I don’t think that Rick Santorum has the staying power or the electability to have any significant success beyond his fluke in Iowa. His views are great for rallying the base and getting the evangelicals to the polling place, buy beyond that – to the independents who don’t happen to believe that outlawing abortion will solve America’s problems – he has absolutely no chance. That is partly due to the fact that this election won’t be about social issues as much as it will be about the economy. Social issues will naturally play some kind of role, but in an economy with massive unemployment and inflation, coupled with a high level of home foreclosures, people are going to be less concerned with keeping gay sex education out of schools, and more concerned with getting a job and paying the bills. That is where Santorum falters and his chief rival, Mitt Romney, has a message to sell.
That said, I support the President’s reelection. I believe that this will partly be achieved with a weak GOP candidate, and obviously Santorum is the weaker of the two candidates. I think that Romney is weak, too – and he will be even weaker after a bruising GOP Primary process, followed by a General campaign in which he will have to flop-flop even more – but I abhor the idea of a candidate like Santorum being the focus of a national election. I don’t want his views on social issues like homosexuality and abortion to be given any more airtime than is absolutely necessary. My view might be different if I thought that Romney could beat the President; I don’t think he will even come close. Given that view, my preference goes to the candidate who has not made a career out of attacking gays and women.
Given all that, Iowa has proven itself to be wholly irrelevant to the overall process (again.)
