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Romney is lucky his rival was Santorum, not Palin
The Washington Examiner ^ | April 10, 2012 | Philip Klein, Senior Editorial Writer

Posted on 04/10/2012 11:48:25 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

As he approaches the task of uniting the Republican party ahead of his all but official general election campaign, Mitt Romney will benefit from the same reality that's worked to his favor the entire race -- the composition of the Republican field. Specifically, Romney is fortunate that he had to beat out Rick Santorum to claim the nomination rather than Sarah Palin.

When Romney decided to seek the presidency for the second time, his moderate to liberal record in Massachusetts was bound to trigger a challenge from the right and set up a showdown, framed in shorthand, as the establishment of the party versus the conservative base. Had Palin been in the race as the conservative alternative, it would have been very difficult for Romney to attack her given the passionate following she has among many conservatives, because he wouldn't want to risk alienating them. Even if he had ultimately triumphed after a brutal primary fight, a lot of her loyal supporters would have found it difficult to bury the hatchet for the general election.

By contrast, Santorum came into the race with a very small following and was polling in the low single digits early on. Only when a number of other hopefuls fizzled did he emerge as the conservative alternative to Romney. Don't get me wrong, as I wrote earlier, I think Santorum raised his profile over the course of the race and proved to be a tenacious campaigner. But the point is that Santorum's support was as much about him being a vehicle for those who wanted to stop Romney than it was about a groundswell of support for him personally. His defeat is a disappointment to his supporters, no doubt, but less likely to sting as badly for as many people as a Palin defeat would have. Now that the primary is over, it will be a lot easier for Santorum voters to get behind Romney in the general election than it would have been for Palin given her built in fan base.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; Front Page News; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: giveitarest; luck; palin; romney; santorum; sarahpalin
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Well for me the November Election comes down to the Congressional races (where it should have been all along). There is NOT a micron of difference between CZAR B.O. and NOT Romney!

He sat on the sidelines while others were battling CZAR B.O. on every one of the Democrap Socialist initiatives. He was waiting his turn for the sacrificial altar of LIBERAL politics!
41 posted on 04/11/2012 4:59:29 AM PDT by leprechaun9
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Well for me the November Election comes down to the Congressional races (where it should have been all along). There is NOT a micron of difference between CZAR B.O. and NOT Romney!

He sat on the sidelines while others were battling CZAR B.O. on every one of the Democrap Socialist initiatives. He was waiting his turn for the sacrificial altar of LIBERAL politics!
42 posted on 04/11/2012 4:59:34 AM PDT by leprechaun9
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To: zeestephen
I can't see how Santorum could run against Romney when four years ago he said,

Has Romney changed in the past four years. I think not.

43 posted on 04/11/2012 5:09:31 AM PDT by McGruff (Don't go wobbly on me now Newt. You're our only hope.)
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To: Lazlo in PA

“Only one of these two stood up and took Romney on.”

No he didn’t. He just stood down, four months before the convention.


44 posted on 04/11/2012 5:13:00 AM PDT by ngat
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To: lentulusgracchus

“... no way ... that that RiNO poltroon is getting Texas’s 55 delegates.”

Make that 155 delegates.


45 posted on 04/11/2012 5:17:51 AM PDT by ngat
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
His defeat is a disappointment to his supporters, no doubt, but less likely to sting as badly for as many people as a Palin defeat would have.

"That boy is our last hope."
"No. There is another."

46 posted on 04/11/2012 5:35:16 AM PDT by GBA (America has been infected. Be the cure!)
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To: ngat
Thanx for the correction. I'd noticed the erratum a little while ago, but was doing something else. Thanx for putting that up there.

The Dems bent over backwards -- whose idea was it? -- to keep Texas tied up in court. We still haven't yet received our new voter cards with the redrawn districts. This is using the Voting Rights Act to suppress voting by a whole State of the Union.

47 posted on 04/11/2012 5:45:54 AM PDT by lentulusgracchus
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To: lentulusgracchus; dforest
Maybe she understood that the voice on the phone knew what he was talking about, and that his promises would come true if she declared.

Correct. I am amazed, and appalled, at just how few people actually grasp the brutal reality of the power that was brought to bear to prevent Palin from running.

48 posted on 04/11/2012 6:31:24 AM PDT by tarheelswamprat
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Romney is disgusting.

But conservatives did not have a solid, viable alternative.

