Does Rick Santorum have electability issues if he lost his Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat by 18 points?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Rick Santorum says he can win swing states, but he lost a third Senate term in his own Pennsylvania by a whopping 18-point margin.
A stunning defeat for a two-term incumbent.
Santorum lost almost every region in Pennsylvania and almost every demographic group - including blue collar workers.
Supporters say Santorum lost the 2006 race due to a tough political climate for Republicans: President George W. Bush was unpopular, as was the Iraq war.
But there was more than that to Santorum's landslide loss - a lot more.
And if Mitt Romney wants to defeat Rick Santorum - who is the current flavor of the month in the polls - all he has to do is read some of this stuff aloud at campaign stops:
In 2006, Santorum faced charges of hypocrisy for living in Virginia with his family while a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania and allowing a Pennsylvania school to pay for his children's online education.
He blamed "radical feminists" for forcing women to work and questioned the need for two-working-parent households. Try explaining that to Americans struggling to make ends meet.
Santorum has compared homosexuality to incest and polygamy and suggested that Boston liberals were to blame for the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal. Can you spell wacko?
Santorum also inserted himself into the Terri Schiavo case - where some members of the government thought it was their job, not the family's, to decide if a brain-damaged woman should have her feeding tube removed. It was a disgrace.
Here’s my question to you: Does Rick Santorum have electability issues if he lost his Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat by 18 points?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Carol:
Rick Santorum has no appeal for intelligent women. He'll never get my vote. I'm a religious person, but I don't have any faith in a Bible-thumping politician. The photo of him with the pastors laying hands on him was just plain creepy. His views on women are ignorant and insulting.
M.:
An empty cab arrived… Rick Santorum got out.
Terri on Facebook:
He has electability issues because he's not running in the 17th century. His stance on women is positively archaic, from health care to the military to working to birth control, and beyond. Pennsylvania said the same thing America says: NO.
S. in Virginia:
The electability factor will weigh on "Can the new guy have a chance at making my existing conditions better?" The economy will be decide who wins more so than the candidate's social stances. The majority of those Americans who are displaced or see little future for their retirements will be the driving force to determine the next President.
Vic:
Depends. Did you like the Crusades?
Ken:
Nixon was vice president of the United States and when out of office, ran for governor of California and lost. The next time he ran for office, he ended up as president of the United States.
Gord in New Jersey:
Yes. As the standard bearer in the GOP's war against modern women, Rick Santorum is the epitome of "Father Knows Best" paternalism. Behind that cherubic smile is a 14th-century mind still struggling to come to grips with the Reformation.
@jackcafferty on Twitter
I think so. His own state people wised up to him and his me Tarzan you Jane attitude is the killer.
Jack,
He'll have electability issues whether he wins Pennsylvaia or not. Just wait a few more weeks and the skeletons in his closet wil appear. He is against birth control, has irrational views on foreign policy, and does not appeal to any diverse demographic groups, and thats just for starters. The GOP will continue their speed-dating candidate game and wind up on the outside looking in.
Voters in America have a short memory and are very fickle. Right now, Nixon could probably give Obama a run for his money.
The biggest electability problem Santorum has is that he is a republican. The American people have not forgotten WMD's in Iraq that were not there and the thousands of lives lost because of it. This all occurred on the republicans watch and America is not eager to repeat those mistakes again anytime soon.
Creepy Rick doesn't stand a snow balls chance no matter how how much he lost his Senate race by. I'm hoping that he will win the GOP nomination. Either him or good old Newt. The reason Romney stands a better chance of defeating Obama (and that is still mostly wishful thinking on the part of the GOP) is because he's at least a little more to the left than the hard right Santorum and Gingrich.
I lived here in Pennsylvania and the majority of the voters thought that Santorum was too far to the religious right for us to have him as our Senator. Santorum says he wants less government in our lives. But in the same breath he wants everyone to follow his religious beliefs. He wants to control women's lives on how they are allowed to live. We here in Pennsylvania do not want that just like 98% of the Catholic women do not want that. The same thing can be said for the other Republican candidates as well.
I'm afraid Santorum doesn't have much of a chance no matter what. If people vote him in as the Rep they will be getting what we already have (as Santorum said about Obama, an "elite snob"). The man started out looking like a wannabe in his sweater vests (when did those go out of style?) now that he thinks he has a chance all of a sudden his is sporting suits and ties. Sorry Santorum it takes a lot more than that to make you presidential. I find him to be pathetic. Hey, I have always been a Dem till the last election that is when I turned Rep, but if Santorum gets the nomination I will not vote and I am 72 and have not missed a vote since becoming able to vote. Call me an elite snob, but I think our President should look like a President and have the intelligence to bring us back to what I remember this country was a long time ago. The only one that can do that is Romney. Come on people wake up and stop letting the media make your decisions.
Nixon was vice president of the United States and when out of office, ran for governor of California and lost. The next time he ran for office, he ended up in the Oval Office of the White House.
