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Santorum revels in sudden support-but how deep?
Star Telegram ^ | 2-14-12 | Peoples

Posted on 02/14/2012 9:03:29 PM PST by VinL

The latest Republican to surge in polls, Rick Santorum is trying to turn his newfound strength into something lasting.

Curious Republicans now pack his rallies. Supporters have funneled nearly $4 million to his formerly empty campaign account over the past seven days. And his staff is plotting an aggressive strategy to challenge Mitt Romney in Romney's native Michigan and beyond.

But things don't look so strong just beneath the surface.

Santorum is underfunded and outmanned. He's still lacking in organization, a month and a half into the primary season. And, after he won three contests in a single day last week, his opponents - on the right and the left - have begun their own efforts to tear him down.

An upbeat Santorum faced more than 1,000 people in a Boise high school auditorium Tuesday night and said his ideas would carry him through.

He said he's someone "who can overcome the disadvantages of money and media attention and still be in a position to win. Ideas matter."

But his challenges were on display the day before in Tacoma, Wash., where hundreds of supporters waited on cold, wet cement stairs in the dark to see the Republican presidential candidate with whom they're barely familiar.

"I don't know a lot about him.....

(Excerpt) Read more at star-telegram.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: biggovernmentrick; kstreet; lobbyistrick; santorum; taxreturn
Well, there were front runners Bachmann, Perry, Cain, Newt and Romney-- they couldn't hold it. Will Rick stay as King of the Hill? -:)
1 posted on 02/14/2012 9:03:35 PM PST by VinL
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To: VinL
Santorum is underfunded and outmanned.

Well everyone believes that no matter who the nominee is, they will be underfunded and out manned by the Regime. It does show something that Santorum is the only candidate that seems to be making a strong showing despite the funding disparity. I will bet any money that Newt would love to be reveling in just a portion of Ricks recent success.

2 posted on 02/14/2012 9:14:49 PM PST by Lazlo in PA (Now living in a newly minted Red State.)
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To: onyx

-—”He said he’s someone “who can overcome the disadvantages of money and media attention and still be in a position to win. Ideas matter.”-—

What ideas? i know of one idea: single-out manufacturing/union jobs for a zero tax rate, making every other business essentially subsidize them. And it’s a bad idea.

What freaking ideas?


3 posted on 02/14/2012 9:17:08 PM PST by TitansAFC (Rick Santorum is the suicide bomber of the 2012 Primary; he's going to take us all out with him.)
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To: VinL

At the end of the day I want anyone except Obama in charge. Santorum preforably, but the man with no past, except for being a Marxist and terrorist appeaser if not supporter, who spends our money like it’s confetti calling it “stimulus” while the scraps are passed around under the table, the Chicago thug politician with more connections to corruption than any other sitting president, can go.


4 posted on 02/14/2012 9:17:57 PM PST by Telepathic Intruder (The right thing is not always the popular thing)
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To: Lazlo in PA
" Santorum is underfunded and outmanned. He's still lacking in organization, a month and a half into the primary season. And, after he won three contests in a single day last week, his opponents - on the right and the left - have begun their own efforts to tear him down. "

They didn't give 13 unorganized, underfunded, American colonies any chance to beat England ( the world's super power at that time in world history ) but with God's grace and help we became the United States of America.
5 posted on 02/14/2012 9:19:25 PM PST by American Constitutionalist (The fool has said in his heart, " there is no GOD " ..)
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To: TitansAFC
What freaking ideas?

Raising minimum wage - more federal funding for public schools - more funds for head start - more funds for Bono's escapades in Africa - forcing businesses to pay benefits to laid off workers - more federal funds for unionized Pennsylvania fire houses - etc. Those ideas. And he calls Mitt a liberal......

6 posted on 02/14/2012 9:42:46 PM PST by C. Edmund Wright
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To: VinL
Reading through that story, it is mind altering that the ruling class would take a huge risk in losing with a person that has 31% of the respondents not knowing of him. They really must not want to win this thing or to make huge changes. Very alarming. Imo.
7 posted on 02/14/2012 9:45:12 PM PST by Christie at the beach
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To: Christie at the beach
Reading through that story, it is mind altering that the ruling class would take a huge risk in losing with a person that has 31% of the respondents not knowing of him. They really must not want to win this thing or to make huge changes.

What do you think a campaign is for, if not to introduce yourself and your ideas to people who don't know you?

Everybody in the race had this problem from the outset -- except Romney (who ran in 2008) and Gingrich (who was the Speaker of the House).

8 posted on 02/14/2012 9:52:15 PM PST by okie01 (THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA: Ignorance On Parade)
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To: okie01

you’re right, and none of them lasted, which is the potentially the point.


9 posted on 02/14/2012 9:53:45 PM PST by C. Edmund Wright
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To: Christie at the beach

Rush has a theory that the GOP elites simply want a candidate that wont blow there chances of gaining a super majority in the Senate and wont jepordize the house. Which was supposedly why they were so paniced about Gingrich. But I can see them sort of being ok with Santorum. They certainly wont fight like tooth and nails against him like they did Gingrich.


