In recent polls, Rick Santorum has moved slightly ahead of Mitt Romney in the minds of Republican primary voters.
"Santorum has the support of 30 percent of GOP primary voters in the poll, following by Romney at 27 percent," the latest CBS News/New York Times poll shows.
But Republicans who are considering Santorum should remember November 2010. That's when a dramatic national election turned control of the U.S. House over to Republicans. Plus, many of the new members count themselves as solid conservatives and were elected with tea party support.
So? That should be great news for a conservative candidate such as Santorum, right?
After all, "in the poll, Santorum receives strong backing from conservatives, tea party supporters and white evangelicals," CBS News reported.
ADVERTISEMENT
The trouble is that the 2010 results in the U.S. Senate were very different. In the Senate races, tea party candidates cost the GOP three seats -- Delaware, Nevada and Colorado -- that other Republicans likely could have won.
That meant the Senate majority stayed in Democratic hands.
Even more important, it spoke to the fact that successful Senate candidates need crossover appeal. In contrast, successful House candidates these days can be (and often are) true believers of the left or right, given that House districts tend to be more ideologically one-sided.
Of course, running for president is more akin to running for Senate than running for House, given a presidential candidate's need to attract moderates and independents.
And if the GOP nominates Santorum, that's going to be a big issue. Swing-state Pennsylvania twice sent Santorum to the U.S. Senate, but it rejected him on his third try by a margin of 18 points.
Nuriche CEO, Eagle Foundation chairman and Romney supporter David Parker offers three other reasons why Romney may be the GOP's better choice.
First, Romney's executive experience -- governor, CEO, head of the Winter Olympics organizing committee -- far outweighs that of Santorum, Newt Gingrich or any other Republican candidate.
Second, "Mitt Romney has the support of many who have had experience with him over the past 30 years, whether in his personal relationships, private enterprise, the Olympics or as governor," Parker wrote in a recent column.
ADVERTISEMENT
"They not only stand with him, they are passionate about their support, because they know him.
"Comparatively, Newt and Rick have few, if any, who have worked with them over their Washington careers that stand with them; further, they seem to have alienated those with whom they have worked. Their rhetoric and/or intransigence have made them ineffective or damaged goods as 'leaders.'"
Third, Parker echoes the point above that a successful candidate needs crossover appeal: "Are we so blind in our pursuit of our conservative ideology that we fail to recognize needed pragmatism?
"Our nation, a center-right nation, is not conservative, nor liberal, but an amalgamation of many people, each with individual agency, thought and perspective that leans center-right in the majority."
These objections don't mean that if Santorum is the GOP nominee, he'd lose against President Barack Obama. But they're huge obstacles in his path; and if Santorum wants to broaden his appeal beyond the Republican base, he ought to dismantle them one by one.
-- Tom Dennis for the Herald