I am a registered Republican and I voted against Santorum when he ran for reelection to the U.S. Senate. I believe in free market capitalism, not lopsided legislated capitalism (spelled CRONY or K Street), so maybe I'm one of those bad "moderate" Republicans who want our nation, not just a select few, to get ahead. I believe Santorum is an extremist and I will vote against him the next oppotunity I get, in the hope that maybe we can have elected officials who compromise for the good of our country. Lord knows we've seen what extremeists have done to us in the past several years.
I imagine Santorum lost his ability to get elected when he made that comment about women's emotions. Maybe he doesnt' want toget elected maybe he just wants to run for president-like Al Gore.
If Pennsylvania finds Santorum unsatisfactory,
wouldn't the voters be fools to vote for Santorum for President.
Rick Santorum has electablity issues because he is crazy.
Dear Jack,
Santorum has electability issues but not because he lost in PA. From his campaign so far, it has become obvious that if THIS Catholic were to be elected, he, unlike the last Catholic elected, would definately be taking his orders from the Vatican. By the stands he has taken on a number of issues, he has already shown that The Pope, or the Church, if you prefer, is calling the shots for him. Is this what America wants? What if Santorum were Muslim?
Dan NY
I would hope that Santorum has electability problems not just because he lost big in Pennsylvania, but because he is so far right he makes the Puritans look like hedonistic party animals. Rick the Righteous is striving to dismantle democracy and impose his repressive religious beliefs on us all. Obviously he has never heard of the separation of church and state that our founding fathers deemed so vital to our freedom. Currently, Santorum is the scarriest man in America.......sorry Newt, you are no longer the reigning champion of the lunatic right.
His holier-than-thou dictatorship attributes turn off most people.
Of course he does. First, he wants to run this country like a theocracy, like freaking Iran. Secondly, his idea of gay relationships is sickening. Just google him to see the backlash from that whole man on dog thing. Third, he wants the power to tell us we can't have sex unless it's to produce a child, and we don't have the right to contraception. Seriously? And yet he stands for small government? What, small enough to monitor every bedroom every evening in this country? This guy makes me sick. And what's even more sickening is that he was a public servant EVER in the first place.
He's just the knight in shining armor de jour, previous holders were, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman, Tim Pawlenty, I had to have forgotten another half dozen or so. If he was so wonderful he would have won in Pennsylvania.
Is there really anyone (except him) who thinks he can win a general election? This guy is in the stone ages and I am really really hoping the Republicans choose him, let the rest of us show the severe right exactly what we think of their candidate.
Jack this guy has so many issues that electability issues are at the bottom of the list. He has been playing the the Christian Right while in his own life. Rick and his wife agreed to a Late Term Partial Birth Abortion in 96 to save her life which is the way it should be but today he preaches for Personhood as if it ever mattered to him before becoming a GOP candidate.
No, of course not, how much did Lincoln lose his last Senate race by? Republicans, please nominate him!
Obama supporter,
IL
,
Losing Pennsylvania by 18 points is not Rick Santorum's only problem. His thinly veiled derisre to install a quasi-Christian theocratic government; his position on abortion and more especially contraception; his 'severe' right wing approach to everything are more than eough to shoot him down in ageneral election. If not by 18 ponts, close to that. He is bucking the tide of a society moving forward to more tolerance, more modern attitudes, and more caring for our nieghbors by trying to move us back to the party's 18th century roots.
Of course he has electability issues, but not because he lost his Pennsylvania senate seat. It's because he's so far to the right that if he went any further he would fall off the end of the earth. It would be 1964 all over again with Barry Goldwater leading the Republicans to a resounding defeat. Go Rick!
Electability issues? Of course he does, Jack. Let's face it, the Republicans have not put forth any candidate capable of being elected. I really do believe the Republican leadership decided long ago to let Obama have four more years. Things must be pretty bad when you concede the White House to the other guy. Poor 'ol Rick never did have a chance. He doesn't have Romney's money, Paul's brains or Newt's hairdo. But I will give the guy credit, he has lasted much longer than I thought.
It depends if his drubbing was because of his stance on Terri Schaivo or whether it was because he was running against Bob Casey, which gave pro-life Democrats someone to vote for in their own party. If Casey endorses Obama again, then Santorum is unelectable. Santorum's biggest problem is that he is absent the resources and organization to beat Romney – although that may change. We will see how he does in Michigan once the negative ads start flying.
He has electability issues because he has andiluvian views of women.
Carol in Mass.
Does an Occupy Wall Street Protester sit in City Hall? Doug, Pepperell, MA.
THe electability factor will weigh on; "Can the new guy have a chance at making my exisiting conditions better". The economy will be the sole driver as to who will be elected more so then the candidate's social stances. The majority of those americans who are displaced or see little future for their retirements will be the driving force to determine the next President.
Jack,
Rick Santorum has electability issues period. This guy is even more of a rightwing neocon religeous zealot than GW Bush was, and he doesn't have a puppet master like Dick Cheney controlling him. God help us all if the becomes president.
Senator Santorum has electability issues because he is proposing more tax cuts for the rich while opposing an increase in the minimum wage. He also believes contraception is a bad thing.
