The only local campaign event in these parts today so far was held at Hudson’s Smokehouse out toward Lexington. It was for Rick Santorum, and it bore all the earmarks, mainly a crowd liberally (is it OK if I use that word?) sprinkled with small children, strollers, a grandma or grandpa here and there, with everyone looking like they’d probably brought a covered dish.
The place was packed — almost as tightly as when I went to hear Mike Huckabee there four years ago. But this crowd was calmer, less electric.
Earlier, I had received a memo from a Santorum campaign worker that stood in contrast to the slick, professional media releases I get from the other campaigns:
His message was also homey, being based in a bedtime story — specifically, Goldilocks and the three bears. It was a tale of three candidates:
- One who is too hot (I wonder who that might be?).
- One who is too cold (which reminds me of a story I recently heard, second-hand, of a Massachusetts lawmaker who greeted Gov. Romney with a big bearhug at a public event in Boston — asked what it was like, he said, “I got frostbite.”).
- One who is just right. That, of course, was the one talking to us.
It’s not clear who Ron Paul is in this fable. Maybe Goldilocks, I don’t know.
I came away from the event convinced of something I had been halfway thinking ever since I saw him the middle of last week. Of the remaining candidates in tomorrow’s primary, he is the one I like the best, as a person. I didn’t expect to. I remembered him as that unrelenting culture warrior who got crushed by Bob Casey in his own state. And I don’t set much store by culture warriors, even when I agree with them. Not as people to lead our federal government. (You know how Mike Huckabee describes himself as a conservative who, unlike others, isn’t mad at anybody over it? I had assumed Santorum was the other kind.)
Which is not the same as saying I’m going to vote for him, by the way. More about that later.
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He doesn’t stand a chance, he might as well start hoping someone picks him up as a running mate.
“Of the remaining candidates in tomorrow’s primary, he is the one I like the best, as a person.” Well, jeez, with the other three being, respectively, a robot, the crazy uncle, and Genghis Khan’s more conservative twin, I would hope Santorum would be the most likeable remaining.
In any case, Santorum has the affable demeanor of the successful flim-flam-religious-huckster down pat. His record of corruption as US Senator speaks for itself, and his true aim of this campaign—being the last standing candidate of the religious right—will pay off in the way he wishes, locking him in as the highest-paid speaker and mouthpiece for that movement in the next few years, regardless of who wins the Presidency. Santorum will affably “aw, shucks” it all the way to the bank.
@Phillip–tell me about this corruption, please.
I hope that when you say he has “the affable demeanor of the successful flim-flam-religious-huckster,” you don’t mean that he’s faking it (which flim-flam seems to indicate.
I think he’s quite sincere.
And I’m generally known for being pretty good at spotting phonies.
I do have some respect for Santorum. Maybe I’m wrong but he seems like a man of integrity. Too bad he’s wrong on every single issue.
Yes, I should clarify: Santorum’s religious and culture-war zealotry may indeed be sincere, but (as he is a Republican, after all) the highest moral value for him is green and has pictures of dead Presidents on it. Santorum had to know he had little chance of winning the Presidency; like Cain (who I think ran for President simply to raise his earning potential for the future and got caught almost literally with his pants down once he unexpectedly became a front-runner), Santorum’s run to me seems designed to position himself for the potential of lucrative lobbying deals and speaking fees as a leader of the religious-right wing of the party in years ahead. (Yes, a sincere wish to advocate on behalf of his favorite causes can still be a part of that strategy). He has already done much better financially as a defeated former Senator than previously. @Karen: I have a lot of relatives in PA who have long alerted me to Santorum’s wheeling and dealing ways. As a long-shot in 2012 this hasn’t gotten much attention; after Iowa, it has received a bit more scrutiny, here and here, for example.
I remember Rick Santorum as that senator from Pennsylvania who introduced legislation to prohibit the National Weather Service from providing weather to the public for free.
Anybody want to venture what company in Pennsylvania that would benefit from Santorum’s legislation?
That would be AccuWeather, which is based in Pennsylvania.
The House focuses on their district; the Senate should have a broader view of focusing on the nation, but they focus on their state.