Rick Santorum: The Thread

[louielouie2000]

I found he & the majority of the Republican candidates quite amusing until very, very recently. The fact so many of them have taken turns going from the bottom of the pack to the top and back again (and again) has proven just how wide open this presidential race is, though. I don't think absolutely anything is a given in this race, and no one can be written off. I'm starting to feel that it's not Romney would could topple Obama's presidency, but someone more like Santorum. Why? Because just how different is Romney from Obama for Americans to warrant an exchange? Americans are extremely reluctant to remove incumbent politicians, especially presidents. I believe it's because they view it as a sign of weakness to renege on their choice of leadership. If Americans throw out their elected leaders (especially presidents), they do so in favor of someone who promises almost radically different policies than their predecessors. Hence why I feel that Santorum is quite scary, and why I shrug off Romney. (For what it's worth, I actually think Romney would probably make quite an effective president)

For the record, I have absolutely zero issues with fiscal conservatism. I think it's paramount to have a balance of power between fiscal conservatism & liberalism. It's just the social conservatism amongst some figures in the right wing which utterly dismays me. We can't drag time into the past, we cannot recreate the world of yesterday. And why would we want to? Why are some working so hard to chip away at women's rights after all these years? I think more than anything it's the hypocrisy of so many social conservatives which fires me up. The party of personal liberty wants to roll back women's rights. Newt Gingrich is chiding America on family values. Thankfully, I don't think we ever have to worry about Gingrich getting anywhere near the White House. Even if the eventual Republican nominee were to chose Newt as their running mate, it'd pretty much seal Obama's reelection.