Rick Santorum has no appeal for intelligent women. I wouldn't care if he BEAT his opponent by double digits. He'll never get my vote. I'm a religious person but I don't have any faith in a Bible-Thumping politician.The photo of him with the pastors laying hands on him was just plain creepy. His views on women are ignorant and insulting. His statements are so bizarre you almost laugh and then you realize he's serious. Santorum is willing to replace the Consitution with the Bible. II'm not.
Yes. As the standard bearer in the GOP's War Against Modern Women, Rick Santorum is the epitome of "Father Knows Best" paternalism. Behind that cherubic smile, is a 14th-century mind still struggling to come to grips with the Reformation.
Hello Jack. Please give me a break. I'm Catholic and even I and my fellow Catholic friends find this guy completely whacked out. Who is he to judge the morality of anyone or the beliefs they practice. We're not electing a priest to the White House. Some of the things he does and says in the name of the Catholic religion look more and more like self invented concoctions of the mind (who really believes he is without sin)sent here by God. Mr." INTOLERANCE " Rick Santorum,where were you and your big religious beliefs when the DEVIL ran rampant throughout the Church with Pedophiles and coverups??? And still it goes on. And still Mr. Intolerance is quiet as a mouse on this subject. Who is really the Devil here? The pedophiles? The Church leaders? Catholics like Mr. Intolerance who look the other way and question NOTHING!!!
This guy thinks women should stay home and have babies for the rest of their lives. He is not electable to the presidency at all, no matter how the extreme conservatives view him right now.
Not really. None of the republican candidates are the "perfect candidate" but any one of them is better than Obama. I will not make the mistake of voting for Obama again.....
I don't think that it will hurt his chances at the nomination as he only has two. Slim and none.
Even hard right wing con. will balk at his radical religious believes.
He would likely try ro make all birth control wrong, would make health care only for the very well to do.
On the second day he would stop all corprate taxes, capitol gains taxes and drop the top rate to 15%.
Bye Bye USA. METALWORKER in Illinois
Although Santorum has been trying to make sure neither working parent has a job, as has every Republican since Bush, it is not limited to Santorum. The entire field (and even Obama) have issues. Although, in a million years, I will never figure out why Jon Huntsman or Ron Paul should have the same electability problems as those from the shallow end of the political gene pool.
yes he does, jack now that you mention 2006 Rick Santorum was Voted One Of Most Corrupt Politicans to recieve more corporate lobbyist donations then any other memeber of congress.
He has a big issue with electability, jack. he seems nice and sincere - but he is one of the only GOP candidates who doesn't have to play to the base - he is the base, he probably has to move left to get to the base. The general election is about the middle. I don;t think he will have enough left left in him after the primary to get to the middle.
Jack, the Santorum surge is just more proof that the crazies have taken over the GOP, but the farther right the party goes, the more trouble they will have in the general election in November. If Santorum does get the GOP nod, it's not just the loss of his senate seat that will haunt him, it will be the words that come out of his mouth. They will make him unelectable.
"Tricky Ricky" has "electability issues" for a lot more reasons then losing his Senate seat. his "I would make contraception illegal" is a complete non-starter with even most conservative women. he sounds like a religious fanatic that would want to turn the United States into a Christian version of Iran. he believes in this "Dominion Theology" which states that "the Law of God, as codified in the Bible, should exclusively govern society to the exclusion of secular law" which is a Christian Fundamentalist version of Sharia Law
he was also one of the "Pigs at the Trough" when it came to earmarks when he was both a Congressman and Senator and was the Republican point man on "The K Street Project". much like Newt Gingrich, he is a "Washington insider". he just hasn't been exposed yet BUT that will happen IF he ends up the Republican nominee.
(Obama and the Democrates should be so lucky)
Yes he does. They all do.. He reminds me of a throw back. A guy with a small town value system that harkens to the 1950's. Nothing wrong with that per se – if you were a white guy living in the 1950's. But something tells me when he's fully vetted and people outside the base of the party get a good dose of Ricky he'll become another casualty in the run to the White House. To be real honest Jack. I for one am tired of the "god and constitution" rhetoric. It's embarrassing and won't solve a damn thing.
The sad thing is, the founding fathers would not be elected today, because they're also considered to be "extreme" like Santorum, by so many progressively minded people today. What a sad day in America, when "we the people" no longer support the values that have been the underlying foundation of America since the founding fathers formed the country. If they were alive today, they would be shocked at the lack of morality in the culture and the disdain for all things Christian.
Does Rick Santorum have electability issues if he lost his Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat by 18 points?
ANSWER : YES –
( he won't make it, in my opinion) (flavor of the month)
I would imagine that the Obama camp would love to run against Santorum with his crazy and wacko past. Santorum doesn't get it and can't sell it but in my opinion he needs to go back to Pa and get out of politics forever. We have enough goofs in Washington without having this lame excuse for a leader in the oval office.
