Rick Santorum Is Not The Ideal Candidate To Go One On One With Obama On ObamaCare

With the United States Supreme Court hearing arguments on the constitutionality of ObamaCare, Rick Santorum used this historic moment to launch another attack on RomneyCare:

Santorum then drew some unwanted headlines this past weekend and Monday after he said that Romney is the "worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama." He claimed he was only talking about the health care issue. He later cursed at a New York Times reporter who asked about the charge.

Undeterred, Santorum pounded the issue again on the Supreme Court steps Monday afternoon: "If we run this campaign, which we will, on Obamacare and we're successful, there's no doubt Obamacare will be repealed in one form or another, and that's not going to be the case with Governor Romney because he can't make it the argument, because if he makes it the argument, the Obama machine will turn it right back on him."

Rick Santorum's claim that Mitt Romney is a bad candidate to go one on one with Obama on the issue of ObamaCare is odd given that Santorum was one of the many conservatives who have supported RomneyCare in the past. Moreover, Rick Santorum supported an employer mandate in which his plan would mandate that employers be required to offer their workers a chance to purchase health insurance. If Rick Santorum decides to go after Obama on ObamaCare, the President will have no trouble returning fire during the general election.

Rick Santorum's claims that Mitt Romney can't make the case for overturning ObamaCare because Obama will turn it right back on him is also bizzare. Mitt Romney has repeatedly promised that he will repeal ObamaCare on the first day in office as President. Recently, on March 22,  Mitt released an article reaffirming his promise to repeal ObamaCare and outlining additional steps he would take to reform America's health care system. Mitt Romney has already made the argument that he will repeal ObamaCare and Obama can't attack Romney on that point without getting dragged into a debate on the Constitutionality of his health care plan which is something that Obama himself may not want to do since a large majority of Americans do not support ObamaCare.

In fact, if there was any candidate who is ideal for going against Obama on the issue of ObamaCare, its Mitt Romney:

"The central tenet of the “Anybody-But-Romney” conservative theology is this article of faith: Nominating the former Massachusetts governor will take away the Republican Party’s best 2012 issue — because “Romneycare” is so like “Obamacare.” ABR true believers lump the two plans together, with the epithet “Obamneycare.”

This conservative faith is wrong, however. To the extent that attacks on President Barack Obama’s health care reform are good politics, the candidate best able to make them is Mitt Romney.

Since he orchestrated and then signed the Massachusetts health care law, Romney is uniquely qualified to lead the GOP attacks against the federal health care reform bill.

Why? He would be the first GOP nominee in nearly 50 years with a proven track record on health care who has been praised by Democrats — including the president — as fair and compassionate. He can’t be demonized as an out-of-touch, uncompassionate, hard-right ideologue on this issue.

Americans have been telling pollsters since 1965 that they favor Democrats over Republicans when asked whom they trust on health care issues. That was when President Lyndon B. Johnson and congressional Democrats passed the historic Medicare program — over the objections of many high-profile Republican opponents, including future President Ronald Reagan.

This political landscape meant GOP presidential nominees have regularly been put on the defensive, sometimes even demonized, on health care issues. Rick Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich are typical in this regard."

"...Think of the advantage that this situation gives Romney: Even if the health care law is ruled constitutional, legitimate political questions remain because it is not fully operative for two more years. Only “Romneycare” is a public-private-sector plan in full operation, praised by his opponents — like Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a top Obama ally. By embracing a role for government in addressing health care, Romney has neutralized traditional winning Democratic arguments.

The Obama campaign has one overriding aim — paint any GOP nominee as out of touch with the problems facing average Americans. “Romneycare” presents a problem for this narrative. If the former head of Bain Capital is allegedly the “same ole” GOP rich guy worshipping at the altar of social Darwinism, how does the “compassionate party” explain away using “Romneycare” as a model?"

There is one fundamental difference between RomneyCare and ObamaCare that people on the left and on the right somehow fail to grasp. Its a difference that Mitt Romney has been making for many months now and its a distinction that the attorneys opposing ObamaCare in the Supreme Court explained today:

If the Supreme Court overturns the individual mandate based on the theory argued by Paul Clement, the attorney representing the 26 states that filed lawsuits against Obamacare, Mitt Romney's presidential campaign could get a big boost from the ruling.

Clement told the court, just as Romney has told Republican primary voters, that states have the power to enact individual mandates wheras the federal government has no such authority.

