George Will elegantly notes the current GOP conundrum
Romney is not attracting people who want rationality leavened by romance. Santorum is repelling people who want politics unmediated by theology.
A spot-on John Stewart skit concludes Romney will be the eventual nominee, pointing out that many conservatives do not wish to hear the naked truth Santorum speaks in his earnest, open embrace of the GOP’s boilerplate social policy planks.
I’ve decided to change my tack on this year’s election.
Yes, I still wish liberty minded, fiscal conservatives would support Ron Paul’s practical solutions to our nation’s financial insolvency, but I’m not operating under the delusional belief that all of one’s fair wishes will be granted.
Facing the harsh fact that most tea party folks are unprincipled fiscal conservatives and dishonest advocates of limited, constitutional governance has been somewhat disconcerting.
I was so hoping to be proven wrong in my cynical assessment of the tea party movement, holding fingers crossed that those angry crowds of flag waving baby boomers, evangelicals and neo-conservatives had finally seen the light. They certainly seemed to in Kentucky. Guess we can chalk that glaring anomaly up to the strong Scots-Irish streak of rationality still running through the state.
Watching the unbelievable bounce in support for every Not Romney candidate (except Paul) by the tea party faithful since last summer, I’ve come to the conclusion that all conservative voters should embrace Santorum with enthusiasm.
He’s the most articulate epitome of Bush redux; a rabid warmonger of crusading proportions, a social statist motivated by theocratic intent, an imbecilic economist who can’t manage simple budgetary concepts, a perfect party insider, team player and K-street man who honestly seems to uphold the core tenants of current republicanism.
Rick Santorum should be the natural nominee of our party’s faux conservatism.
When he tanks by double digits, those of us under sixty-five can finally engage in a long overdue adult conversation with party elders about the bankrupt dereliction of republican conservatism.
Nominating Romney and suffering his loss will only delay the necessary discussion.
The drive-by media pundits (Rush, Levin, Hannity, Palin) and hard right teavangelicals will be expected to scapegoat Mitt’s sloppy moderation as the mitigating failure, arguing that a righteous Santorum (Cain, Gingrich, Perry, Palin, et al) would have kicked Obama’s skinny, liberal ass in a fair fight of stark ideology.
If Romney miraculously manages to pull out a squeaking win, the vocal base will hate every step he takes over the next four years.
Let’s have that gory internecine fight.
Right now, this year, before the primary.
Oh gawd, I thought you were serious for a minute… Whatever statist prick the GOP nominates, it will be six of one half a dozen of the other. No real difference between them and Obammy. Establishment stooges one and all. Help us Obi-Ron, you’re our only hope. I ain’t holding my breath, because the establishment will never allow a Ron Paul presidency…
“Liberty minded.” Seems like such a simple concept.
This year I have come to be aware of something though: People don’t think very much about liberty. They feel a lot about it but they don’t think much about it.
If you say something about penises, vaginas, oral sex, doggie style, anal lube, pile driver, contraceptives, abortions, right-to-life, partial-birth, umbilical cords, …I can go on for several paragraphs listing these, along with the more gentle euphemisms for same…you can promise every tax cut under the sun and articulate every libertarian position you can think of, and people will “think,” by which I mean feel, that you’re coming to throw them and their children down in some deep dark dungeon never to see the light of day ever again.
Meanwhile, put in place a monstrosity of a health care plan complete with death panels and intrusion into all kinds of religious liberties, send the tax man after people who’ve done you wrong…people will look the other way. Heck, you can even promise “under my plan energy prices will necessarily skyrocket” and then win, and then the energy prices DO skyrocket, people will forget all about it. Just throw out some code words about sexual liberation and everything’s good. They’ll lick your hands between the blows hoping the chains rest lightly upon them. And I think they mean it. Let ‘em keep buying their dildos and their blow and their weed and that’s all the “freedom” they want.
Tax ‘em all at a hundred percent. Who gives a rip. Penis pumps and vibrators for everyone.
I am (somewhat) serious, Craig.
The GOP elite and republican electorate need a serious come to Jesus meeting over policy planks. I think Santorum is the perfect candidate to bring that discordant boil to a head.
I was sorta hoping your endorsement was going to Obama so I could feel sure he would lose.
A friendly fuck you, Gerard.
Why endorse Santorum, the same crowd (Limbaugh et al.) will find some failure in his bona fides when he loses the general election. No, if you really want them to stfu then call for the drafting of Sarah Palin. When she loses in a landslide then the Republican Party can take stock once again.
Really gotta hand it to you mahons.
It’s so obvious the “Palin-go-home” brigade was trying to look smart, by pushing a stupid idea, and in doing so were calling for the culling of a herd that, in the here-and-now, Republicans everywhere can see far too late had no need to be culled. Everyone who was ever part of that sad crowd is trying to change the subject, hoping it is never brought up again, knowing full well they owe the whole nation an apology.
Palin’s laughing her ass off. Has more influence than she ever did before, and this year nobody’s moving in next door to her peeking through her windows. But, like everyone else who cares about freedom & liberty, I imagine she’s dreading where the country is going, wondering if things can be fixed before it’s too late.
But the Palin-go-home people, for the most part, are quiet. Here you are, though, doubling down. Among the very last to catch on.
Keep it up! It makes you look so sleek, smart and sophisticated.
Morgan – A remarkable woman who can laugh her ass off and dread where the country is going, both at the same time. Like I indicated lets test Ms. Palin’s actual impact by drafting her at the convention and see if she can show us all this influence you’ve indicated that she now has. Or did you mean affluence?
Ageist!