Santorum definetly has electability issues, Jack, but not because he lost his Senate seat by 18 points. The Republicans will try to brush that off by saying that 2006 was a bad year for Republicans. But Santorum does have electability issues because his positions on some issues are so extreme and, in some cases, unAmerican. Like the booing of the gay soldier. In my opinion, the fact that Santorum just stood back, and let people boo a U.S. soldier, and didn't even say anything, makes him unqualified to be president.
Wait till the public gets comments out of his book! Santorum is a radical far right social conservative. Fiscally there was not a spending bill or earmark he didn't love. Santorum is just the last non-romney but he is very flawed candidate.
Jack: In a word,yes. People from Pennsylvania are good judges of character, and to lose by 18% is really bad. People in Pennslyvania voted Santorum out, because they did not want him in their bedrooms. The Catholic Church can preach, but not Santorum. My mother is from Pennsylvania, and all the relatives believe Santorum was running for sainthood, not as a Senator from PA.
No, Rick isn't unelectable because he lost his seat by 18 points. He's unelectable because he represents a tiny constituency for whom controlling other people's behaviors is more important than improving the state of the country.
Rick, Mitt, Newt, and Ron won't be around come convention time in Tampa. Rick, based on his history is unacceptable to any base and to the majority of Americans. A brokered convention, can't they just admit it? Can't the media realize this? All the kings money can't pull a winner out of this group. Can't wait for Tampa, the show goes on.
It depends how badly the liberal media funded by George Soros & Co. want to demonize and destroy him. The American voter has litterally lost control of any major national election contest. The power of today's media can and will control the outcome.
A great future for our children to look forward to.
No, he has electability issues because he has a strange and freaky personal history.
Not an issue for Rick Santorum – he will win in Michigan over Mitt Romney. What will hurt Santorum – his social
issues too extreme, he can,t seem to make concessions with the American people.
Santorum has a credibility issue, but it has nothing to do with losing an election (happens to the best of us occasionally). Santorum's credibility issues stem from the whack-job statements he keeps coming up with lately. Now that he's looming to the top, he appears to be self destructing just like the others who are now gone. He has turned me away, and I suspect others will follow. Say hello to President Romney (shudder).
Yes-those who knew him best liked him least. He'd be a great president for the 18th century.
Rick Santorum is Barry Goldwater all over again! Why the leadership of the GOP doesn't see that, I just don't understand. However, if the GOP is so determined to lose, they sure have picked the easiest and best way to make that happen. Just goes to show that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it! Let's party like it's 1964!
Jack, do you realize you just dissed honest wacko's everywhere by inferring that Santorum is one of them? If he says the kind of the things you mentioned in public can you just imagine what goes on in his private thoughts? The fact that he lost his senate seat by 18 points is irrelevant. The real question is how does any person this far removed from reality ever get elected to any kind of public office in the first place? After his loss in PA I was sure he was headed for the political scrap heap. Now he just reminds me of one of my favorite Paul Simon songs: Still Crazy After All These Years!
Jack,
Win swing states? He can't even swing win states. If Santorum got the nomination (about a thousand to one) Obama would win in a romp that would make Johnson-Goldwater look like a nail biter.
Jim
Reno, Nevada
This man wants to ban contraception, sodomy, adultery and abortion. He thinks women belong at home and are too emotional. That he has already been elected twice to public office is scary enough. If he wins the GOP nomination I really question what is going on in the Republican Party. Is this 2012, or 1912?
Unlike Romney or Gingrich, we know exactly where Santorum stands on the issues: firmly with 17th century Puritans.
Of course he has electability issues. With all this guy had uttered over the years he should be toast by now especially if he can't win his own state...whichever that is. . But Jack, as we have learned,..you remember Bush..right ?.... never underestimate the power of the newly dumbed down and easily manipulated electorate.
Yes, he has issues along with the whole lot of the Republican party. They are leading the United States into having a wacky, flip flop reputation. Look what the Republican party has done for the past three years in Congress. Sitting on their hands because "We the people" elected President Obama. And corporate America maybe pulling the strings to make President Obama a one term President. Would you trust the Republican party if you or someone in your family lost their home, job, a son or daughter in a war in the wrong country, or a pension that has all but disappeared.
An empty cab arrived...... Rick Santorum got out
Well lets see Jack.....Pennsylvania is a swing state and the 18 points that Santorum lost by were comprised of both Dems and Republicans. since this is a Republican primary perhaps Santorum only loses Pennsylvania by 9 percentage points which places him in the same position as Mitt Romney when Romney loses Michigan. No wonder Texas Gov. Rick Perry is thinking about getting back into the race.
Jack, in the long term is it is still unclear if Santorum can win or if he is just the latest "Not Romney" candidate. We've had Perry, Cain, Gingrich and now Santorum. The GOP is so fractured because the party believes it doesn't matter which candidate gets he nomination that the Republican nominee will be a sure thing to beat President Obama. Santorum is a religious zealot and if he is the nominee, Obama can look forward to a easy win in November.
That type of argument against "marriage equality" is ridiculous. Most of the things they claim will happen if gay marriage is allowed are already outlawed. If marriage is available to heterosexuals it should be available for homosexuals. If not, this country can longer claim to be a leader in human rights.
