3rd Party Santorum

[Spindrift]

With the Illinois results showing a strong victory for Romney, Santorum could only tout how well he did in the strongly conservative Republican districts. Santorum will still keep fighting and he may still win a few more states, but the nomination is pretty much a lock for Romney.

Would Santorum attempt a 3rd party run? It's doomed to failure, but I think he will strongly consider it, especially if he can get a SuperPAC or two to commit to backing him. I think he thinks his conservative message is what people want and that the people are less concerned about the economy and more concerned about religion and supposed morals.

Of course a Santorum 3rd party run would all but guarantee an Obama re-election and there would be strong pressure on Santorum not to run. I think Santorum will at least consider it though.

 

[Caper]

No it will absolutely not happen.

 

[Spindrift]

No it will absolutely not happen.

He won't even consider it?

 

[Cleon]

He won't even consider it?

Nah. It's pointless, and he knows it. If anything, he'll just use the networks he's built to mount another try in 2016.

 

[Upchurch]

Well, the real question is whether or not Santorum's desire to be President next term outweighs his desire to see someone other than Obama as President next term.

 

[Spindrift]

Nah. It's pointless, and he knows it. If anything, he'll just use the networks he's built to mount another try in 2016.

I don't think he 'knows it'. Anyone deluded enough to think that there is a possibility that the majority of Americans want what he wants doesn't know much.

 

[Sword_Of_Truth]

Nah. It's pointless, and he knows it. If anything, he'll just use the networks he's built to mount another try in 2016.

Cleon nailed it in one.

Santorums not a complete idiot (I could be wrong, though). Under the "whose turn is it?" system that the republicans use to pick their nominees, Santorum has secured his place in line for the next go around. The current republican primary campaign is a microcosm of what would happen if there was a third party on the right. He doesn't want to throw away his only real shot at the big chair and go down in history as the guy who turned America into a permanent one-party democrat state.

 

[Vorticity]

No way. He's a good party soldier.

 

[leftysergeant]

He doesn't want to throw away his only real shot at the big chair and go down in history as the guy who turned America into a permanent one-party democrat state.

Why are you attributing the thought processes of a rational man to Santorum?

 

[ponderingturtle]

He won't even consider it?

If he does it would be a kiss of death to any future in politics.

 

[Travis]

If he does it would be a kiss of death to any future in politics.

But he thinks he has God on his side. Which means he's liable to do anything.

 

[Spindrift]

If he does it would be a kiss of death to any future in politics.

I thought the kiss of death was the opinions he espoused in this campaign.

 

[Spindrift]

But he thinks he has God on his side. Which means he's liable to do anything.

This ^^^

 

[ponderingturtle]

I thought the kiss of death was the opinions he espoused in this campaign.

Not to republicans it seems.

 

[Brainster]

The money will dry up now, and the ballot obstacles to being a third-party candidate are pretty substantial. Plus Santorum is young enough that he wait four or eight years to get another shot at the nomination. He would certainly be in line (but not alone in that line) for the mantle of "guy whose turn it is" that seems to be the single best predictor of the GOP nominee.

 

[ravdin]

No. He's still young enough to try at least a couple more times, but if he goes for a 3rd party nomination now he'll never be able to run as a GOP candidate again.

 

[Lowpro]

I thought the kiss of death was the opinions he espoused in this campaign.

By being a Republicans you blind yourself to retardation unless it's on the scope of "Moon Bases"

 

[Minoosh]

Ideologically it seems Santorum is the GOP and Romney the third-party candidate.

I don't quite get the assumptions about the Republican "base." Does that mean a majority of the party? The ones who always vote? The ones who vote in primaries? The most polarized ones?

If Romney flips back to his old positions he's pretty centrist, yet conventional wisdom means he has to act like a social conservative to win "the base."

But if primary voters already prefer him to Santorum why bother? Would it really be so horrible to just admit he's a moderate? Appeasement apparently hurt McCain more than it helped.