Rick Santorum for president? Seriously?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
For a conservative Christian, Rick Santorum is rapidly becoming a candidate without a prayer.
In fact, there is so much handwriting, you can hardly see the wall.
Pennsylvania, his home state and the place he said he was counting on to get the second half of his campaign off to a rousing start, is the same Pennsylvania that voted him out of the United States Senate by a margin of 18 points.
Well, guess what? Apparently the feelings of the voters in that state haven't changed much when it comes to Rick Santorum.
Mitt Romney is now surging in the polls in the Keystone State. And Santorum - who once led there by double-digits - is rapidly losing ground.
Santorum is going from serious candidate for president of the United States to the butt of jokes.
CNN political contributor James Carville says Santorum is like "a chicken with his head chopped off. The chicken is dead. The only person that doesn't know it is the chicken."
Senator John McCain is calling Santorum "irrelevant" and a growing number of Republicans say he should go.
Now we find out Santorum is taking four days off from campaigning. Wonder what that's about. Do you suppose a little soul-searching is in order?
There is absolutely no way Rick Santorum is going to be the Republican presidential nominee. You know it, I know it, the voters know it, and on some level Rick Santorum knows it, too.
So why stay too long at the dance and see what little credibility you might have left ripped to shreds as folks watch you refuse to accept reality?
Here’s my question to you: Rick Santorum for president? Seriously?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
If you were Romney, under what circumstances would you ask Santorum to be your running mate?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Rick Santorum says he's not ruling out the idea of becoming Mitt Romney's running mate. Nobody's asked him, but he's serious. No B.S.
When asked by the Christian Broadcasting Network if he would consider a vice presidential offer by Romney, Santorum replied, "Of course."
Santorum says this race is "the most important race in our country's history" and he'll do everything he can to help his country.
When he was asked a second time if he's "keeping his options open" for a VP spot, Santorum didn't shoot down the idea.
Maybe he's finally facing the fact that he's not going to win the Republican nomination. It’s about time.
This idea is the perfect illustration of the phrase, "Politics makes strange bedfellows." Santorum has been vicious in his attacks against Romney.
He called Romney the "worst Republican" to nominate against President Barack Obama when it comes to the health care issue.
And Santorum had to walk back his comment that Americans would be better off with Obama winning a second term than Romney being elected.
With friends like this. …
Romney has already suggested he won't pick Santorum as his running mate because he's not conservative enough.
So whom might Romney pick if he wins the nomination?
Some of the names out there include Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
It's still early. Remember John McCain didn't find Sarah Palin until just before the convention. And what a find that was.
Here’s my question to you: If you were Mitt Romney, under what circumstances would you ask Rick Santorum to be your running mate?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Is Rick Santorum suddenly doing himself in?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Some people just can't stand prosperity. Exhibit A: Rick Santorum.
You'd think after last week's wins in Alabama and Mississippi, he'd be on his "A" game in Illinois. Not so much.
On Monday, he said, "I don't care what the unemployment rate is going to be. It doesn't matter to me."
Issue No. 1 for voters, the economy, doesn't matter? That statement goes beyond stupid.
A spokesman later tried to do damage control by arguing that the campaign isn't solely about the economy but also about returning freedom and restoring the country's greatness. And just how do we do that, Ricky, with a $15 trillion national debt, millions of Americans out of work and an unemployment rate north of 8%?
Call it whatever you want, but Mitt Romney - who's already selling the line that his chief rival is an "economic lightweight" - pounced.
Santorum insists that the country doesn't want another "Wall Street financier" like Romney as president, but there are reports that a message focused more on government outreach and wars against pornography than on whether Americans have a job is inspiring fear among some supporters.
And this isn't the first time Santorum has gotten himself into some trouble. Last month, he said he "almost threw up" after reading John F. Kennedy's famous 1960 speech declaring that a president's religious views were private and should not be "imposed by him upon the nation."
Again, he tried to walk it back, but once the words come out of your mouth, it's tough to put them back in.
To quote that great philosopher James Carville, "It's the economy, stupid!"
Here’s my question to you: Is Rick Santorum suddenly doing himself in?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 5pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
Rick Santorum said Satan is attacking America. Is he right?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The moral of the story is: If you think you’ll ever run for president of the United States, watch your mouth.
President Obama should be sending Rick Santorum flowers.
The Republican presidential candidate is under fire for a 2008 speech in which he said Satan is attacking the great institutions of America.
Speaking to students at Ave Maria University in Florida, Santorum said that "Satan has set his sights on the United States of America."
He described a "spiritual war" and asked, "If you were Satan, who would you attack in this day and age?" He suggested it was natural for the "father of lies" to go after a good, decent, powerful and influential country.
Fast forward four years and instead of acknowledging that the dialogue might have been a bit extreme, Santorum is digging in his heels.
