This is the headline on the Drudge Report today:
Yes, things look grim for Rick Santorum’s campaign. There is little or no hope that he could win the nomination on the first ballot.
Of course, there are still 21 primaries left, with 1,099 delegates. And many of these primaries are in states, such as Texas and North Carolina, where Santorum is expected to do quite well in. Mitt Romney has only 486 bound delegates and committed superdelegates thus far, which is 658 delegates short of the 1,144 delegates he needs to get the nomination in the first round. Even if we include Romney’s expected unbound delegates and give him the highest possible projected delegate count of 595, he is still 549 delegates short. Depending upon which numbers you use, Romney thus needs to get anywhere from 50% to 60% of the outstanding delegates to win in the first round. While this is probable, it is by far a sure thing. There is more than an outside chance that he will fail to win in the first round, if conservatives simply hold the course and vote for a viable alternative to him.
Santorum is the only viable conservative alternative left. Newt Gingrich needs to win at least five primaries to even be considered in the first round of voting, but he has won only two and his campaign is circling the drain (and don’t even get me started about Ron Paul). Unless you are content with Romney as your nominee, there is no one else to support but Santorum.
While Santorum rubs many people the wrong way and is far from perfect, he is a bit more fiscally conservative than Romney, he never supported Obamacare or Romneycare, and he is much, much more dependable on issues such as abortion. If we continue to support Santorum, then at worst it sends a message to Romney that conservatives cannot be taken for granted, and that he will have to work harder–much harder–to get our vote.
If you are a Santorum supporter, then there is the possibility that Romney will be unable to make it in the first round, and that Santorum can make his case and get the nomination in later rounds.
If you think that Santorum would be a terrible candidate in November–if Santorum cannot close the deal–then there is a real possibility either that conservatives will be able to get some welcome concessions from Romney in return for our support, or that we will be able to simply bypass Romney and the current crop of candidates altogether and choose someone like Ryan or Rubio.
For conservatives, there are few downsides for keeping this going and throwing our support behind Santorum.
However, there is a big downside if we simply roll-over and hand the nomination to Romney without a fight:
Related articles
- Fox News | Santorum Beats Romney by 22 Points in Louisiana Primary (conservatives4palin.com)
- While “Etch-a-Sketch” Is Sinking In, Romney Is Sinking (markamerica.com)
- Santorum Campaign: We’re Wanting A Brokered Convention (azpundit.com)
Reblogged this on Wallacedarwin's Blog and commented:
RICK”JeffDavis”Santorum?
The South shall rise again!
All this false hope retreaded on GoodOl’Boy State’sRights tires sounds great,but it’s GeorgeWallace redux,NOT Reagan,(who also could not likely get elected now).
As before, LittleOrNone of these proposals would see the light of day in an actual presidency. The preprioritized realities already awaiting a new president preclude all but a fragment of propitious “promises”,let alone “redmeat” or minority/fringe dreams, from materializing. When will America grow up?!
Santorum has the thinnest resume of them all. He hasn’t filed the paperwork to qualify. His father, like Obama’s father was not born in America. Why throw money away on this candidate? http://www.politijim.com has the facts on the three candidates LA voted for Santorum but Rick voted AGAINST aiding Katrina victims
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