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.
Yes she did. Just like any other soldier in the trenches is called to duty. This is a war for our survival, and she avoided the draft, so to speak. I don't take it personal because she is still probably the only DgOPe that I would ever support.
You know what my tag line used to be right>
I will vote for Sarah Palin, even if I have to write her in. Still plan to do exactly that.
I am proud of you for continuing to defend your guy, but correctly identifying the Santorums as career lawyer/politicians is not “slamming Rick”. It’s just fact.
The “suspending” of the campaign is just more typical weasel-words. And I went back and looked and Santorum went way further in the rest of his statement than merely “suspending” his campaign. I think you can feel it in your bones that he is just waiting to see what he can get from Romney for his “endorsement” at the appropriate time.
The 2012 Republican Presidential Primary Campaign does not, and should not, hinge on whatever Rick Santorum just did a couple of weeks before the Pennsylvania Primary election.
It’s a way bigger country than that.
“Palin was wise not to run this time around. The media is still too full of vociferous Palin bashers. Their noise would make it impossible for the Republican team to make their case against Obama.”
The “Republican Team” isn’t going to make a case against Obama. Instead, they’ll say this and intimate that and as soon as it looks like they might be getting somewhere, they’ll roll over and die - just like they did with McStain. Modern political parties make me think of the Roman god Janus with the Democrats having one face and the Republicans another but both part of the same body. Maybe we should call them both “Janusites.”
What Good Can a Handgun Do Against An Army?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/2312894/posts
I knew you were new here before I even checked. One problem Gov. Palin wouldn’t have had that Senator Santorum did was funding. Way before you signed on here, I pledged to raise $2 million dollars for her campaign. And before you pooh-pooh that as a wild boast, you’ll want to know that I raised over $40,000 for Fred Thompson in the very short time he was in the race back in 2008 and was the top fundraiser for the Polk County (Iowa) GOP in the 80’s.
“Welcome Back, Dad”
“I’ve been trying to convince my fellow conservatives that they have been wasting their time in a fruitless quest for a new Ronald Reagan to emerge and lead our party and our nation. I insisted that we’d never see his like again because he was one of a kind.
I was wrong!
Wednesday night I watched the Republican National Convention on television and there, before my very eyes, I saw my Dad reborn; only this time he’s a she. And what a she! This was Ronald Reagan at his best — the same Ronald Reagan who made the address known now solely as “The Speech,” which during the Goldwater campaign set the tone and the agenda for the rebirth of the traditional conservative movement that later sent him to the White House for eight years and revived the moribund GOP. Welcome back, Dad, even if you’re wearing a dress and bearing children this time around.”
~Michael Reagan, son of President Ronald Reagan
Just a little reminder.
And?
One problem Gov. Palin wouldn’t have had that Senator Santorum did was funding.
I doubt it would have made the difference.
Yes, she does have the potential to become a Reagan-like politician, but it’s premature to compare her to him right now. It would be like comparing a high school basketball phenom to Michael Jordan. Sure, said player may become Jordan’s equal, but there’s many reasons to believe he won’t be.
2ndDiv: One problem Gov. Palin wouldn’t have had that Senator Santorum did was funding.
WPaCon: I doubt it would have made the difference.
Wrong. It would have made all the difference in the world. I don’t know what state you are in, but PA has been bombarded by the Romney Slash and Burn campaign for a couple months now hitting Santorum harder than they hit Obummer. Cash is what runs campaigns. If Santorum had better name recognition or had a built in base like Palin had left from ‘08, he could have smacked Milt down by being able to match his cash. Just look how far Milt has drug his worthless @$$ on just money alone. He doesn’t have any coherent message like the others did or any real following other than inside the DC beltway.
Money IS politics. Without it you are behind the 8 ball.
I don’t think Romney’s victory was due so much to money as to the “conservative” media’s shilling for him and people finding Santorum (and would have found Palin) as too conservative or unelectable to beat Obama.
Money is important, but I doubt it would have made the difference since those other forces are working against us.
perhaps you’re right. but even if he is, Obama very much is pro-abortion. given that choice, i’d still rather support the candidate that will pull America back from the edge of the ravine financially and restore respect for american military leadership in the world. the point is, any conservative that makes the perfect the enemy of the good is a fool that should feel the zot before they contaminate the rest of the people on here...
The primary is over?? I don't remember getting a chance to vote...
Go look at the OP, it is the last sentence.
Without having a personal conversation with Mrs. Palin, and directly posing the question, we can never know.
Ifa’s, coulda’s and woulda’s......
Some get in the ring and fight while others stay outside and postulate...
No other American politician has been vilified by the MSM as much as Gov Palin...
I assure you that those comparisons are real. I made none of them up. As far as I can determine, they are not whimsical, humorous comparisons. They are serious comparisons.
This is an ongoing list of historical, popular, and Biblical people, as well as fictional characters and animals that Sarah Palin™ has been compared to on FR:
Thank you! That’s the list I was referring to.
Pretty obviously Plain did not run because she found no support within the establishment. A revealing anecdote was told about a phone call the McCain made to Bush’s treasury secretary, in the course of which he put on Sarah Palin. He was offended that she called him by his first name. Palin had dealt directly with the leaders of the oil industry—seriously, who the hell was this guy! She didn’t know that such men are more ruthless and self-important. They would not tolerant the likes of Hilary, and she found out that they certainly would not accept her.
I don’t blame Santorum: he had run into a stone wall. He is being bombarded with negative ads in Pennsylvania and conservatives were not endorsing Romney. If he lost there, his career would be at an end. The fact is that the people who were staging this race had already put their money on Romney. He could run but he couldn’t win. Newt is staying in because this is likely his last hurray. All of this reminds me of the Democratic race in 2008, which ended Gene McCarthy’s political career. So many double-dealers and back-stabbers.
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