After wishing, hoping, praying that the young Dick Cheney was out of politics forever after losing a landslide senatorial race to Bob Casey in 2008, he’s back in the thick of things in the 2012 presidential race, after a virtual tie in Iowa.
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Yes, I’m talking about Rick Santorum, the golden child who was being groomed to be the next president after George Bush. He was more conservative than Bush, he was looked upon by most to be a young Dick Cheney. But Casey derailed all that, we thought.
But he bided his time, and laid low, waiting for the American people to forget that the Republicans, especially the ultra conservatives, had run this country into the ground, namely a recession and if Bush/Cheney had more time, it would have been a depression.
But apparently people have very short memories of who put us in this mess. Because even though the GOP and Santorum’s answer to every issue has been to continue the Bush administrations programs and policies by doing nothing, Santorum was able to tie Mitt Romney in the Iowa primary for the presidential nomination losing by eight votes. And even though he will probably finish a distant third in New Hampshire, he should win South Carolina with ease, as well as the rest of the South.
He is just what the Tea Party and the other conservatives were looking for. This man supported Bush almost 100 percent, and the areas he didn’t was because he would have been more extreme. The party had to go with someone they really didn’t want last election in Sen. John McCain, but this time around the Tea Party has made it clear that they aren’t going to compromise. And with Sarah Palin saying she’s not going to run, which remains to be seen, and the other conservatives not being electable, Santorum is made to order; he’s a God send.
Why not Newt Gingrich, who has proven what he can do when he led the GOP during the ‘90s to work with Bill Clinton and they balanced the budget? Why not? He’s too conservative for the moderates who are supporting Romney, yet too moderate for the conservatives supporting Santorum. And he has a lot of moral baggage that most conservatives can’t live with.
Some say that Ron Paul will pull votes away from the conservative candidate. Not true. Paul is a Libertarian running as a Republican. Libertarians believe in small to no government. They would cut just about all social programs which Republicans would love, however, they would also cut all military spending, other than defensive. They would move our troops out of foreign countries, stop the nation building and concentrate troops solely on defense, which no self respecting Republican or conservative would ever stand for, which brings us back to Santorum.
After winning the South Carolina primary, look for him to sweep the southern states as well as the western states with the exception of states like California, which has urban areas who will support a more moderate candidate. But when it’s all said and done, unless the conservatives are willing to look past Gingrich’s womanizing, which I doubt, look for a Romney vs. Santorum race pitting moderates vs. conservatives, and this time the conservatives will win out. Look for a long battle much like the Obama, Clinton race in 2008, for the Republican nomination for president of the United States of America.
(Ulish Carter is managing editor of the New Pittsburgh Courier.)
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