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In Defense of Senator Santorum
Before the Romney attacks start, I want to provide some facts for why Sanotrum would be a good president and how he could beat Obama.
Conservative Credentials:
- Santorum supports Paul Ryan’s plan to reform entitlements. He supported Bush’s plan to reform social security. Entitlement reform is the most important budget battle as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are the main cause of our projected future deficits. They are also the main cause of why we have this large debt.
- Santorum supports lowering taxes, and has voted repeatedly to lower taxes in the Senate. Santorum supported and voted for the Bush tax cuts that McCain opposed. He supports cutting the business tax rate in 1/2, and setting up only two tax rates: 10% and 28%. His plan would be a net tax cut. He plans to limit spending to 18% of GDP, which is a substantial cut.
- Santorum has been a leading fighter and supporter for welfare reform, and other initiatives designed to get people off government support and standing on their own 2 legs.
- Santorum is consistently pro-life, and wrote the ban on partial birth abortions. He is likewise pro-family and was a major player in fighting for the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
- Santorum has a strong history opposing job-killing regulations. From his support to drilling in ANWAR to his support of clean-coal technology, he has consistently been pro-business and pro-worker.
- Santorum has been a consistent supporter of having a strong defense and defending the interests of America and its allies.
- Santorum has fought on the conservative side of every major issue.
Santorum is electable:
- He repeatedly won in the House in a blue district. In every election he out performed. In 1992, for example, he won his district when Bush lost it.
- In the Senate, he won as a conservative pro-life, pro-family Republican; despite living in a blue state.
- In 2000 Bush lost PA, but Santorum won.
- In 2006, when Santorum did lose, he still outperformed. He performed well above the GOP candidate for governor that year. He also performed well above the GOP candidate that Casey defeated 2 years before running against Santorum. Santorum in 2006 also outperformed Bush’s 2006 support in the state.
- Santorum with very limited funds, limited staff, and being out-of-office for 5 years, essentially won Iowa against a number of candidates in better positions. I do not believe in luck. Whether it was skill or grace, Santorum has it. Santorum outperformed in AMES, outperformed in the Caucus, and outperformed in every race he has been in for his life. Even his 2006 loss, he outperformed the Governor’s race and the 2004 results of his opponent.
- Santorum is an all-around conservative who can attract the support of a wide range of voters. His consistent fiscal conservative record should attract tea partiers. I do not no a single person in the tea party who would not vote for Santorum over Obama. His strong national security positions and experiences win the backing of neocons; again, I do not know a single neocon who would pick Obama over Santorum. Santorum also wins the support of social and religious conservatives. Once again, I do not know of a single religious or social conservative who would support Obama over Santorum. Santorum appeals to right-leaning independents, and appeals to those blue collar unionized social conservatives who are often called Reagan Democrats and who want a job to go with their gun and their Bible, and want to work hard to earn a living for themselves and their families.
- Santorum puts PA into play. He competes well for Iowa, Virginia, NC, and a number of key must-win states such as Ohio.
- There are a few areas where Santorum will need to work. He will need to be able to work hard to attract Paul voters in a general election. He will need to work hard to gain the support of federal employees in Nothern Virginia. He will need to work hard in Colorado, where religious conservatives are a very small, and Hispanics are large. That said, Santorum remains a strong candidate. Unlike Romney, Santorum will do well in the South, and will connect with voters in the rust belt. These workers are the types that Romney laid off at Bain Capital, and that Santorum appeals to.
If the race comes down to Santorum v Romney, I would support Santorum. Santorum is a conservative who could win in November. Romney is a moderate who would lose.
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