10 posted on 02/14/2012 10:00:12 PM PST by TexasFreeper2009 (Go Newt!)
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To: TitansAFC

“What ideas? i know of one idea: single-out manufacturing/union jobs for a zero tax rate, making every other business essentially subsidize them. And it’s a bad idea.”

Rick is a rambling uh-uh-er, just like Obama without teleprompter.

On FoxNews with Greta:

http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-record/2012/02/11/santorum-im-best-contrast-president-obama-big-issues

Santorum: And you know, the other side of Michigan, the western side of Michigan, we got, you know, the good, strong conservative values that is — you know, Grand Rapids and that great western Michigan heartland of America. We think we can run very, very well in the state of Michigan....

And that’s what folks are looking for. They’re looking for somebody who has ideas, that aren’t — maybe — you know, not the model. I mean, “The Wall Street Journal” called our plan the supply side economics for the working man, and they criticized it. They criticized. Oh, you know, you can’t single out manufacturing, just try to help manufacturing. Well, you can if that’s where we’re losing our jobs...”


11 posted on 02/14/2012 10:05:56 PM PST by Marguerite (When I'm good, I am very, very good. But! When I'm bad, I'm even better)
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To: TitansAFC

“making every other business essentially subsidize them. “

nope:
Cut the corporate income tax rate in half to make our businesses competitive around the world, from 35% to 17.5%;

http://www.ricksantorum.com/defender-taxpayer


12 posted on 02/14/2012 10:24:04 PM PST by ari-freedom
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To: VinL
My support is for two reasons.

1. Stop Romney. Romney can't win. People just don't like him. People don't trust him.

2. Santorum is someone I can work with. He's not perfect, a B- candidate for me, but the best choice I have here in Michigan's 7th Congressional District. Delegates are picked by congressional district as well as at-large.

Referring the former, three polls have Santorum beating Romney in Michigan. Newt is polling third or last here in all of the polls, along with Ron Paul. In addition, Newt's not actively campaigning in person out here. Santorum's going to be in Oakland County the 16th. My best chance for stopping Romney is by voting for Santorum who is much better than Romney on the issues.

13 posted on 02/14/2012 10:32:53 PM PST by Darren McCarty (Rick Santorum in the primary)
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To: TitansAFC

Most manufacturing jobs these days are non-union.


14 posted on 02/14/2012 10:34:00 PM PST by Darren McCarty (Rick Santorum in the primary)
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To: Darren McCarty

Also, this is about creating new jobs or bringing back the ones that Steve Jobs thought would never come back.


15 posted on 02/14/2012 11:43:34 PM PST by ari-freedom
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To: ari-freedom; TitansAFC
You missed the point right after that one: " Eliminate corporate income tax for manufacturers."

Yep. Making every other business subsidize them.

Newt, on the other hand, wants to cut corporate income tax to 12.5 percent, PERIOD. And eliminate the capital gains tax. And instead of 28 percent for some and less for others Newt calls for a 15 percent flat tax.

I can't rememer if Santorum said he'd cut the capital gains tax or not.

I DO remember that Newt states uniquivocally with regard to health care: NO individual mandates. NO employe mandates. NONE. ZERO. Mandates are wrong and that's the end of it, and Newt makes a POINT of promising it.

Didn't see that anywhere in Santorum's list of policies, and I looked.

I loved what Santorum proposed about Planned Parenhood -- defund it! Atta boy! ... until I read the next line: "And spend half of that funding on adoptions instead.

*sigh* No, get the government out of it altogehter, Rick, and let the people take care of the peoples' business.

We could do a lot worse than Rick Santorum. But going to both their websites and comparing them on their policies ... we could do a lot better than Santorum.

Godspeed Newt Gingrich.

16 posted on 02/15/2012 12:12:49 AM PST by Finny ("Raise hell. Vote smart." -- Ted Nugent)
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To: VinL
The phrase they want is "mile wide and inch deep."

If we're very fortunate, his time will come where he's vetted as "carefully" as all the others before him.

He'd be easy pickings in the fall so I don't expect much more than kid gloves from the press or the establishment since he's truly one of them.

17 posted on 02/15/2012 12:42:46 AM PST by newzjunkey (Santorum has baggage too. Demand an inspection!)
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To: newzjunkey
The phrase they want is "mile wide and inch deep."

Not so. There were many (like me) who wanted to support Santorum all along, but did not see him as viable at the time. Now we are down to four candidates, two acceptable, my support is quite firm.

A large component who have pro-life/family as the core issue will go to the wall for Santorum. Another segment who wants someone who never endorsed an individual mandate and isn't named Paul will also go to the wall for him. A number of women who like neither Romney nor Gingrich will be solid for him. Many of the rest will go with whomever can beat Romney, and right now that appears to be Santorum.
18 posted on 02/15/2012 6:43:40 AM PST by Dr. Sivana (May Mitt Romney be the Paul Tsongas of 2012.)
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