Santorum

[Torch]

He's suspending.. not ending.  That means if he and his spin doctors can find leverage with this.. he can rush back in and 'save the day'. The problem is.. he's made some SERIOUS gaffs in the press and that can slow it down. If his staff finds a way to keep Romney under the magic number of delegates..he'll jump back in and leverage his delegates into a VP slot.

Till he actually bows out, or drops dead, he's not gone.

Not going to happen. He won't be offered a VP slot, and he doesn't have the financial backing that Romney does to stay in long-term. The reason he's only "suspending" his campaign is that it allows Santorum to continue to raise funds to erase campaign debt.

Stick a fork in him, he's done.

2016, however,  is when things become interesting for Santorum (assuming an Obama win in November, which is pretty likely at this point).  Like Arnold, he'll be back.

[Callie Del Noire]

Not going to happen. He won't be offered a VP slot, and he doesn't have the financial backing that Romney does to stay in long-term. The reason he's only "suspending" his campaign is that it allows Santorum to continue to raise funds to erase campaign debt.

Stick a fork in him, he's done.

2016, however,  is when things become interesting for Santorum (assuming an Obama win in November, which is pretty likely at this point).  Like Arnold, he'll be back.

Agreed..he's done. Question is.. does Rick Santorum and/or his backers think that? He's pushing a much more right agenda than Romney and that is a very potent block in the convention. Care to bet they won't try to hijack things if they think they can?

Like I said.. till he stands up and says 'I quit' or drops dead..he's not done. I do agree with you that he might be doing it to lessen his debt and all that.. but it is also likely that if he can get new backers.. he'll be back.  The social conservatives aren't going to meekly back down and he's their dog.

[Torch]

Agreed..he's done. Question is.. does Rick Santorum and/or his backers think that? He's pushing a much more right agenda than Romney and that is a very potent block in the convention. Care to bet they won't try to hijack things if they think they can?

Like I said.. till he stands up and says 'I quit' or drops dead..he's not done. I do agree with you that he might be doing it to lessen his debt and all that.. but it is also likely that if he can get new backers.. he'll be back.  The social conservatives aren't going to meekly back down and he's their dog.

Potent the block may be (and I don't disagree with that), it is still a minority block, however vocal. As you have stated before, a broad-based appeal to the larger block of moderate Republicans who feel squeezed out and marginalized may be the RNC's only hope. Although the economic circumstances are quite different, it's the approach that worked for Dubya. It's to the point where Americans do not vote for the candidate they like the best, they vote for the one they dislike the least.

Look at it this way, Santorum is only 53. In 4 years, he'll still be 8 years younger than Romney is today. He'll have four years to raise funds, work on his strategy, four years to point out everything the current administration is doing wrong, etc.

I also hate to even mention this, but obviously his daughter's health is a concern as well. Whether or not he resumes his campaign could easily depend on how well she fares in the coming months. I don't know a lot about Trisomy 18, but what I do know is that the prognosis is quite grim, depending on the severity of the syndrome.

[Iniquitous]

From my understanding of what I have read, he is suspending his run because of his three year old daughter's health.

[Trieste]

2016, however,  is when things become interesting for Santorum (assuming an Obama win in November, which is pretty likely at this point).  Like Arnold, he'll be back.

*develops an eye tic at the thought*

[Beguile's Mistress]

From my understanding of what I have read, he is suspending his run because of his three year old daughter's health.

I saw that, as well.  Here's one report.

[Torch]

From my understanding of what I have read, he is suspending his run because of his three year old daughter's health.

That's one reason, sure. But the latest polls were showing his lead in his "home state" of PA (although technically he doesn't even live here) being almost completely eroded in favor of Romney. If Santorum couldn't win in PA (and the primary here is two weeks), there was really no point in continuing.

[Callie Del Noire]

Potent the block may be (and I don't disagree with that), it is still a minority block, however vocal. As you have stated before, a broad-based appeal to the larger block of moderate Republicans who feel squeezed out and marginalized may be the RNC's only hope. Although the economic circumstances are quite different, it's the approach that worked for Dubya. It's to the point where Americans do not vote for the candidate they like the best, they vote for the one they dislike the least.

Look at it this way, Santorum is only 53. In 4 years, he'll still be 8 years younger than Romney is today. He'll have four years to raise funds, work on his strategy, four years to point out everything the current administration is doing wrong, etc.