Those are sad facts.

We can whine all we want, but the real problem is locating, motivating, supporting and working for a nominatable conservative.

Sadly, it appears “none of the above” were sufficiently strong conservatives to beat the Socialist Romney.

Rats.

Well, there are things to do. Go support conservatives where you can find them.

Let Romney rot as a warning.

Until we stop supporting Socialists who happen to have an (R) after their name, we’ll get more of the same.


49 posted on 04/11/2012 7:39:58 AM PDT by Uncle Miltie (FOCUS ON FACTS: 0bamaCare Hated. Worst Recovery. Failed Stimulus. Worst Deficits.)
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To: ngat
No he didn’t. He just stood down, four months before the convention.

LOL. You need to first stand up and run before you can step down. The only person I read Palin was standing up to was Katie Couric in some network morning program showdown.

50 posted on 04/11/2012 8:37:45 AM PDT by Lazlo in PA (Now living in a newly minted Red State.)
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To: McGruff

Others were praising Romney a few years ago as well. Here is “Newts Notes” from his Center for Health Transformation website telling us how swell Romneycare is.

“The most exciting development of the past few weeks is what has been happening up in Massachusetts. The health bill that Governor Romney signed into law this month has tremendous potential to effect major change in the American health system.

We agree entirely with Governor Romney and Massachusetts legislators that our goal should be 100% insurance coverage for all Americans. Individuals without coverage often do not receive quality medical attention on par with those who do have insurance. We also believe strongly that personal responsibility is vital to creating a 21st Century Intelligent Health System. Individuals who can afford to purchase health insurance and simply choose not to place an unnecessary burden on a system that is on the verge of collapse; these free-riders undermine the entire health system by placing the onus of responsibility on taxpayers. “

http://web.archive.org/web/20060822061158/http:/www.healthtransformation.net/News/E_newsletters/index.cfm?newsletterid=20

I am guessing from that past personal endorsement for the policy that became the father of Obamacare, you are going to make the same slam on Newt.


51 posted on 04/11/2012 8:51:24 AM PDT by Lazlo in PA (Now living in a newly minted Red State.)
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To: Lazlo in PA

So, you still don’t get it? Not only did your man just quit four months before the convention, he did at a pretty humiliating point in his campaign.

Yes it’s probably over for Santorum, and his political career, and I’m sorry he fell into the GOP-e trap.

But, hey, like other posters already pointed out, he and his wife are both lawyers with a nice home in the D.C. area, and there are great lobbying opportunities out there for ex-politicians with connections. Those guys have billing rates of hundreds of dollars per hour!


52 posted on 04/11/2012 9:04:21 AM PDT by ngat
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To: ngat
So, you still don’t get it?

No. You don't get it. Palin never got in. She didn't do one single thing to effectively take Romney on. Rick did. He put his money where his mouth is and came the closest to doing it. There was nothing humiliating about bowing out when it looked like TX wasn't going to be winner take all, Newt basically endorsed Romney this weekend on Face the Nation and his daughter in in critical condition at the hospital.

BTW, what is your class warfare BS about what Rick and his wife do for a living? Karen is a stay at home mom and he was a lawyer. So what?

53 posted on 04/11/2012 9:13:06 AM PDT by Lazlo in PA (Now living in a newly minted Red State.)
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To: Lazlo in PA

Here’s what you don’t get. Gingrich is still in it. Paul is still in it. Now that Santorum has shown his true colors and quit four months before the convention, politics is not over. There are still players out there that have not shot themselves in the foot, or sold out, like your man just did.

By the way, was I wrong? Santorum and wife are not a husband-wife lawyer team like Bill-Hillary, Barack-Michelle, and so many others these days?


54 posted on 04/11/2012 9:21:33 AM PDT by ngat
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To: ngat
Gingrich is still in it. Paul is still in it.

Yeah, and Buddy Roehmer is still in and Fred Karger is still in and I believe that Harold Stassen may be running too. Your delusion that Newt and Paul are going to pic up one more state than they already have is ridiculous. Rick was by far the closest and it wasn't going to be enough.

Can you direct me to one, just one upcoming state where Newt is polling competitively with Milt? He is at 5% in PA, 6% in NY, 13% in CT, 15% in NC. Absolutely terrible. I guess you are hoping for another "Southern Strategy" like winning idea.

