Rick Santorum; The Best of the Final Four

The highly anticipated 2012 election year has now arrived for those of us who can’t wait to vote against our Campaigner in Chief in November. When B.H. Obama was elected I was overcome with a sense of doom for our country and his performance as president has exceeded all my fears. Now we are in the process of selecting the Republican candidate to be placed on the ballot. The field of 9 has been narrowed to 4 and the battles for the GOP nomination continue. I don’t know any Republican who is thrilled with the choices, but we all know it’s crucial to select the candidate that has the best chance of beating Obama. When asked which one I’ll vote for my standard answer has been, “Any Republican sucking air.” However, with the four choices we have left, it’s time to get serious and make a stand.

As with 75% of GOP voters, I do not want Romney to get the nomination. He is not a conservative, and no matter how hard he tries, he comes across as a fake and is unable to connect with most conservatives. The media and wealthy power brokers have christened him the heir apparent to the Republican nomination and we’re having none of it. We were forced to vote for John McCain last time and we resent it.

The Buckley rule of "we should support the most conservative candidate who is electable" has been replaced by "we should support the most electable candidate, provided he is at least marginally conservative." This reasoning just doesn’t fly anymore. Recent studies show that 40% of American voters call themselves conservative with only 20% self-identified liberals. The other 40% consider themselves independent. That means conservatives outnumber liberals 2 to 1. Since only ¾ of conservatives are identified as Republicans, that means the other ¼ is even further to the right of the Republican Party. In this demographic, conservative ideas win and liberal ideas are the big losers. They need to convince 31% of the general public and we only need to convince another 11% of the independents to win a majority. Running so-called moderate candidates like Mitt Romney is a losing proposition.

So who of the final four should we choose as our nominee? In spite of the high paid handlers and top notch campaign staff, Romney continues to stick his foot in it providing the Democrats with juicy fodder. If he gets the nomination we’ll hear “I like to fire people,” and now “I’m not concerned about the very poor,” plus all about the evil Bain Capital adnauseum until November 6^th. That along with near zero enthusiasm from voters means Romney will lose.

This has conservative voters searching for the anti-Romney candidate. One after another has risen to the top only to be shot down, discredited and suspending their campaigns. Only Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum remain in the fight. So let’s examine which one of those candidates follows the Buckley Rule.

A key component to the “electability factor” is how much ammunition the Democrat Party machine has against the candidate. This was a valuable lesson I learned in the 2010 election in Minnesota. At the state GOP endorsing convention we had two frontrunners vying for the nomination to the gubernatorial race. Both Tom Emmer and Marty Seifert were strong conservative candidates with great credentials, but there was one major difference. The Democrats had lots of ammo against Emmer, but Seifert was squeaky clean. They were terrified Seifert would get the nomination since they had no dirt on him. Unfortunately, Emmer won the day and was endorsed as our GOP candidate for governor. He could not overcome discretions from his past and we now have a total buffoon named Mark Dayton as our governor. Lesson learned.

Newt Gingrich is another Tom Emmer. Democrats are salivating at the prospect of him getting the presidential nomination. Decades of gaffs, scandals and other political fodder will be trotted out for the voters to see. What they don’t have for facts will simply be made up and the public will lap it up. Gingrich is another toxic candidate who will doom us to another 4 years of the Obama reign of terror.

So how about Ron Paul? He has a strong following and energizes the gullible youth of our country, but there is no way he’s ever going to get the Republican Party nomination. His views on foreign policy are just a bit too radical for those of us who know what Iran will do if they ever get a nuclear weapon. I along with many of my colleagues would love for him to take Timmy Geithner’s job, but we have to get rid of Obama first.

Using the process of elimination, we come down to Rick Santorum. Sorry folks. That’s what we’re left with. He’s the only one of the final four who can beat Obama, but nobody wants to give him that chance. He’s been written off from the very start and been treated like an afterthought by the mainstream media. Whenever they are discussing the candidates, they feel compelled to at least give him a token word and it goes something like this…

So how about Santorum? He did really well in the debates….has a nice demeanor….sharp on foreign policy…..great smile…..very likeable…..strong conservative family values……but he doesn’t have a chance to win. Moving right along…..

It’s like there’s some unwritten rule and his fate has already been sealed. The media moguls and uber-rich power brokers have already made their decision and we have nothing to say about it. Romney is going to be their candidate and that’s that.

Well it’s about time the voters in this country took a stand. I’m sick and tired of being told I have to hold my nose and vote for their pre-ordained nominee. I joined the Republican Party to do whatever I could to get real Republicans elected and Romney just doesn’t meet my standards.

I was thrilled to learn that rick Santorum was visiting my neck of the woods in Northern Minnesota. The only American company he could find to manufacture the cute sweater vests for his campaign was Bemidji Woolen Mills in Bemidji MN. He scheduled a campaign stop there on February 5^th, and since it’s only 70 miles from where I live, wild horses couldn’t keep me away. Off we went to Bemidji to see if this Santorum guy is the real deal.

In anticipation of the event I contemplated what I would ask the Senator if given the chance. I conclude that the most important thing I wanted to know was why he is running for president. What is his motivation to go through the political meat grinder of the presidential nomination process? Most candidates are in it for all the wrong reasons. They want to be the most powerful and influential person in the world. I didn’t get to ask this question to him directly, because it wasn’t necessary. It was clear from his heartfelt speech that he is doing this for all the right reasons. He truly cares about our country and the American people. It was abundantly clear how difficult it is for him to be away from his family and go through this grueling process day after day, week after week and month after month. He knows the future of our country is at stake and he’s willing to do everything he can to protect the freedom we are perilously close to losing.

His honesty and integrity are so inspiring and exactly what the jaded voters of this country are craving. The contrast between Obama’s slick arrogance and Santorum’s genuine and humble demeanor will be abundantly clear to the people in this country. This unmistakable difference will be the stark contrast we need to beat Obama.

The biggest argument I’ve heard against Santorum is that he doesn’t have the money or organization to win the nomination or a national campaign. He certainly doesn’t have the money or influence of Romney, but those who are looking for the anti-Romney candidate will be willing to open their checkbooks if the momentum goes Santorum’s way. I’ve learned first hand that all it takes is some positive polling and media attention to change the game. Are we going to let Romney purchase the nomination or are we going to make our votes count?

The other argument is that Santorum doesn’t have the name and face recognition to win the general election. That’s just silly. Of course he doesn’t now, but give him the GOP nomination and everyone in the country will know who he is instantly. It would be such an incredible upset the national media will go wild. Then you will have a fresh, attractive face with a killer smile on every TV set in the country. The women will swoon!

So let’s give the guy a chance and see what happens. As with all the other GOP candidates who have risen to the top only to be crushed and discarded, lets see what Rick’s got. If he’s not up to the task, he’ll be relegated to the trash heap with the rest of them and we’ll be stuck with another candidate who doesn’t have a chance to win. Most of us will go to the polls and vote against Obama anyway, but I can’t believe we’ll be successful. We need a candidate we can vote FOR. We already have one to vote against.

Don’t let the election gods give us the Amazing Plastic Man for our nominee. Support Rick Santorum as the only true Republican nominee. Let’s prove to the world that nice guys don’t always finish last.