Analysis: It’s Time to Give Santorum a Chance

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rick-santorumBy Yechezkel Gordon

Dissatisfied Republicans have looked everywhere for an authentic conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, everywhere that is, except for the one place where it might already exist.

First there was Michele Bachmann who shot to the top of the GOP field with an impressive victory in the highly touted Iowa straw poll. But she soon found herself out of the spotlight when the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, made his highly anticipated entrance into the election.

The buzz for Perry was so strong in the media at first, that many commentators declared the election came down to Romney vs Perry. But Perry began to unravel in the GOP debates when his not so conservative views on illegal immigration and securing the border came to light. The intense scrutiny by the national media didn’t help either, and before you knew it there was one negative story after the other on Perry. Conservatives started asking themselves, if Perry can’t hold is own in a debate against his fellow Republicans, how can they expect him to fair any better against Obama. That’s when a new conservative star was born.

To the surprise of most pundits, businessman Herman Cain won the Florida straw poll, propelling him to the front of most national polls alongside Romney. His credentials on fixing the economy were boosted with his previous experience as CEO of a national pizza chain, and his catchy “9-9-9” tax plan seemed to resonate with voters. But the Cain train was suddenly knocked off course when Politico reported that Cain had been accused of improper behavior with two previous female employers. The harassment allegations took on a life of there own, and before you knew it two more woman stepped forward with similar claims.

The fall of Cain has led to the rise of former speaker of the house Newt Gingrich. And that’s pretty much where the race stands today. Most polls have Romney and Gingrich leading the pack, with Cain rapidly falling and Perry nearly knocked out after his “oops” blunder in a debate when he forgot the third department of government he wanted to abolish. Ron Paul continues to have a steady showing of support by his loyal supporters, but his fringe policies make it unlikely he’ll be able to widen his support base any further.

And that leaves us with Rick Santorum, a former Senator from Pennsylvania. Santorum is arguably the staunchest conservative in the race, with strong conservative values across the board. His strong support for Israel and hawkish approach to Iran is not simply an election gimmick, he has a solid twelve year record in the Senate that backs it up.

In an earlier interview with the Washington Post, Santorum explained his foreign policy credentials. “During my time on the Senate Armed Services Committee, I chaired a subcommittee that worked on all military procurement issues, helped transform the military and our intelligence system as well as delved into the issues facing our nation in the Middle East. That is how I came to authoring legislation to protect Israel from the threat posed by Syria and to assist pro-democracy movements in Iran. I worked with my advisers, but I also dove into the issues, learned about them, weighed the advice of divergent viewpoints and then came to my policy decisions. This is the combination of experience and intangibles that our next president needs, and it’s what I alone bring to the table.”

Santorum is also unique in his strong pro-life and pro-family policies. In short, he’s a social and fiscal conservative with a hawkish foreign policy. He’s has the experience and track record to back up his rhetoric, but for some reason he continues to show up at the bottom of every poll. Even in Iowa, where’s he’s spent the bulk of his time campaigning and visited all 99 counties, he only has 5% support in the latest poll. He’s done well in the debates and has given three major policy speeches, but so far it hasn’t helped.

Republicans are tripping over themselves trying to find a true conservative to take on Romney in the primaries and Obama in the general election, so why not give Santorum a chance. Let’s see how he does under the bright glare of the media spotlight. Will he fumble on Libya like Cain did the other day? Does he have a strong moral past that can stand up to the controversy diggers in the media? There’s only one way to find out. Ronald Reagan is no longer alive to save the Republican party and defeat Obama, but Santorum is. It’s time to give him that chance.

{Yechezkel Gordon-Matzav.com Newscenter}


10 COMMENTS

  1. I agree with the writer %100! Santorum is a first class mentch! A number of years ago, we opened a kollel in Pennsylvania & we needed help in certain legal area’s. We contacted Santorum’s office. He immediatly responded & stepped up to help in every way possible. He even wen’t out of his way for us & showed tremendous derech eretz & unbelievable Kavod Hatorah! We still keep a very warm kesher with him even though he’s been out of office for a while. A number of years ago while in the Senate he made a special visit, together with the Senator from Minnisota, to Boro Park & met with the Novominsker Rebbe in his home. He has shown time & again, respect & sensitivity for Frum people, their needs & concerns. He would make an excellent President & leader of the Free World. And the iker is: he would bring Kvod Shomayim back to this Medina Shel Chesed! There IS hope, BE”H! We will all be voting for him!

  2. Mitt Romney is the conservative with a track record of success who can win next November. He is pro Israel, pro business and is an exemplar of family values himself. Santorum, aside from sounding annoying at every debate as all he does is attack other republicnas, lost in 2006 by twenty points in a swing state. He cannot win and is a marginal candidate. May I suggest Mitt Romney is the best candidate for frum yidden and for America

  3. I am surprised that the GOP has not already embraced Mr. Santorum. Afterall, he is the quinessential republican candidate being pro-life, anti-toeivah and of course a nice little christian ‘warrior’ huh? But of course, if you ask me, Santorum belongs in a sanatorium. This guy is no progressive thinker and I do not anticipate it would be good for jews or any person in this nation to elect a farce like Santorum.

    But of course, where are all the voices to speak of Mr. Huntsman who has foreign policy experience, intense experience with China, conservative values and a more focused approach to industry in America and the economy. Huntsman is a smart person’s choice for the GOP nod and I will tell you this, lots of the liberal left likes him a lot. Translation: he can win.

  4. Please note folks, I used another term other than toeiva in the above commentary. It was changed. Anti-toeiva is right by me so if it appears I am arguing against fixing that which is broken and an abomination among us, I am not. Thanks.

  5. To the above: I actually wrote the word “anti-[—]” rather than “anti-toeiva” as the wording of my commet was changed. Its really not a real big deal, but I was referring to the fact that Mr. Santorum discriminates against some groups who have rights as defined under the constitution. As to the morality of this experience of this group, I am not in the business of making a public statement about morality and mores althought if you want to use the work toeiva, that suits me just fine as well. I thought that this was not a commentary about whether this group is right or wrong in its morality in as much as they do exist and deserve rights in some fashion. Thanks. Just to make this commentary clear.
    And of course, if I was making a comment to commend his approach to a situation which is abhorrent which some situations clearly are, that would be a commendation and not a concern. Just a semantics situation. If you want to post this great. If not, no problem. Thanks.

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