I also hate to even mention this, but obviously his daughter's health is a concern as well. Whether or not he resumes his campaign could easily depend on how well she fares in the coming months. I don't know a lot about Trisomy 18, but what I do know is that the prognosis is quite grim, depending on the severity of the syndrome.

It was that block that got Bush elected '00 and '04 and kept all his potential rivals in the party from securing a nomination. To underestimate their pull in the party is a mistake. Between them and the tea party, Santorum has pull. A lot more than it would appear to be at first glance.

[Torch]

To underestimate their pull in the party is a mistake. Between them and the tea party, Santorum has pull. A lot more than it would appear to be at first glance.

I guess we'll see what happens. My take is that the RNC leadership is not a fan of Santorum and they feel he's a niche candidate at best, and niche candidates tend to get them in trouble (see S. Palin).

[vtboy]

Don't know about the rest of you, but I'll miss St. Santorum. I think the Republican primary process profited (propheted?) from the presence of one 13th Century mind among the... well, the other 13th Century minds.

[Callie Del Noire]

I guess we'll see what happens. My take is that the RNC leadership is not a fan of Santorum and they feel he's a niche candidate at best, and niche candidates tend to get them in trouble (see S. Palin).

Santorum has the advantage of not being seen, immediately, as a flake.

Personally, I hope you're right and the social conservatives lose a stranglehold on the party. It would be nice to see the less dogmatic leaders step up and rediscovered words like dialog, bipartisan and compromise.

[Torch]

Santorum has the advantage of not being seen, immediately, as a flake.

Personally, I hope you're right and the social conservatives lose a stranglehold on the party. It would be nice to see the less dogmatic leaders step up and rediscovered words like dialog, bipartisan and compromise.

I agree, and I think we'd all benefit, no matter which side of the voting booth you are on.

[Callie Del Noire]

I agree, and I think we'd all benefit, no matter which side of the voting booth you are on.

Unfortunately, from what I've seen of the party leadership in at least one state personally, and through examples like Wisconsin in the news.. I don't see the current leadership relenting. They got the social conservatives backing their plays without caring about anything else. It will take a strong socially moderate leader to win control back..and there isn't one who hasn't been lambasted by the social conservatives and pundits.. and the leadership won't back them.

Somewhere out there is a yonger generation looking for a way in.. and sadly they are going to have to wait till the current leaders drop dead to get in.

[ShadowFox89]

Somewhere out there is a yonger generation looking for a way in.. and sadly they are going to have to wait till the current leaders drop dead to get in.

And by then, the damage will be done and we'll be singing God Bless Corporations.

[Callie Del Noire]

And by then, the damage will be done and we'll be singing God Bless Corporations.

I'm withholding judgement till this election.. the fall out of the national conventions this year will be very very interesting I think.

[Star Safyre]

*snickers*

[Callie Del Noire]

*snickers*

Oh gad that hurt laughing so hard.

[TheGlyphstone]

And by then, the damage will be done and we'll be singing God Bless Corporations.

Honestly, I'd be almost as worried about what the country could turn into after spending that long with the Democrats allowed to run wild - it's extremely unlikely the current GOP will be able to regain control any time soon, so until that old guard goes away, we are for all intents and purposes a one-party system. And that, IMO, is bad - it's the threat of losing control to the other side that keeps a two-party system stable and forces them to accomodate the moderates/swing voters; give them a situation where they know the opposition is completely impotent and it could go rather scary.

*snickers*

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

[BCdan]

I feel really bad for his kid.   :-\  Her disease is basically incurable.  I hope she gets as much time as she can. 

[Tiberius]

Thats sad, it always sucks when someone contracts a terminal illness but its always worse when its a child

[Serephino]

I don't think the Democrats will have control for long.  It's going to keep going back and forth like it always does.  The people are fickle and have no patience.  The reason we are in the mess we're in is because Obama couldn't pull a magical silver bullet out of thin air.  He and the Democrats didn't fix everything over night, so the Tea Party gained a foothold in the name of sending Democrats a message for not giving the people instant gratification.  Now the far right wing is fucking everything up, and although we'll have to see, the Democrats may very well end up getting control back.  Of course, things might start to get a tiny bit better, but not fast enough, as always.  Add to that, a few Democrats will do something to upset a bunch of people.  So, naturally, all Democrats will be sent a message again, and Republicans will gain control.

Welcome to American politics!