Posted on 02/12/2012 7:08:56 PM PST by NKP_Vet
PORTLAND, Maine (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has a Rick Santorum problem that can't be easily swept aside, even with wins in the sparsely attended Maine caucuses and a poll of conservative activists.
The former Massachusetts governor arguably has fewer effective weapons against Santorum than he was able to pull out against Newt Gingrich after getting a thumping in South Carolina from the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
As they battled for the 2012 Republican nomination, Romney attacked Gingrich on several fronts, scoring a big hit with ads focused on Gingrich's ethics violations in Congress.
The attacks helped carry Romney to front-runner status in the race to face Democratic President Barack Obama in November -
until Santorum roared back into the winner's circle with three victories last week in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri.
But his criticism of the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania has been confined to subjects like his support for spending bills and local spending projects known as earmarks"
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
The media will smear Santorum as “the guy with crazy religious beliefs”. Watch for it.
I think Rick Santorum is going to keep this surge going and change this race for good. That being said, I think that Rick and Gingrich will work together and go for a brokered convention where they can negotiate their delagates into a combined majority. I think this may be their unspoken combined strategy at this point.
And end with Palin-Santorum---WOO HOO!
Romney could call him on his refusal to endorse care mandates, but that would be a dumb call. Where does Santorum stand on national heath care? And Romney could call him on his admirable rejection of the global warming hoax, and accuse him of being a "denier." But how good a tangling point would that be?
If I was a gambler, I'd lay odds that if Santorum drops out, he'll end up endorsing Romney. I know it in my gut.
Godspeed Newt Gingrich.
What is to worry afterall, he is now referred to himself like a ‘Richie Cunningham’ candidate. Let the vetting begin. Newt had his. Now Rick’s turn. Undecideds need to know.
Williard. Call Bill and Hill, they have Rick’s FBI file.
I agree with you, this is looking more and more like either an outright Santorum win, or a brokered convention with Santorum and Gingrich (old friends) teaming up to deny Romney the nomination.
If the man just had something to say that resonates with conservatives, he could run on that instead of his predictable and tiresome PAC attack politics of personal destruction.
Whatever happens, not saying that Newt didn't have reason to, but if Santorum pouts and whines like Gingrich did for mic and camera, he's toast too.
They've figured out how to make Newt make Newt look bad. Now it's Santorum's turn.
I would say at least 3 to 1.
The tide is turning and the deranged Santorum hate from the Newt people is wearing thin.
I think Rick's rise began when he was endorsed by Mark Levin.
So Mitt will go easy on Rick. There is always the risk that Rick could take the nomination, but Mitt's bet would be that Rick cannot achieve that. By keeping good relations, Mitt will look forward to Rick's ultimate endorsement or, at a minimum, neutrality.
Mitt's silence is not due to lack of ammunition. Mitt never had a problem making stuff up. A Mitt strategy is at work here.
Long term, character counts. We conservatives shouldn’t be wasting our resources supporting creeps, even if they are conservative.
Mitt doesn't have to go after Rick, the Paulbot attack apes—and a few deranged Santorum haters on Newt's side—will do the smears and leave his hands clean.
The things that Mitt could attack Santorum on are things he supports. He’s in a quandry. If Romney attacks Rick’s social conservatism it will prove that Romney is still just a NE moderate which most who are objective conclude already but it would be a bit harder to make the case that Romney is a conservative if he is to cast Santorum’s mainstream views on Life and Marriage as extreme.
Romney has huge problem once again and that is he is 10-15 points behind Santorum in Michigan. Santorum has a message that appeals to blue collar union workers so it isn’t unlikely that he could take that state. Those who want to pigeon hole Santorum as just a social conservative are just not being honest. Rick was not my first choice or even my 4th but then neither was Gingrich but they are what we have. We can thank them both for solid work on Welfare Reform, Balanced Budgets, Health Care Savings accounts, and social conservatism that doesn’t mean they are blameless and do not have flaws but the key thing for me is they both have a record that includes some very impressive conservative accomplishments something that Romney does not.
Ron Paul is unfortunately just a tease. He should give the money back that his devoted followers are sending him because he isn’t doing anything to win and seems to not care one iota about alienating Americans that care about national security with his silly moral equivalency tirades.