Neither Santorum nor Romney will beat Obama. Their infighting will be their downfall. Meanwhile Obama's stock is rising on a daily basis.
For all of his clever rhetoric, Santorum is a "lightweight". He looks like one and when he opens his mouth, he confirms the fact. That he lost his Senate seat in Pennsylvania by 18 points speaks for itself.
Gary in Scottsdale, Arizona
The reason he isn't electable is because he isn't a politician. He is a religious zealot whose proper line of work is bishop or cardinal.
Republicans will vote for whoever the nominee is in a contest against Obama, but this election is going to be decided by the independents. They are not going to buy into the erroneous consequences he says will result from gay rights. Santorum is not going to get their votes.
When the people who know him best reject him overwhelmingly, I'd say yes, he has BIG electability problems. Beats me why he and the other GOP candidates think American voters can't remember anything that happened more than 6 months ago.
Susan R.
Denver
The more I hear from Santorum, the less I like, and I generally prefer Republican candidates. I can't believe in a candidate who thinks that women belong in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant.
From Slippery Rock, PA
No, Mr. Cafferty, he has no problem appealing to Reps. To allocate you Republicans out there, please, please nominate him. He definitely shares your values.
Rick Santorum answer to Ameriacs problems are base on believes in god,The Family with a father and mother nutrienting the child to become a productive citizen. Well Rick that a 1950 TV movie. In Chicago were I live we have 3 women living together with 6 to 8 children, 6 to 8 fathers, 2 to 4 in cook county jail , 1 to 2 father have been killed by gangs or the chicago police. They pay thrir rent with section 8, their food comes from food stamps, These women pray to god every day and go to church every Sunday. They must be praying to a different god Rick
Yeah, if Pennsylvania pulled out his feeding tube why would we want to put in a bigger one?
Santorum has electability issues because he's living in a different century; pick any century from the dark ages. If he had his way, he'd probably bring back witch trials. I'd be willing to bet his I.Q. is pretty close to his hat size.
Mr. Santorum holds the firm belief that the "Bible" is the only "text" book needed for education. Wonder how often he goes to medical doctors, financial analysts etc who were trained with fact based textbooks based on real research?
He charged us PA tax payers over $100,000/yr to have his wife home school his children while in the senate.
Since loosing his senate seat in PA he has been living and working inside the Washington beltway – he is a true insider. There are video clips in the archives which we will be treated to if he beats Mitt Rawmoney for the GOP nomination.
The people of Pennsylvania had an opportunity to get to know Santorum pretty well. And they dumped him like a flaming bag of dog poo. The rest of the country will see the light because Romney is holding a big box of matches. cy from arlington, va
He has as many as any of the other Republican candidates plus one more, in my opinion. That "one more" being the bizarre over the top bringing his dead child home from the hospital. I could fully understand having the family come to the hospital or funeral home to show their love and grief for the baby. However, taking the body home I find very strange behavior and tying it to religious beliefs completely turns me off. I cannot even figure out how this is allowed by law. Maybe it is ok to do legally, I don't know. What it does for me is to show how much of a fanatical person he is. Religious or political, it scares the hell out of me. I really don't know if it was a moral act, an act of love, an act of grief or whatever. But, I know it is beyond the norm and is very scary. It is not an act that a person of presidential caliber does. I sympathize with his loss but not his actions.
Thom Richer
Negaunee, MI
Depends on who his opponent was, then and now. Bob Casey was a popular, pro-life Governor. Barack Obama is not Bob Casey. He isn't from Pennsylvania. And, he is likely the most pro abortion president in history! It is also not 2006. It's2012 and Santorum is a "favorite son." Pennsylvania is heavily Italian and Roman Catholic. Barack Obama is neither. The Pennsylvania economy is not that great. It is also an energy state. These spell more problems and explanations for Barack Obama! Sorry, Jack! You must take off the rosy colored glasses and see the President for what he is. And, you must assess his record like a Journalist! Not a groupie!
It doesn't really matter Jack...he'll never get nominated...even for V.P. I think we should draw a line through his name now and move on.
I suspect the fact that he lost by 18 points is less relevent than his voting record and his narrow minded views of woman and the world.
Depends who you ask. Independents would definitely say yes. Most Republicans apparently would say no, any staunch enough conservative can win anything. Of course, only one of these two groups actually decides general elections.
Of course he has an electability problem. His self righteous persona and ties to the narrow minded tea party will do him in if he is the Candidate in the general election. It's great he and his family seem to be doing good in these horrifying times, but majority of the electorate are suffering do to the last republican President and the Bush hangover will affect his chances of being electable far more than anything he's ever done or anything he will ever do, so it's not by the amount he lost before, but rather the President he supported and party he represents. One thing The GOP is learning that their brand has been tainted to the point, just none of them are electable, not even a goody two shoes like Rick. People want real leadership.
He may be the lesser of the four evils, but he won't beat Obama, his speeches sound more like sermons.
