I posted this comment an hour ago on the Wheeling Unintelligencer website... and it got me to thinking about the presidential aspirations of Rick Santorum. Can he really pull off some Super Tuesday upsets? Maybe... if he were to follow my advice. And if he doth, I shall knight him Sonofsantorum.
sonofsaf
I loathe Santorum, mostly because of his fringe right wing ideology on social issues and the accompanying adherence to biblical lunacy. But I'll reluctantly admit, at least the guy's a genuine individual who actually believes what he says. Romney is a complete phony with no principles or vision. Gingrich is an intellectual and great debater, but has even less of a moral center.
It has long been said that Democrats "fall in love" with their candidate and Republicans "fall in line." This is a golden opportunity for Santorum to change that narrative (while, he's got some momentum from the CO, MN and MO victories). Nobody wants to fall in love with Romney or Gingrich. This overall strategy would play well to the fundamentalist base of the Republican party. Just not sure how you go about implementing it w/o seeming like a messiah and turning off some primary voters.
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So what should Santorum do as he heads into Super Tuesday? He's obviously proven that he's a semi-legitimate contender, especially with Republican primary voters (the churchies). The problem is... he doesn't have any cash. Unless he finds some Sheldonnaire casino mogul like Gingrich, he won't be able to get his message out. Well, here's a news flash - his message is the same as Newt Romney. So it's basically a worthless endeavor to waste precious financial resources on tv advertising trying to play even further right of Gingrich and Romney.
Like I said in my post, you need to change the overall narrative. There are some intriguing similarities with the 2012 Republican primary and 2008 Democratic primary. Both had a bunch of contenders. And the field eventually worked itself out. In '08, it came down to Obama and Clinton. Voters deeply respected Hillary... but they fell "in love" with Obama. That's what propelled him to a narrow, hard fought victory. Their stances on the issues were pretty much identical.
A very similar dynamic is happening right now with the Republicans. And they are well aware of it. That's why they all play the "we love Ronald Reagan, I am the true conservative" card. They're all trying to absorb the Ronaldo Reaganic love vibe. That's a winning strategy but the field is still to diluted. So Romney's going after the electability angle. Wise move. Newt's the strong debater, attack dog. Smart. Santorum is going for the honest, ideological approach. Can't fault him there.
But Santorum needs to do more. He needs to attack Romney and Gingrich and discredit them via the "love" angle. Liberals don't have a sole monopoly on the love card. Bible belters have plenty of love in their hearts (plenty of hate, too). And it would play well...
Romney is a mega-millionaire, elitist, flip-flopper - he's not one of us. A phony who's willing to pander to anyone. Is that who you want to fall in love with?
Gingrich is angry and hostile. Not one who can unite the population and appeal to swing voters. He's a DC insider, an unethical, maligned holdover from the 90's. Is that who you really want to fall in love with.
And while I think Santorum has pushed this angle, he's still far too passive. I think he truly adheres to Reagan's 11th commandment - thou shalt not attack other Republicans. If he really wants to win it all (I believe he does), he has got to launch full throttle. And he's not going to do it with advertising. He just won't have the cash to mount this strategy on Super Tuesday. Too many states, too much money.
Santorum must pull it off during a debate. It's a really fine line, but he needs to mock the other 2 candidates as not "loveable" or "genuine." We simply can't nominate an "angry phony." I think that's the best way to do it - combine the two of them. Much like Michele Bachmann tried with the tired refrain of "Newt Romney." Except when she said it, it sounded too mesmerizing and rehearsed. Santorum has a far better delivery.
I think Santorum's starting to come around. He's pushing the social issues (religion and abortion) at all costs. This is the correct strategy for the primary. Not sure how he will pivot in the general, but that's a ways off. The big question - "How do I get primary voters to feel the love, without going overboard?" I think you must invoke, or at least imply, the age old "Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line" - Now is the time to REVERSE this precedent. We must take a page from the Democrats playbook or we'll never take back the White House. Trust me, there's a great way to deliver this whole storyline, preferably during a debate. I just haven't figured it the best way.
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