Don't Be Fooled In 2012!!
Keep Up With The REAL News
Conservatives Need From FR
Help Keep It Going !!
Sponsoring FReepers are contributing
$10 Each time a New Monthly Donor signs up!
Get more bang for your FR buck!
Click Here To Sign Up Now!
Posted on 01/21/2012 7:29:34 PM PST by Steelfish
JANUARY 21, 2012 Challenges Mount for Rick Santorum
By PATRICK O'CONNOR and BRODY MULLINS
CHARLESTON, S.C.—Republican White House hopeful Rick Santorum burst out of Iowa earlier this month on a wave of unexpected momentum.
But after a third-place finish in South Carolina, the former Pennsylvania senator finds himself limping into Florida without a clear path to victory and an unforgiving landscape for an under-funded candidate.
With 95% of the precincts reporting, Mr. Santorum was the top pick of 17% of Republican primary voters in South Carolina, well behind former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's 41% and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's 27%. That result came a day after Iowa Republicans named him the official winner of their first-in-the-nation caucuses.
Mr. Santorum drew large crowds this week when he campaigned in the socially conservative regions of South Carolina. But he wasn't able to translate that into a strong showing on primary night. Now, as the race shifts to Florida, Mr. Santorum must figure out how to magnify his up-close appeal to an expansive and expensive state where money typically plays a large role in determining the winner.
On Saturday night, as he has all week, Mr. Santorum pledged to fight on.
"Three states, three winners. What a great country," he told his supporters at an election-night rally at the Citadel in Charleston. "It's a wide open race. Join the fight."
Mr. Santorum often cites his Iowa win as evidence he should remain in the race and has hinted that he expects Mr. Gingrich to flame out at some point. On Saturday, his campaign announced Mr. Santorum would immediately travel to Florida to start campaigning in the Sunshine State. His first event is a campaign rally Sunday at a chicken wing restaurant outside Fort Lauderdale.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
“America’s best days are long behind us.”
I believe our best days are ahead of us. The only question is how hard will the Lord’s correction be.
Glad he’s staying in. Pro life matters.
Problem is, what if he drops out for Mitt, or eventually intends to. I haven’t sensed any allegiance with Newt or Perry over the months, and if he IS going to go to Mitt we want him to do it after we batter Mitt down to the low 20s.
So, I don’t ask him to drop out, just ask him who’s he staying in for?
“Rick needs to seriously get out next week. He has no chance to win the nomination. From here on out its a vanity run.”
I see Santorum as Lazio and Newt as Paladino. Not very happy with the chances for either.
No, Rick needs to get out. CNN was just saying that the RNC big bosses will do everything NOW to send him money to keep him in the race To> divide the conservative votes. He needs to go. Pretty soon, Palin has to endorse Newt. Newt has the backing of most of the Tea Party. Rick is already trashing Newt. We don’t need that or we could end up with Romney. This will be a hard battle. Gotta pray that these votes will come together for these other states.
My take exactly!
If Romney wins it, he wins BIG in FL and his momentum is reestablished heading into a sure win in Mormon-heavy NV.
Santorum should definitely honestly reevaluate his campaign this week
Maine caucuses Feb 4-11. CO, MN caucus on Feb 7... probably all Romney country. MO votes (Newt not participating) but their delegates are actually determined by a caucus in March; the vote is just a beauty contest.
Romney should get "favorite son" status for the MI primary on Feb 28th. AZ, on the same day, might be competitive.
Where will Santorum "break out" in February ahead of March's Super Tuesday? How does he picked up momentum? Does he sit around helping Romney take delegates while he waits like a vulture to see if Newt stumbles?
Ignoring FL, Ron Paul is focused on the caucus states. Santorum can't camp out in these states for a year like he did in Iowa. 5
I think he should stay in and give more people a choice. As pointed out in other posts, he obviously isn’t taking any votes away from Gingrich, and many really do not like Gingrich or Romney.
That's a ridiculous assertion with no basis in fact.
Santorum was lapped by Gingrich and even Romney beat him by 10 points.
Sheesh. Get some reality.
If you really believe the crap that you just posted, it must suck just to wake up in the morning.
America's best days are long behind us?
Get the hell out of the Country I served for in the Army, you sorry loser.
Move your sorry butt to where ever you believe has the brightest future, but why are you posting on FR?
You haven’t read about Iowa?
If Rick is smart — and he better be, he’ll realize that the only course for him is to back Newt. Hard as it may be... that’s the hand that has been dealt. It will only help him to endorse Newt and move forward.
Rick lost the primary within a primary to be the Anti-Romney. He should endorse Newt before FL.
the fact that he won’t proves he is only in it for himself.
He has no money, no organization and no chance.
>> If Rick is smart
Rick reminds me of Dole and McCain; the fight is more important than the outcome.
Hopefully, he's smart enough not to go after Newt with his advertising.
Good to hear. Fight on Mr. Santorum.
He’s staying in for the same reason he started, namely, he feels “called” (his word) to do so.
You should really try to keep up. Santorum won Iowa by 14 votes, the establishment made a big deal of winning all three early primaries, bragging that no one ever has blah, bla bla. No republican has ever went on to be elected without first winning SC, now that he has lost 2 out of
3, the meme has changed.
Good call!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.