I think he is unelectable among women, independents, moderates and even some conservatives. I don't understand why the media is giving him a pass on his truly sketchy background in the senate, the moderates and even liberal votes he took, the trip to Rome, the wife's lawsuit. This guy is a hypocrite. Michiganders, remember that blue-collar Rick strenuosly objected to the auto bailout but we aren't hearing about that. I think in this crossover primary a lot pf democrats will vote for Santorum to make mischief in the general election...
Santorum has ZERO chance of getting the nomination no matter what he does now. Romney is too far ahead of him in the delegate count, and with Obama's popularity on the rise again, even if Santorum were "by the grace of God" to get the nomination, he'd still have a long, hard campaign ahead. He should just take his extremist religious views, views on women's rights, and birth control..and just go home. He will NEVER be another JFK.
Rick Santorum forgets that in the General election seniors are the group to most likely turn out for the vote. He made statements that he wants to cut Social Security and Medicare and do it now. He thinks seniors need a cut opposed to the very wealthy having a tax increase. That makes sense! Only to the wealthy. If he's the nominee, President Obama can breathe a sigh of relief – he has a second term on the horizon.
Jack, I'm a Catholic-albeit a pretty liberal minded one-and Santorum scares the hell out of me. He's an anti-gay, anti-woman, anti-minority crony capitalist whose mind is stuck in the 40's and 50's and seems to be more interested in stoking a dated and hateful culture war than actually running the United States. We are a country in debt, with low job rates and the middle class getting screwed over every day. I still can't find a job, no matter how hard I look. The last thing we need is a right-wing extremist.
Rick Santorum gives me the impression of someone standing in line for a handout waiting to be pulled out of the line for any job.
He has issue's alright, but elect ability is the least of his problems. Anybody who would blame the catholic sex abuse scandal on the people of Boston just because they don't fit his twisted idea's of living should never ever be anywhere near the white house let alone occupy it. Why do we seem to be moving away from separation of church and state, this scares the hell out of me, keep the bible thumper in church and out of the white house!
Dave from NH.
Only if we don't mind returning to the middle ages and possibly watching non-believers be burned at the stake like people used to do
I am a Democrat so please, be quiet Jack! We do not want the public to know this quite yet. We want him to win the nomination so Obama can slaughter him! Why do you think I changed my voter registration to Republican for a month only! I am voting for him in the Arizona Republican Primary in a couple of weeks to help him out! I will change back to Democrat when it is over.
I guess that Pennsylvanians are more astute than the rest of us. Hell, in SC we voted for Newt, for Gawd's sake!
Fred
SC
Why does he scare you liberals so much? Jack......Any Republican all of you are scared to death of....You want to just keep spending us into oblivion>
Depends. Did you like the Crusades?
Considering that Santorum is a Bible thumper ( oh, excuse me, Evangelical ) who wants the rest of the country to party like it's 1699, I'd say yes, he does have electability issues on the national level.
Matt
Saint Augustine, Fl
Jack, People should ask why he became such a saint. His wife when she was 20 lived with an obortion doctor and now she is Mother Tereza on issues to women and abortions. What a hyporitical family. Dont do as I do do as I say,
People will vote for Santorum because he has the courage to stand up for his beliefs, not because he is a Catholic!
They say that voters have short memories, but I can tell you Jack, that we here in Pennsylvania remember Santorum vividly. He was a crook then, and now he is a crook and a crazy person. Other than the extreme religious right wing, Pennsylvanians are not going to stand still for having this idiot as our president. We hope he wins the nomination as that will be a sure win for Obama.
Jamestown, PA
Santorum has publicly stated that birth control is "harmful" to women and has stated that states have the right to legislate birth control. The man has "elect-ability" issues because he's running for president in America, not Iran.
Jack,
Santorums biggest electability problem is that he has not qualified to be on the ballot in several states, he isn't eligible for more then 700 delegates! How can he possibly win the nomination with all the proportional delegate states? He can't!
I have begun to think that electability is a mythical state that the press has made up to make people believe that other candidates don't have a shot at being elected. but its a fake concept. Ronald Reagan was called unelectable, and he became president. The same goes for Ron Paul. people complain he is unelectable, but he has kept his senate seat for 30 some years. Go figure.
Santorum is an embarrassment to anyone not completely on the left, an embarrassment to Italian-Americans, and an embarrassment to all Americans across this nation. What century does he think we live in?
Santorum is fine .... if you don't mind having a POPE instead of a President!!!!!!!
Roxanne from Michigan
This guy is another face of the Christian Taliban. Maybe after we stop fighting them over there, we can start fighting them over here.
There are some issues that you just don't touch: Gender, Race, and Religion are probably the top. And it seems that each of these candidates has some issue with all of these.
As a Democrat I have been watching and getting my daily laugh from the republican candidates. Are these the best they can offer? Good luck with that.
Dear Jack,
It sure looks from his comments that he has a lot more then just electability issue!