"I do think the States could pass this mandate," Clement said today in response to a question from Justice Sonia Sotomayor. "[T]he States can do it because they have a police power, and that is a fundamental difference between the States on the one hand and the limited, enumerated Federal Government on the other."

Romney has argued throughout the presidential primary that Massachusetts has the ability, under the 10th Amendment, to enact an individual mandate for health insurance.

Democrats prepping for the general election have attacked Romney for supporting the individual mandate in his state while opposing President Obama's mandate.

If the Supreme Court agrees that states can enact mandates, but rules that Obama's mandate is an unconstitutional infringement on individual liberty, then Romney will have a solid rebuttal.

ObamaCare will certainly be an issue during the 2012 general election since the Supreme Court won't publicly release their decision until June which is a few months before election day. Romney's defense of RomneyCare is a solidly constitutional argument and whereas Obama's defense of ObamaCare isn't. The contrast between state's rights and governmental overreach will be made very clear if Mitt Romney is the Republican nominee.  As a result, Mitt Romney is the best and strongest defender of state's rights and economic liberty and is the ideal candidate to go head to head with Obama.

Rick Santorum Might Not Win Any Delegates In Pennsylvania

With Pennsylvania's primary election coming up next month on April 24th and with 72 delegates at stake, Rick Santorum is eager to win his home state so that he can justify staying in the race. However, victory won't come easy for Santorum because many prominent Republican leaders in Pennsylvania are not thrilled with him as a candidate:

Several interviews with influential members of Santorum’s state party reveal a pervasive dislike for the man running for president without the support of the party’s kingmakers.

Party bosses dislike his zealous pronouncements and extreme social positions.

Fiscal conservatives see him as a big-government, pork-barrel spender.

And some social conservatives question his support of former Sen. Arlen Specter, who supported abortion rights.

The common critique, however, is of Santorum’s hair-trigger volatility, cruel political maneuverings, dismissiveness and notoriously massive ego.

In fact, many insiders in the Pennsylvania Republican party are secretly hoping Rick Santorum will lose so that they can rally around Mitt Romney:

“Party folks are just tolerating [Santorum] and hoping he loses as soon as possible so that they can all get behind Romney,” said a GOP activist who did not want to be identified.   

Rick Santorum appears to be universally disliked in Pennsylvania by nearly every conservative in that state:

Yet from Gov. Tom Corbett to U.S. Sen. Patrick J. Toomey, state GOP Chairman Rob Gleason and on down the political food chain, no major GOP politician in the state has endorsed Mr. Santorum.

Even Alen Specter, who Rick Santorum endorsed in the 2004 because the Bush Adminstration asked him to, refused to endorse him in this election:

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter said Friday that ex-Senate colleague Rick Santorum is “so far to the right” that it’s not realistic for him to win the presidency.

Rick Santorum is not popular among the regular Republican voters in that state as well: 

Pam Todd, 74, a Philadelphia artist and member of the fiscally conservative Tea Party, felt strongly the election should be focused on the economy and defeating Obama, not issues like abortion and gay marriage.

"I feel that perhaps Romney is the most electable. I like Rick very, very much. I admire his guts. But he sometimes gets down in the weeds on the social issues," she said.

"You can really get into the social issues and the country could go over a cliff fiscally," Todd said.

One of the state's main Tea Party groups, the influential Independence Hall Tea Party Association PAC, endorsed Romney in the fight to be the Republican who will face President Barack Obama in November.

"There are a fair number of Republicans who are driven by social issues but they aren't as committed to those issues as economic issues in an election cycle like this one," said Alan Novak, a former chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party who is backing Romney.

"The election is really first a referendum on the president, unemployment and gas prices," he said.

Despite the Rick Santorum's unpopularity within the Pennslyvania GOP, party leaders and activists are trying push back against calls to wrap up the GOP nomination process as quickly as possible:

Several activists and state elected officials pushed back on their national counterparts itching to tackle Obama, arguing that the GOP vetting process should continue until Pennsylvanians can vote and even beyond.

“It’s actually going to make the ultimate nominee stronger for having gone through the crucible of a good solid, intense debate, so I think it should continue — if necessary, until the convention,” state Rep. Stephen Bloom, who has not publicly endorsed a candidate, told POLITICO. “As long as the candidates are drawing citizens into the process, getting voters engaged, that’s good. The battle of ideas is a good thing.”

