Is Santorum Too Socially Conservative to Defeat Obama?

[DearAbby]

From Richard Nixon to George W. Bush, debates over social issues have helped Republicans win the White House. That would almost certainly not be true for Rick Santorum. Polls indicate that Santorum’s strict social conservatism would threaten Republicans’ ability to defeat Barack Obama.

Santorum now leads the GOP field in national polls. He is commonly discussed as a safe, straight-laced and steady conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. But he would also be the most socially conservative Republican nominee in the modern day.

Yet the media has also broadly misreported why this matters. Those Americans who are most offended by Santorum’s positions will likely not vote for any Republican.


More:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/19/is_santorum_too_socially_conservative_to_defeat_obama___113180.html

[gopiscrap]

1. To me that's not the point

I'm not worried about those that wouldn't likely vote for any repuke..what I worry about are those on the fence that are closest to falling either way. Having Ricky as the candidate would be the one most likely for the fence sitting folks to fall the Democratic way!!! That's why I would rather Ricky than Rmoney as the candidae, plus the longer this race keeps going the better it is for the Dems!! IMHO

[DearAbby]

2. I agree

but they are worried. Romney loses Michigan, watch the panic within the party.

PSA: check your popcorn supplies.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

3. he is much too over-the-top on some of his social issue

pet projects to woo the independents. the party knows this. he comes out on top in Michigan and the panic will set in full and you might see someone else called to the election table...i used to think a brokered convention was a one in a million...now it looks like about a one in three...

sP

[DearAbby]

7. There is no serious candidate

who believe they can pull together a Massive campaign that could beat Obama in just two months. No the serious candidates are keeping their powder dry. The panic will begin, because a brokered convention has always resulted in a loss (recent history)

[ProdigalJunkMail]

9. it will be a bloody mess either way

the repubs have gotten themselves into a tight spot. they've got a mormon who many believe is a closet liberal and a catholic of a particular sect within the church that would drive the most strident southern baptists to drink. so, you've got one the base can't really get behind and another that will have the independents avoiding the 'R' on the ballot like the plague.

can they get behind either of these nutters? either is a danger to the party. i have conservative friends who would vote for neither. they smell four more years...

sP

[libtodeath]

4. He appeals

to the outright racists,the reactionaries and the greedy 1%.
What does that add up to,maybe 30% of the electorate?

He will lose by a huge landslide and hopefully take down the rest of the repuke bastards running.
The stay at home pubs alone might be enough to swing the house back to us.

[customerserviceguy]

5. As I recall

Reagan said a lot of really nutball things, too. And a goodly number of them were before Election Day, 1980.

I'd like people in the mushy middle (who decide who to vote for the weekend before an election) to pay more attention, but I have figured that they simply don't believe that a candidate can carry out his craziest ideas once he becomes President.

[VWolf]

12. Yep. I was one of those people.

After Bush II was (s)elected, my response was "oh well, how bad can it really be?"

Pretty bad, apparently.

His regime was why I became a "high information voter" and why I joined DU in the first place.

[pnwmom]

6. Santorum could win in the electoral college while losing the popular vote.

And where would that leave us? Just as screwed as if a majority had actually voted for him.

[DCKit]

8. "Conservative" and "Regressive" are not the same thing.

But if I could fathom the Republican mind, I'd be DU's resident oracle.

Our minds just don't work that way.

[Bosso 63]

10. Santorum can win if they can just build a time machine.

[edhopper]

11. I thought GWB was too conservative

it was apparent to anyone with half a brain. But he weaseled his way into the Oval Office.

[MrSlayer]

13. No. Never underestimate the stupidity of the American voter.

Reagan was elected twice by landslide numbers. Enough people voted for The Chimp to make his elections close enough to steal. Combine the idiocy of the average person, the voter id laws and diebold and we have recipe for disaster. It could happen and what a nightmare that would be.