We have what we have and I’ll support the candidate who has a conservative record who wins.
You had better believe it. If it doesn’t come from Romney now, it will come from Obama later.
And you know what? It will stick. We had all better hope Santorum’s star fades soon, or we’re truly toast.
I disagree it very easy targets for Newt..
Willard is a moderate maybe worse when in office..
Santorum does NOT WANT the federal government to be gutted..
Only Newt has a plan to fillet the federal government..
Rich still wants to improve a failed system..
Now another thing ENTIRELY separate, but I must remark on it for everyone here. Like me, I assume you've been reading this thread. Am I missing something? Have I skipped the posts with "deranged Santorum hate"?
The phrasing, on the other hand, reminds me quite a lot of a certain faction on FR about four years ago to this date. They accused everyone who challenged their candidate on issues, qualifications, and record, as being "haters." They perceived "hate" in every criticism, and got to the point that apparently, the only reason they could conceive for anyone rejecting their fair-haired boy, was "hate" -- they were incapable of acknowleding solid, sensible reasons for rejecting their guy post haste.
For what it's worth.
Yep. You couldn’t slip a sheet of paper between Mitt’s positions and Rick’s positions on every issue I care most about: tax policy, social Security, debt, and sound currency. It’s actually pretty hard to see light between these guys and Obama, for that matter.
I’ll stick with Newt, if you don’t mind.
Here’s one I forget to mention; the 10th Amendment.
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
I include the full text here if any Mitt or Rick people on this forum would like to pass the word back to their candidate of choice. My impression is that neither of them is familiar with this provision.
I wasa thinking originally of a kettle calling a pot black...
But its OK when the pot is a shiny new stainless steel one
He failed to even get on the ballot in Indiana, this news is breaking.
Why people of any stripe that think that another ‘senator’ is a solution to ‘fix things’ after McCain & Obama is just astonishingly ignorant.
Especially with Santorum’s senate record and his slobbering kisses with Arlen Specter.
The ugly untrue and uncalled for smears coming at Rick Santorum ever since he became a real contender you would call rational love too. I'm not playing any politically correct games here--I call them as they are.
Now Sowell and Levin both have some heavy conservative bona fides but Mark has many many more customers than Thomas and nothing succeeds like success as the old Capitalists said so it stands to reason his endorsement carries more weight because he obviously has the superior product. Rush Limbaugh, of course, has the supreme conservative product which probably explains his reluctance to endorse anyone until after the primaries--too many heated backlashes from several sides.
Romney should just come to Free Republic. Alot of examples from haters on this site big time. You would think Santorum was the anti-Christ with how FREEPERS are treating him. GO SANTORUM!!!!!
Now that is a bit overboard. The truth is that Santorum is just a Christian Romney; in other words, a waste of time when we don't have time to spare.
John,
You have not been around lately. I promise you if you go to some Santorum threads they are ugly. They are treating him like a piece of garbage.
Bob
And you, of course, are always so fair and balanced with Newt....
You're a woman, aren't you?
First, right now: show me on this thread "insults" of "pure mean-spirited petulance" that qualify as "Deranged Santorum hate." Surely you can clip two or three examples of phrases from posts of Gingrich supporters.
Second: Does a rational person insert out of the blue what they think I think is "rational love"? Rational love. Lets ponder that. Hmmmm. "Rational love." Okay. As opposed to irrational love? That's the beauty of love, is that it transcends rationality! So .. huh? Wha ...?
Whatever. And your point? Gosh. Does pondering it mean I'm "hateful"? *sigh* If you are a woman, you insult our sex. If you are a man ... you must be a high-maintenance kinda guy!
I know enough about Santorum and Gingrich's voting records and history to know Santorum is clearly second to Gingrich in just about every measurable criteria. I do NOT consider marital transgressions 20 years gone as anything but tabloid-grade junk criteria, especially as I'm a Christian. I think any political campaign or group of folks that actually urge people in the name of MY Christianity to include that as worthy criteria for making this political decision, stink. That's about it. The concept, let alone word, "hate" is alien to the whole picture ... what motivates you to introduce it stays with you.
Godspeed Newt Gingrich.
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