We’ve been following the fortunes of Rick “Santorum Amendment” Santorum in the race for the Republican nomination for 2012. The South Carolina rankings from yesterday’s party vote were: Gingrich, 40%; Romney, 28%, Santorum, 17%, Paul, 13%.
Gingrich wasn’t expected to do as well (nor was Santorum), but more on that in a moment. If Santorum conceded and threw his support behind one of the front runners, he could turn up the kingmaker. At this point, he has no special reason to concede, of course. Just sayin’ is all.
Why Gingrich is doing well: UD news staff think it is due to his blistering, and well-deserved attack on legacy mainstream media in the US, which he wisely followed up after last night’s victory. The “standing applause” wasn’t support for Newt’s side vs. his ex-wife’s side in ABC’s threatened interview with the latter but protest against the cheap shot itself. (Note: The fact that the ex’s side had already been aired years ago didn’t help.)
Millions of Americans are out of work; do they really care about this daytime TV stuff? It came across as an effort to sidetrack discussion from key issues like how various candidates would get people real jobs again. It focused attention on the “mainstream” media’s growing irrelevance to what most people must care about. Whether newt is the best candidate is a separate question: He tapped into a problem most candidates have been tiptoeing around, and he deserves his gains.
As for Santorum, whom we have been following, his attraction is that he is a genuine social conservative, like about 100 million Americans or so. The “mainstream” media kept predicting his demise because its operatives do not personally know anyone who, for example, thinks that personal choices and decisions influence how one’s life turns out. In their world, vast forces rule unchallenged, whether those forces are “your inner ape,” computer simulations, or the government. They want to be on the right side of as many of them as they can. In the present day, the social conservative hopes to be on the wrong side and to swat the forces a good one at every opportunity.
Well, the ball is still rolling, and we’re still watching …
See also: ID-friendly US prez hopeful Rick Santorum did win Iowa
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