Yes, you forgot someone obvious who is far and away more conservative. If you can pass more conservative legislation under a Democrat president than the other guy could under a Republican president, that definitely makes you more conservative.
Posted on 04/10/2012 5:26:18 PM PDT by Steelfish
Rick Santorum Was The Most Conservative, Authentic and Resilient Candidate of 2012.
Tim Stanley April 10th
Rick Santorum's struggle touched a chord with many working-class Americans
Rick Santorum said goodbye on Tuesday afternoon. It was a classic performance from the Rickster – heartfelt, overlong, a little bitter. He pledged to go on fighting for the little people but acknowledged that the race was over, brought to a close by his daughter’s illness and poor polling. To most people this means that it’s now between Romney and Obama. The only minority report on that will come from Newt Gingrich.
You can imagine him happily switching the TV off after Santorum’s speech and saying, “Callista, it’s in the bag!” [“Plop!” goes the ice into the glass as Callista fixes herself another medicinal Martini. It’s going to be a long three months...]
Love him or loathe him, Santorum was the most interesting candidate of this season. Against insurmountable odds (including a false count in Iowa) he won 11 states and more counties that all the other candidates combined. His candidacy marked the entry of mainstream conservative Catholicism into the Republican Party at a national level.
He’s the first serious Catholic Republican contender since Pat Buchanan in 1996 – and a lot more serious than that (sorry Pat!). At the root of all his politics was a strict natural law view of the world – the concept that nature is an estate of God and it contains within it the template of moral order.
He wasn’t half as obsessed with sex as the interviewers who constantly asked him about it, and if they’d dug deeper they’d discovered that it was part of an over-arching philosophy of rights and responsibilities that is at the heart of the Western Catholic tradition. If John Paul II .....
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.telegraph.co.uk ...
As imperfect a conservative as he may have been, at least Santorum had a shot.
Yeah, maybe. But he bailed out. So what's your point?
I understand the policy here against blog pimping, but thought this site allowed articles.
He’s dead, Jim.
Yeah, well Romney is the richest.
I wasn’t bitching about pimping.
My point was that it’s stupid to be lauding Santorum. He’s out.
Cogitating about how he’s the best candidate is stupid now.
He’s gone. Toast. An Ex-Candidate. Pining for the Fjords.
I still believe Sarah leads Rick in all 3 categories but, yes, she was not a “candidate”.
The meanings of political labels shift over time, but if we are using the term “conservative” in its historical context, Santorum is one of the most conservative candidates that we have seen since at least Buchanan (I hope I’m not forgetting anyone obvious,) and probably will see for a long time.
C’mon, surely you’ve been around here long enough to know it’s the hummelgummer’s thing to sit back and take potshots at any and everything.
Well thats useful, too. Thanks.
Couple of days? I was planning on somewhat longer than that.
Where are all the threads by anti-Santorum FReepers who’ve been urging him to quit for the past months? They should be doing the happy dance tonight.
Resilient? Newt’s still in it to win it and Rick dropped out. Doesn’t sound like he’s so resilient to me.
Interesting? Not more interesting than Newt, that’s for sure, who is someone from whom you can learn something new about American history, political history and innovative policy every time you listen to him.
“Mainstream conservative Catholicism” is an oxymoron to anyone who actually knows Catholics.
Blog pimping aside,...I never supported ANY of the GOP candidates. Yet the wizards of smart in Washington have rammed Romney DOWN MY THROAT. I can’t vote for him. Yes, I know Obama is a communist and if elected we are finished. Frankly, the way the world is going, I believe we are ALL finished. Perhaps if ODouchBag is re-elected it will ignite a revolution. If the left can’t be vanquished electorally, well then.............................................
Never in the history of politics (unless you are a Marxist, then Obama is an exception) has there ever been a perfect candidate.
One can view Romney optimistically (I do as far as national defense and some things economic); or one can support Romney out of fear (Obama seems to be aching for some "flexibility" to do a scorched-earth, full-Venezuela on our fine country, and Mitt is relatively not as destructive) and Mitt has a sense of country that Mister Obama does not. (If you want to say that Mitt has a sense of Mitt, okay, no argument, so be it.)
I am Mitt Romney's newest, and most ardent, and least likely supporter.
Contrary opinion invited, my FRiends, we need this (genial and gracious) discussion.
.
Yes, you forgot someone obvious who is far and away more conservative. If you can pass more conservative legislation under a Democrat president than the other guy could under a Republican president, that definitely makes you more conservative.
No one needs to have a genial and gracious discussion with a traitor to the conservative cause, which anyone who supports an economic and cultural leftist like Governor Romney over his more conservative opponent Newt Gingrich is. Get lost.
I am. Maybe Newt can still pull this out.
That was my exact thought.
More conservative, but hardly 'far and away' more conservative.
Too bad we all couldn't get behind one of these guys.
Fred Thompson Was The Most Conservative, Authentic and Resilient Candidate of 2008. How’d that work out?
