Rick Santorum's recent surge in the polls leading up to Super Tuesday has parts of the Republican establishment excited for the possibility of having a hardline, hardcore conservative candidate for the November election against Obama.
Others aren't so sure.
GOP strategists unaffiliated with campaigns keep running the numbers, and an Obama vs. Santorum matchup in December shows Obama winning by a landslide, and that's with a rather anemic economic recovery. If the recovery continues to gain steam, it might not even be a fair fight for Santorum.
Continued after the jump.
Strategists see how Santorum appeals to core parts of the Republican base, but his views tend to alienate large swaths of independent voters, especially women, and that is of great concern to the party. Some have started talking about Plan B (not to be confused with the "other" Plan B of interest to Republicans).
Santorum's failure to rally anyone but the core in the media is his greatest weakness. Rick has the unusual ability to instead rally moderates around the opposing candidate, Obama, as the "moderate" option. Neither party has the votes to win without independents' support, and Santorum's strong views are off-putting to many, if not most.
Some are looking to get a well-liked candidate in the race, a Chris Christie- or Jeb Bush-type, someone to rally the base and moderates under the traditional GOP values banner. According to the CNN post, there's still time for a new candidate to come forward and be able to walk away with enough votes to win the nomination, and frankly, they should.
Republicans are uninspired by the candidates' actions as shown in the media. Democrats are inspired by the fear of overly-conservative leadership. Republicans need a "conservative Obama" to pull off this election. It's hardly news, which makes it all the more shocking to me that the party hasn't found a solution yet.
I couldn't agree with you more, Sam. The whole Republican nominating process this time has been something of a circus act. The establishment candidates, like Chris Christie and Jeb Bush, are standing on the sideline watching the "real conservatives" duke it out for the nomination. The thing that these "real conservatives" don't understand is that their chance at winning the general election gets smaller every time they make another outlandish comment (I cite Newt Gingrich's moon colony and Rick Santorum talking about the dangers of contraception).
ReplyDeleteFurther, Mitt Romney, the so-called moderate, has had to go so far right just to try and salvage the nomination that he has lost his standing among independent voters. Just a few short months ago Mitt Romney led President Obama by double digits in a poll of independent voters; he is now at least nine points behind the President. The GOP needs to get its act together. As many know, I am a Republican, but I like to say that I am a sensible Republican. I understand the political process and I understand that neither Rick Santorum nor Newt Gingrich are going to be president.
Maybe this "Plan B" is exactly what the GOP needs. If you ask me, I'd like to go back in time and stop the Tea Party from coming into existence. If the Republicans want to know why their chances of winning the general election have decreased, they should look at what the candidates have had to do to please those wonderful members of the Tea Party.