratic Party. It was the first election for the Democrats of the 2008 presidential election. Also referred to as "the First in the Nation Caucus," it was the first election of the primary season on both the Democratic and Republican sides. Of the eight major Democratic presidential candidates, then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois received the most votes and was ultimately declared the winner of the Iowa Democratic Caucus of 2008

...

[maxiep]

If Barack Obama can be elected President, there's no reason Rick Santorum couldn't.

[Denny Crane]

The guy has no business even being in the race. He's either a giant step forward for the party as solely a party of religious idealists, or he's a giant step backward for the party as it will be even less mainstream than it is now.

[TripTango]

If Barack Obama can be elected President, there's no reason Rick Santorum couldn't.

If Obama's last name were "Poopjizz", I'd agree with you. I just don't think anyone but Superman could possibly overcome a negative name association like that one, even if it's a manufactured one.

[chris_in_pdx]

The guy has no business even being in the race. He's either a giant step forward for the party as solely a party of religious idealists, or he's a giant step backward for the party as it will be even less mainstream than it is now.

THis may be the first post by Denny that I 100% agree with.

[Denny Crane]

THis may be the first post by Denny that I 100% agree with.

I attribute a lot of the candidates' rhetoric to appealing to the voters, and most of the candidates would not fail as president, assuming decent advisors. But this guy is so anti-civil liberties that he ranks up there with Obama in that regard.

My guy, Ron Paul, may not have won, but I am thrilled with his showing. His appeal is across the political spectrum, and his views have been heard enough to get those votes. The people will tire of the two parties screwing things up, once and for all. A libertarian will get the chance. Dr. Paul paved the way, and that's more than I could have hoped for, even 4 years ago.

[TripTango]

Huh -- Romney by 8 votes.

The upcoming exits of Perry and Bachman from the race may be deciding factors. Who will their former supporters flock to after they back out?

[SlyPokerDog]

Huh -- Romney by 8 votes.

The upcoming exits of Perry and Bachman from the race may be deciding factors. Who will their former supporters flock to after they back out?

Aren't Perry and Bachman leaving the race because they didn't have any supporters? Not much flocking going on there.

[TripTango]

Aren't Perry and Bachman leaving the race because they didn't have any supporters? Not much flocking going on there.

Those two got 15% between them, and the distance between 1st place (Mitt) and 3rd place (Paul) is only 3%. Relatively speaking, the decisions of those 15% will be huge. (Of course, this is assuming that Iowa even somewhat represents voters elsewhere, which may be a stretch...)

[speeds]

Bachmann voters will probably vote for their cats. Perry voters probably lean closer to Analfroth than Romney.

[Denny Crane]

Perry and bachman voters will likely go to Santorum. If they had a clue, they'd switch to Paul. But I'm sure the candidates won't endorse him because he's not militant.

[TripTango]

Bachmann voters will probably vote for their cats. Perry voters probably lean closer to Analfroth than Romney.

Funny because it's true. (Also, sad because it's true...)

[MARIS61]

If Barack Obama can be elected President, there's no reason Rick Santorum couldn't.

Lack of intelligence, lack of popularity, lack of common sense, lack of basic debating skills, total absence of reasoning abilities, and his mother dresses him funny.

[huevonkiller]

The guy has no business even being in the race. He's either a giant step forward for the party as solely a party of religious idealists, or he's a giant step backward for the party as it will be even less mainstream than it is now.

Agreed 100%, this guy Santorum is a fucking idiot. I hate his super religious stance on abortion as well (not even for rape and incest).

[huevonkiller]

I attribute a lot of the candidates' rhetoric to appealing to the voters, and most of the candidates would not fail as president, assuming decent advisors. But this guy is so anti-civil liberties that he ranks up there with Obama in that regard.

My guy, Ron Paul, may not have won, but I am thrilled with his showing. His appeal is across the political spectrum, and his views have been heard enough to get those votes. The people will tire of the two parties screwing things up, once and for all. A libertarian will get the chance. Dr. Paul paved the way, and that's more than I could have hoped for, even 4 years ago.

He did pave the way for our movement and that is great. He's a very flawed libertarian candidate though, those newsletters are tough defend especially when he speaks in first-person. His son should try to learn from those mistakes.

[jlprk]

Iowa caucus results

1. Romney (by 8 votes)
2. Santorum
3. Paul
4. Gingrich
5. Perry
6. Bachman (withdrew after this result)
7. Huntsman (skipped Iowa, got 1%)

[ABM]

'I haven't left my house in days.
I watch the news channels incessantly.
All the news stories are about the election;
All the commercials are for Viagra and Cialis.
Election - erection - election - erection
- - - either way we're getting SCREWED!' ~Bette Midler.

...

[mook]

The quote from this clip should make it pretty clear that if he won he'd completely alienate the libertarian wing of the Republican party:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=1Gwwmm-cQxU

It's getting hard to see how Romney doesn't win the nomination. I wonder who he would choose as a running mate. There's nobody among the current field of Republican candidates who would make him more electable, except for maybe Ron Paul. But nobody, including possibly Ron Paul, wants to see that.

[Denny Crane]

Thinking about the strategery...

Santorum + Rubio gets you PA and FLA. That's two big EV battleground states.

Santorum + Kasich gets you PA and OH. This almost assures 270+ republican EVs.

Romney probably gets you Michigan. Same VP logic.

[ABM]

Thinking about the strategery...

Santorum + Rubio gets you PA and FLA. That's two big EV battleground states.

Santorum + Kasich gets you PA and OH. This almost assures 270+ republican EVs.

Romney probably gets you Michigan. Same VP logic.

I'm still wondering if Gingrich and Santorum will eventually combine forces?