He's defending his comments, saying he's a person of faith who believes in good and evil.
Santorum insists he is going to stay on message and talk about the things Americans want to talk about, such as economic recovery. He says his views on Satan are "not relevant" to what's being discussed today. Some people might disagree.
And when you want to be president, it's all fair game.
Santorum is leading the Republican field in several national polls. He's virtually tied with Mitt Romney in Romney's home state of Michigan.
We'll see if at tonight's debate Santorum's thoughts on Satan come back to bite him.
Here’s my question to you: Rick Santorum said Satan is attacking America. Is he right?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
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?
How does Rick Santorum's sweep change the race?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The Santorum sweep of Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado once again raises serious questions about why many conservatives can't stomach Mitt Romney.
One, it wasn't even close. And two, Romney failed in places where he was successful four years ago.
Santorum had more than double Romney's support in Missouri.
Romney came in third in Minnesota, a state he won in 2008.
And worst of all for Romney, he was losing Colorado, where he won 60% of the vote last time around.
Writing for the Daily Beast, CNN political contributor Paul Begala points out Romney has more national experience, more staff, more money and "better hair" than Santorum.
Begala described Romney's losses this way, "There's a technical term in political consulting for a performance like that: It's called sucking."
Although Romney is still the GOP's likely nominee, Tuesday’s thumpings will make more people wonder about his electability.
Santorum is now out to convince Republicans that he, not Newt Gingrich, is the strongest conservative challenger to Romney.
And the convergence of recent events is a conservative's dream come true, from the Komen Planned Parenthood uproar to the Proposition 8 ruling in California to President Obama's dust-up with the Catholic Church over birth control.
As for Gingrich, his showing pretty much confirmed that it's over for him.
For Republicans, none of this can be very encouraging. Low turnout in Tuesday’s races suggests Republican voters aren't overly thrilled with any of their choices.
President Obama must be watching all this the way NASCAR fans enjoy a multi-car pileup at the race track.
Here’s my question to you: How does Rick Santorum's sweep change the race?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 4pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
Is the Republican race over?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
If the Republican primary race was a movie, the director might be ready to yell "Cut, print. That's a wrap!"
Mitt Romney is plowing ahead into South Carolina with the wind at his back after becoming first non-incumbent Republican in modern history to win both Iowa and New Hampshire. He may now be all but unstoppable.
Not too bad considering the Republicans have spent the past year trying out a whole roster of other candidates as the anti-Romney.
They've kicked the tires of everyone from Rick Perry to Herman Cain to Newt Gingrich and, most recently, Rick Santorum. And despite brief spikes in the polls, none of these candidates has been able to present a serious challenge to Romney. And if they're going to, they better start. Time is running short.
John Avlon writes for The Daily Beast that Romney is "ready for prime time" after his double-digit New Hampshire victory.
Consider this: Romney won almost every major demographic in New Hampshire. He won Catholic voters - even though he is a Mormon and ran against two Catholics. He also won evangelical voters and tea party supporters - despite all the talk that he wasn't conservative enough for the right wing of the party.
And the rest of the crowd doesn't seem to get it. Despite weak performances in New Hampshire - especially by Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry - the whole group will stumble on into South Carolina.
There's an old expression that goes, "When it's over, it's over."
Here’s my question to you: Is the Republican race over?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 5pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
Will Rick Santorum's vow to bomb Iran help or hurt him in Iowa?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Rick Santorum - the latest Republican candidate to see a surge in Iowa - says he would bomb Iran if it doesn't scrap its nuclear program.
Santorum says as president he would insist Iran open its nuclear facilities to inspectors and dismantle them. Otherwise, he promises to quote "degrade those facilities through air strikes." Translation: Bomb them.
santorum vows that Iran will not get a nuclear weapon on his watch.
Apparently a little sabre rattling couldn't hurt. with all eyes on Iowa today - Santorum has jumped in the polls there. The latest poll shows him in third place, behind Mitt Romney and Ron Paul.
Santorum says Iowa is "moving" his way, and that he's very confident he will "finish well." The former Pennsylvania Senator says he has enthusiasm and momentum, both vital to the caucus process.
But how much might Santorum's tough talk against Iran have to do with his Iowa surge?
Iran has been making a lot of noise lately... as it finishes up 10 days of test firing missiles during Naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz.
Last week Iran threatened to close down the Strait, a strategic shipping channel through which one-sixth of the world's oil passes.
Iran's threat comes on the heels of planned sanctions by the west targeting its oil industry. The sanctions are meant to force Iran to cut back its nuclear program.
But Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, and refuses to halt its production of enriched uranium.
Here’s my question to you: Will Rick Santorum's vow to bomb Iran help or hurt him in Iowa?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 4pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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