Rick Santorum may have little hope of stopping Mitt Romney from gaining the Republican presidential nomination but he displayed no signs that he was giving up in a series of combative appearances on the Sunday morning talk shows yesterday. After having won ten primaries and caucuses, no one ought to begrudge him the right to play out the hand he has been dealt by the voters. But after Tuesday’s expected blowout in which losses in winner-take-all contests in Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia could add almost 100 delegates to Romney’s total, the question for Santorum is whether he really intends to spend the next two months or more spouting angry and dismissive rhetoric about his party’s likely nominee.
With Tea Party favorite Sen. Ron Johnson endorsing Romney yesterday, the odds of an upset in Wisconsin are getting slimmer. Johnson’s backing along with that of Rep. Paul Ryan was a clear sign that leading conservatives in the state, as is the case elsewhere, have come to the conclusion it is time for the GOP to end the fratricide and start concentrating on the formidable task of beating President Obama in November and that perhaps Santorum should begin to think of his own political future. Santorum has rightly dismissed any talk about a 2016 presidential run. However, listening to the Pennsylvanian’s pitch to conservatives about Romney’s shortcomings, it is hard not to wonder whether he is laying the foundation for a future race whose main theme will be that Republicans were wrong not to pick him in 2012.
Trying to figure out what will happen in 2016 now is a futile task. But there is little doubt that if Romney loses in the fall, Santorum will spend the next four years endlessly saying, “I told you so.” Though there is little reason to believe Santorum’s brand of social conservatism would give him a better chance against Obama than Romney, should the inevitable nominee fall short, the right-wing of the GOP is certain to blame defeat on what they believe is the party’s establishment for foisting a moderate on them.
The notion that the GOP’s grass roots were betrayed by the Washington elites in 2012 is a theme that will be endlessly rehearsed in the coming years should Obama win a second term. Those who make such arguments will be wrong. The reason why Romney is going to be the nominee has more to do with the failure of a credible conservative candidate to enter the race than any machinations by a mythical establishment. Though it is hard to imagine Santorum becoming polished or organized enough to bridge the gap between being a feisty challenger and a nominee, it must be conceded that in January his name will be prominently mentioned when possible Republican candidates for 2016 are listed. And while his extreme positions on social issues will always be a barrier to winning a general election, should the GOP find itself in opposition next year, those who argued that a more centrist approach was needed in 2012 are not likely to find much of an audience among Republicans.
The assumption might be that if Santorum really does intend to try again the last thing he should be doing in the coming months is speaking and acting in such a way as to allow the country to think he was trying to sabotage Romney. Indeed, should he insist on dragging things out long after his defeat is assured, many Republicans will remember this, to Santorum’s discredit.
Santorum will be walking a fine line in the coming weeks as he attempts to avoid the humiliation of losing his home state of Pennsylvania on April 24. A defeat there would not only be the coup de grace to his campaign but also put a kibosh on any hopes of trying again for the presidency. But listening to Santorum in recent days, it occurs to me that perhaps he thinks it is more important to be able to say “I told you so” in the event of a Romney loss in the general election than to be a “team player” during the primary endgame.
Rick Santorum is absolutely correct. It's obvious that even Romney endorsers doubt his ability to win this nomination let alone election when Donald Trump is already talking about endorsing Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Chris Christy has already announced that he'll be ready to run for president in 2016. Doesn't sound like the establishment has much faith in their candidate this time around let alone having a second term. We might as well write off this election if it is to be Romney and get Rick ready for the next go-around. We conservatives have been saying, "I told you so" since Bob Dole anyway.
This comment is asinine. When did Donald trump and Chris Christie say what the poster claims? nIf other voters have the same negative attitude towards the election, then , indeed, Obama might be re-elected and you will say 'I told you so". However, if you listen to all the other "good' conservatives like Paul Ryan, Senators Lee and Johnson and even your prominent radio hosts Rush, Hannity and others, who realize that defeating Obama IS THE ONE GOAL of this election- then we will not elect Romney but pave the way for good conservative governemt.
I only wish it were asinine – both reported on 3/29/12: Trump on a video it looks like FOX News or by Reuters or Oprah interviewed and extolling the virtues of Hillary Clinton and how great she'd be in 2016 – Chris Christy in Politico on another video saying he'll be ready to run in 2016. Again, not much passion, confidence, or faith that their current endorsement will make it to a second term, let alone through the general election. We conservatives want to DEFEAT Obama and not put up such a weak candidate that he's re-elected by default. Sorry, but your rebuttal seems more asinine.
EVERYONE wants to defeat Obama- not only the conservatives. Why would you think that Romney is a weak candidate? The same was said about Reagan in 1980 and look what happened. Millions of republicans voted for Romney- he is absolutely conservative-if not "very" conservative, and he has shown strength across the spectrum and- he has shown he can take a punch, many punches, (see South Carolina, Missouri) and recover smartly. if the (very) conservatives stay home, they will guarantee four more yars of Obama……and a very different America that will not be able to be undone….
Conservatives want to WIN and that's why the strong push back against Romney. As with Dole, as with McCain, and almost with Bush 43 each time, run as a conservative and win solidly. Romney is no Ronald Reagan no matter how much he pretends to be. Reagan's actions spoke louder than words and that's all that Romney has, words. When Romney loses, conservatives will be blamed again as always. But this time, the "I told you so" isn't going to come from Rick Santorum but from a huge faction of dissatisfied republicans like me.
Santorum would be making a serious error should he attempt to advance some sort of stab-in-the-back narrative should Romney be defeated in November. Rather, he would be wise to learn from Romney's actions in 2008. The McCain campaign's attacks on Romney were every bit as brutal as the ones Santorum has had to endure, and quite a bit more personal. Despite his disappointment, and McCain's obvious personal dislike for him, Romney put aside his bitterness and played the good soldier, campaigning widely for the McCain/Palin ticket. That won him the goodwill of many Republicans who had previously detested him (especially McCain himself,) and went a long way toward preparing the ground for the 2012 campaign.
"Is Santorum Building a Case for 2016?" n nDemocrats certainly hope so.
Santorum is staying in not because he thinks he can win but because he wants to weaken Romney for him to lose against Obama. Santorum wants to run again in 2016 and if Mitt wins the Presidency, he would not be able to defeat an incumbent President Mitt in the primary in 2016. n nIf Mitt wins again in 2016, he may face a Vice President Rubio in 2020. If Mitt loses in this election, he can also say to the GOP in 2012, "See, you guys lost by nominating a moderate instead of a conservative like me." It works best for him if Mitt loses in the general election this year. It is just pure SABOTAGE at this point!