Thanks for proving my point.
Now, could you just get on with taking some shots at, say, Newt? Romney? Paul?
Seems a rather odd thing to say today, doesn't it?
Gingrich is more accomplished and talented but not more conservative.
If the media weren’t so dumb I bet they could have asked Santorum many more gotcha questions than just the one about contraception, because he is far to the right of what Americans are comfortable with. As his comments on Kennedy may indicate, I doubt he believes in separation of church and state. He’s more like an old-fashioned Torie or ancien regime supporter than any candidate in recent memory, and those are the true right-wing extremists, not Nazis and fascists.
“The meanings of political labels shift over time, but if we are using the term “conservative” in its historical context, Santorum is one of the most conservative candidates that we have seen since at least Buchanan (I hope I’m not forgetting anyone obvious,) and probably will see for a long time.”
Even freepers thought he was too conservative for them.
It will now be a competition between Obama and Romney as to who will mandate the most free birth control pills and gay rights.
Save it. It’s been a delusional fiasco.
Now, could you just get on with taking some shots at, say, Newt? Romney? Paul?
Sure. But that doesn't get you off the hook for trying to talk about me behind my back.
That makes you a coward and a weasel and you'll just have to deal with that.
And I'll be helping you now.
Enjoy your prize.
He is also somewhat "flexible" (please recall the Pelosi/couch/global warmist lecture).
That said, on balance I like Newt, but my inner voice tells me that it's not in the cards for the good Speaker who (to his indelible credit, wowed us with the Contract With America, and some history-making debates.) His Fox interview told us that he was pessimistic about his future in the primary race. (He's backtracked, but he didn't need to).
We are on the same side, my FRiend, and I understand and support your loyalty to Newt.
You're right.
The attacks on Santorum on this site were especially obnoxious, because those criticizing him from left had the audacity to claim that they were the conservatives and that Santorum was the liberal. His critics would have been much less intellectually dishonest if they admitted that he was too conservative for them and that they were attacking him from the left.
That was purdy funny.
I do apologize for not pinging you when I had something nice to say about you. I thought you would take the description of your style as a compliment.
Prayers for Rick and Karen Santorum and their family.
No he wasn’t.
Our worst fears are now realized,that POS Romney will be the nominee.
There are times when I wonder why we even bother to try.
No mainstream definition of “conservatism” includes eliminating the establishment clause of the Constitution.
Most of the attacks on Rick’s record here were based on his big-spending ways under Bush, his backing of unions, his endorsements of Specter and Romney, etc.
“Too bad we all couldn’t get behind one of these guys.”
It’s not too late. But if we do, the conservative would likely be Goldwatered by the establishment.
You might have credibility around here if you for once had something meaningful to contribute.
We are on the same side, my FRiend. I supported Santorum because I believed he was a more conservative candidate who could win.
Could Mister Gingrich win the election if nominated? Possibly, and if he were the party nominee, I'm 100% behind him. However, from my vantage, it's not there for Newt.
Romney a "traitor"? That is going too far. Mister Romney is a politician, (and that implies nothing nice), but not a traitor.
As of today, Romney is our party's likely nominee.
My hopeful expectation is that as President, he'll govern more conservatively that most believed.
My biggest worry? A third party spoiler. I cant' believe that anything could be as destructive to our fine Country as a second-term (apparent) muslim/Marxist in the WH
.
That's why I referred to definitions of "conservatism" varying depending on the time and place. For much of history, opposition to separation of church and state, laicite, and secularism were part of the "conservative" agenda.
IMO, his backing of Specter and Romney were pragmatic decisions which don't reflect his true ideals.
I'm glad you brought up his "big spending ways" and his "backing of unions." Although I think much of that is overblown, Santorum doesn't seem to be particularly enthusiastic about laissez-faire economics. For much of its history, conservatism wasn't particularly supportive of lissez-faire economics, either.
You sound like you are off your meds...or need meds.
They are often are.
You sound like you are off your meds...or need meds.
You sound like you know very little about history and politics. Do you know where the terms "right" and "left" originated?
I’m going to suspend judgment on why RS suspended his campaign, until such time as he endorses either Romney or Gingrich in the PA primary. If he does neither, I’ll take that as a Romney endorsement.
Bears repeating. If only it could be whittled down to a tagline!
Newt’s campaign is both moronic and quixotic at this stage after saying that Romney will be the likely nominee
This fits:
One proven conservative and one proven liberal remain standing in the primary. Where do YOU stand?
And Rick’s record was gone over time and time again by his supporters. However, the same arguments were brought up against Santorum anyway.
On the other hand, how often was it stated that in 1994, Newt was in support of federally paid abortions for “poor women” in cases of rape, incest, or “to protect” the life of the mother?
How many times was this link posted?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1995/04/10/MN66900.DTL
If you’re going to debate records, then be prepared to debate the records of ALL the candidates.
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