Santorum may be "main stream" in the new, Hard Right, Republican Party, but he is not anywhere near the center of US political opinion, where Presidential elections are won. Independent voters are fed up with politicians who ignore science and math and base their views on "principles" that have no connection to reality. The reason that Romney is still considered more electable is that he is less committed to the extreme right. Left and Right wing partisans barely add up to half the electorate taken together. That is why Republicans have tried to paint Mr Obama as a left wing radical, which he is not, in order to destroy his support from the middle. Santorum has, and will have, no support from the middle, mo matter how his campaign attacks President Obama. This gives him two chances to become President: slim and none.
Thank you for speaking about Rick's lack of integrity with regard to his children's education and his residence. He is a hypocrite! He has a history of not showing up for confirmed appointments with constituents when he was Senator, and then having staffers say things like, "His mind is made up – and he won't change it." He would set equal rights back into the 1800's.
Rick Santorum is much too Conservative for main stream america. we have always been a nation of moderates and someone with a social view that would take us back to the 50's is simply too much for america. yes he is what republicans like right now but that will change and it must change if the GOP wants to beat Obama this November.
Jared from Wyoming.
I switched my party so I could vote against this crazy man in our PA Primary- WE got rid of him in Pa once-We need to make him go away again-
Santorum campaign slogan, " A Good Thing To Be Barefoot And Pregnant "
Dee from Pittsburgh, Pa.
... and this guy is rising in the polls?? How is that possible with all that baggage? OH ... just remembered ... Bush got elected ... and re-elected ... hmmm ... Why aren't you guys fishing in the smart pool? With so many brilliant Americans, why is it you prefer people better qualified to be soap opera characters?
One lost election means nothing, Jack. Remember Richard Nixon after he lost a governor's contest in California? A few yearts later he won the presidency! Emmett Smith, Mobile, AL
Not only do I think Rick Santorum has electability issues, but I think once most Americans become aware of his backward beliefs about women and gay people, he is certain to crash and burn. Rick, do you really want America to go back in time 70 years before WWII when women made a major entrance into the workforce to help save this country? And why are you so Homophobic; do you have some personal gay issues that you are ashamed of?
I still have the LA Times from October 2006 (just before Santorum got thrown out of office) with headline of record low unemployment. And with the white-winger embarassments of Sharron Angle or Christine O'Donnell still fresh on our minds I am not sure anyone with "R" next to their name could win anytime soon.
Jack, I just think he is too far Right to be elected. He is not a person to mend our broken fences. The world would not necessarily be a safer place with Rick S. in the oval office. He holds some polarizing views that might lead to further unrest both here and abroad.
Yes. Rick Santorum has electability issues. A loss like that in his own state of PA is unacceptable. Another reason is Santorum's response to women serving in the military via the "front line". Finally, based on a updated poll, President Obama's approval rating is up. It's due to the fact that the GOP (Grief On People) (Greedy Obstructionist Pigs) (Good On Puking) (Germ Obnoxious Parasites) (Gargoyle Oblivious Pupils) (Goofing Off Psychos) are in the process of S.E.L.F. I.M.P.L.O.D.I.N.G. and last month made the 2nd straight month of 200,000 jobs or more created.
Jeffery, NY
Jack, I'm more electable in a general election them Rick Santorum. He has gone father over the cliff the Thelma and Louise who wouldn't vote for him, either.
From one Jack to another,
Rick Santorum is a radical quack whose stance on social issues are not in touch with the current trends in American society. Pennsylvania obviously was disgruntled with him and in time America will be as well. His embarrassing massacre is simply more ammo for Mitt Romney to hush an ambitious lunatic who never should have ran in the first place.
Electability Issues? Absolutely! As a Rpublican, I am concerned that any support for Santorum is wasted and Romney is no better. So, who's next, Ron Paul?!
It's difficult to vote for a guy who attacks his opponent for having an "individual mandate", referring to Mitt Romney's Massachusetts Health Care law, but who is ready to lay down in traffic for a top down, individual mandate to purchase government run health care, aka Medicare. He IS a hypocrite and a trigger happy religious nut job,
Obviously he has issues, people at my school who said they would support him, even the hardcore republican kids, were shocked to hear his stance on gay marriage as just one example. He is a social extremist and that is definitely not what Americans are looking for. If he gets the nomination he will be easily beat by Obama.
Well Jack I see it this way both he and Romney lost in their perspective states, and Romney didnt even win to be a senator , so I dont think either one has a BIG winning streak
Dont all of them have electability issues....
If I were a republican I'd be cursing the day when Karl Rove decided to arificislly inseminate evangelical DNA into the republican body politic during Geoge W's presidential campaign thus creating Santorum as its Frankenstein. I bet good fiscal republicans like Rockefeller, Javits and Goldwater are spinning in their graves. Santorum is a ridiculous joke and an embarrassment to the republican party and this country.
Absolutely. In terms of leadership, it seems that Santorum has little more than sanctimony to offer the nation. I am seriously startled by the idea of him being president. This Republican campaign goes to show just how disjointed and aloof the party is. It seems like they are grabbing at straws that all come up short.
Well Jack, Barry has been your guy and you have been carrying the water for him so just call him up on the phone and I am sure he will tell you not to worry. Just in case though, make sure you have your passport handy.