I also don't know what your snarky slam on Rick occupation is. What exactly does Newt do for a legit job other than lobby for Fanny and Freddy and write Global Warming books?

55 posted on 04/11/2012 9:39:20 AM PDT by Lazlo in PA (Now living in a newly minted Red State.)
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To: Lazlo in PA

Career lawyer/politicians are what have gotten the country into this mess and the fewer of ‘em we have in office the better.

That should suffice to explain to you the Billary, Obamichelle, Ivy-League, Wall Street, Crony-Capitalism (or is it Crony-Socialism?) con-game that these scam-artists have been running on the country that now have us in multi-trillion dollar debt with government slackers regulating every facet of the people’s lives.

If you want to give up the conservative cause just because your man disappointed you yesterday, go ahead. We are better off without you.

Conservatives still have a system to continue to work within, there are many states including the three largest states, who still would like to be relevant and have their say in the primary season, delegates to be elected,
there are still precinct, county, state, and national conventions to be held, Romney still has FOUR MONTHS before he MIGHT become the nominee at the convention, no matter how badly the GOP-e wants people like you to think his nomination is a forgone conclusion. And, there are so many known unknowns as well as unknown unknowns that could happen in the next four months, -

- I refuse to let the Debbie Downers of this party get us conservatives to give up like you have.


56 posted on 04/11/2012 10:03:21 AM PDT by ngat
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I like Sarah Palin, but she gets much more praise here than she deserves. She’s been compared to a variety of people here from Reagan to Washington, from Esther to Joan of Arc. A few freepers have posted lists of Palin comparisons more ridiculous than even those. So, comparing her favorably to someone who actually ran is irritating.

With that said, Palin would have been a stronger candidate than Santorum. Palin does a better job rallying the base than Santorum, and her weakness of having a low electability is something that Santorum shares with her. Ultimately, I believe, like Santorum, she would have lost to Romney, because voters would be too afraid of her losing to Obama, whether those fears would be justifiable or not.

If Romney should be thankful for anything, it should be how Perry went down in flames. He’s a fine conservative who has a resume befitting a president, and he would not spark fears of unelectability in spite of the previous governor of Texas.


57 posted on 04/11/2012 10:29:39 AM PDT by WPaCon
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To: ngat
Career lawyer/politicians are what have gotten the country into this mess and the fewer of ‘em we have in office the better.

You say this and you are still supporting the guy who was in office from 1974 to 2000 and then set up shop on K Street while you are slamming Rick? That makes no sense.

And, there are so many known unknowns as well as unknown unknowns that could happen in the next four months,

And Rick still can jump back in if Milt gets hit by a bus. He just suspended his campaign. What you fail to address is the fact that even Newt said this very weekend that Milt was probably the nominee. He said that because even he doesn't have a coherent road map to win the nomination. As Mark Levin said last night, it is what it is and now it is time to focus on the Senate and Congress.

You can keep up the cheap shots on Rick all you like around here even after he ended his campaign. I am just not going to let them sit unchallenged. The fact remains that Rick borrowed a pick up truck, gave up his job at FOX and headed to IA with his kids to go door to door to try and win the nomination because Obamacare scared him. He won 11 states and came in second in the delegate count against a heavily funded smear machine. Sarah Palin co hosted the Today Show with Matt Lauer. She beat Katie Couric for viewers.

58 posted on 04/11/2012 10:46:06 AM PDT by Lazlo in PA (Now living in a newly minted Red State.)
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To: zeestephen

My thoughts on Palin declining to run is that she did so because she thought that she would lose or her running would have had a negative impact on the conservative movement. Her reluctance to openly and officially endorse Newt was probably because she knew that she is an unpopular figure and that an endorsement of hers would have had a negative effect on Newt’s campaign. With the same type of thinking then, she probably decided not to run.

It’s not because of cowardice, although there have been political figures in modern history who suffered much worse abuse than Palin did for their causes.


59 posted on 04/11/2012 10:48:10 AM PDT by WPaCon
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Sorry, I’m not going to bother looking up the exact quote but Obama once told his supporters that what this country needed was a civilian army equal to the military version.

The last estimate I saw indicated theh DHS has about 190,000 ARMED employees. That’s in just three years. Given another term (and Romney will give it to him) he will have his army and his dictatorship.

DHS, the American form of the German SS!


60 posted on 04/11/2012 10:58:00 AM PDT by oldfart (Obama nation = abomination. Think about it!)
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