If Santorum can't beat Obama, this country is beyond help. Obummer is dragging our economy into the tank
with Cloward and Piven. Mickey mouse would be a better choice than Obama.
yes he has problems, I am from pa and my taxes sent his virginian children to pa cyber school.I was thrilled when he lost his senate seat. But like a bad penny he is back. Republicians have lots of problems santorums one of three the other two are gingrich and romney .All I know is come november Obama is getting 4 more years, because the GOP gene pool is way to shallow
I am a so-called "blue dog" Democrat, and I'm distressed that, just as the GOP is shoving to the sides its moderates, the Democrats under Obama are doing the same. Because both sides are protecting ideological sacred cows, no one is grabbing the bull by the horns on this deficit issue. Don't forget: even if the budget were balanced this year, we would still have a growing deficit to deal with in the future because of compound interest on the debt (the interest itself is earning interest). When is the political left and right going to wake up and smell the coffee???
Santorum electable? He might be the darling of the ultra-right and tea party diehards, but he will guarantee Obama a landslide win and the end of the tea party(which wouldn't be all bad). He must be delusional if he thinks mainstream Republicans (like myself)never mind Independents could ever vote for him. Take his views on issues relating to sex. No doubt he likes it, but don't you think 7 little Santorums are more than enough. Contraception isn't all bad!
The Republican Party – now a far right subgroup of the unofficial radical Tea Party – is on the ropes ... nothing but dopes! They have no clue as to what to do! As a MODERATE lefty I find the "conservative" movement hysterical!
I live two minutes from Rick Santorum's hometown and five minutes from the Penn Hills school district he sued $100,000 to pay for his children's online education. Thank you for reporting on something I was hoping would finally come up in this election. I met him at a political action committee event and he was arrogant. I later met his as a journalist and found his personality to be equally as distasteful. This man is not presidential material.
Jack,
Of course he has electability issues. Just the idea that he's the "king of earmarks" makes him part of the problem, not part of the solution. Seems to me that through the process of GOP primaries so far, and what could be called a process
of elimination, somehow Santorum has risen in the polls by default. And it sure seems like a whole lot in the GOP must
not have seen the same first debates that I saw. He wasn't even a consideration after those debates and that was with the likes of Cain, Hunstman and Bachmann still running. Spell it w-a-c-k-o or w-h-a-c-k-o, it's all still nuts.
Santorum is Scary.
People in Michigan have said they are supporting Santorum because they haven't heard anything bad about him. That needs to change. There is so much bad about Santorum the media needs to do it's job and vet him properly.
Why aren't people demanding Rick's taxes? He promised them a month ago and we are still waiting. When it was Mitt Romney nobody just shrugged their shoulders. And Mitt's taxes proved he is a good guy. So let Rick's taxes be seen maybe he will get favorable press from them. But stop the double standards.
Simply put, Yes. We're talking about a man who lives through the rose tinted view of the 1950's. The "Leave it to Beaver" days when gays were to afraid to be open, and women and blacks had their place and were expected to stay there. He is out of touch with the reality of todays America. If Obama is a supposed extremist, what would we call this guy?
As soon as the electorate realize that Santorum is a far-right religious zellot that wants to do away with all birth control, will not allow abortions under any circumstances (even gang rape) and his election would set women's rights back a generation, he will not be elected. He says this is the teaching of the Catholic church yet studies have shown 98% of Catholic women use some kind of birth control. Women of today are educated and are both loving Mothers and successful working women. We can not let the likes of Santorum keep us uneducated, barefoot and pregnant.
This group of GOP candidates are vetting nightmares, If he loses in his home State, would it be such a surprise really? This is a man who couldn't be more out of touch with Main St. America. The people of Michigan are heartland folks that will see through his facade. My thought is,it would have serious implications of his elect-ability in the general election.
When you consider Mr. Santorum's Taliban Attitude toward Women, He has a lot more than electability issues. His losses in Pennsylvania is only the beginning of a growing amount of reasons to sideline his candidacy. His tyrannical rants sound more and more like Hitlers run for Furher in the 20's. When he tried to blame liberals for the priests pedophilia in Boston is much like Hitler's blaming Jews for All the financial problems in Germany.
Rick Santorum is over the top, so is Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul. Please, all you guys and gals, stop equating the absurd radical primaries with the general election. Mitt Romney is the only GOP candidate who is free of "severe electability issues." Moderates and independents determine general election outcomes. They would overwhelmingly reject "the far out three" as quickly as they would dismiss Chuck Schumer or Nancy Pelosi. Thank heaven for the 35% of Americans that have common sense-the moderates!
The qestion is senceless. Santorum is one of the few who understand, accept, ad use the fact that the US are less a democracy than a theocracy.
Absolutely. Obama will bury him. He is an extremist of the scariest kind. I am a Catholic and I am appalled by some of his positions. He'd need to call Hillary at 3 am to figure out what to do. His ascension in the polls is absurd particularly when the latest caucuses and primary were beauty contests.
All the current field does. Santorum is probably the least electable. So who will emerge as the DARK HORSE at the convention?
People will vote for Santorum because he has the courage to stand up for his belief!