While Rick Santorum currently remains ahead in the polls, its not a guarantee that he will in that state. Even if he does win in Pennsylvania, he may wind up not winning any delegates at all because the delegates are free to vote for anyone they want at the Republican convention. Moreover, Republican leaders and activists are also delegates themselves and given Santorum's unpopularity with Republican leaders and activists, Rick Santorum might have another Phyrric victory in Pennsylvania:

The ranks of delegate hopefuls are littered with Republican state committee members, elected officials and others with close party ties, who will ultimately be more beholden to a state party leadership that, while officially neutral, is visibly leaning in Romney’s direction and increasingly vocal in its fear that Santorum could hurt the party in a general election — especially after witnessing his 18-point drubbing in 2006.

Romney, Ron Paul and even Newt Gingrich got some of their supporters on the ballot as delegate candidates. But Santorum’s campaign officials, who have struggled with ballot organization issues across the country, privately concede that they just didn’t have the time, nor resources, to organize their own supporters to run as delegates when the paperwork was due earlier this year.

Mitt Romney enjoys strong support among many Pennsylvania delegates:

The state party has so far not made an endorsement in the race. But Bob Asher, a Republican National Committeeman and one of the most powerful forces in state politics, is backing Romney. So are top party fundraisers and members of Congress from the Philadelphia suburbs who, like many elected and party officials, worry that a Santorum candidacy would send independents fleeing from the GOP and damage their prospects in down-ballot races.

“I think most people recognize we have to put forward the best candidate to beat Barack Obama,” said Rep. Jim Gerlach, a suburban congressman and Romney backer who’s also a delegate. “There’s a lot of support to make sure Gov. Romney is ultimately our nominee.”

Added a top Republican fundraiser who’s neutral in the race: “People like Rick, and they often like his policies. But his brand is so tarnished and we’re all terrified at the prospect of him on top of the ticket.”

Regardless of how Rick Santorum does in Pennsylvania, it will not be a good night for him since its a winner take all primary and he will remain far behind Mitt Romney in the delegate count.  

Rick Santorum's Phyrric Victory In Louisiana

Rick Santorum's victory in the Louisiana Primary yesterday was a Pyhrric victory since he's still way behind on the delegate count. Here's the current delegate count: 

Despite the fact that Rick Santorum won ten delegates while Mitt Romney won five delegates in Louisiana, it won't be enough for him to catch up because the evidence is overwhelmingly clear that the electoral math doesn't work for Rick Santorum. He cannot get the necessary 1,140 delegates needed to win. As Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post points out, there's just no way for Rick Santorum to win the Republican nomination: 

Romney still leads by about 300 delegates . With 568 delegates to Santorum’s 273 Romney, Romney needs only 576 more delegates, about 46 percent of the remaining delegates. Santorum would need to win about 70 percent, and that just isn’t going to happen.

Not only is Rick Santorum behind in the delegate count, but he's cannot catch up to Mitt Romney's campaign funds:

As of the February 29, 2012 FEC filing, Romney had more than $7.3 million in his campaign war-chest with no debt versus $2.6 million with almost $1 million in debt for Santorum. Additionally the Super PAC supporting Romney had vastly more money than the organization behind Santorum.

Try as they might, neither Senator Santorum nor his Super PAC is in Governor Romney’s league in fund-raising and these margins will widen as time progresses.

The next primary contests don't look too good for Rick Santorum in which 98 delegates are up for grabs in  Wisconsin, Maryland and District of Columbia will be voting on April 3rd. To make matters worse for Santorum, all three states are winner take all contests and Mitt Romney is expected to win all three states. Mitt Romney will easily win Washington D.C. since Rick Santorum did not make the ballot on that state. As a result, Mitt will get 19 free delegates.

Then on April 24th, five states are holding their primaries. Those states are New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Delaware. A total of 231 delegates are available on that day. New York is a winner take all state with 95 delegates at stake and Pennsylvania is also a winner take all state with 72 delegates at stake. Mitt Romney is expected to win four of the five states on that day with Rick Santorum winning Pennsylvania. However, some people think that its possible that Mitt Romney can win all five. 

Either way, the future doesn't look good for Rick Santorum. 

Michael Steele Is Wrong On Mitt Romney's Delegate Math

Michael Steele's recent appearance on MSNBC might have gone unnoticed as just another talking head discussing the 2012 republican primary. However, while he was discussing his rationale for why he made changes in the nomination process, he raised a lot of eye brows when he made an astonishing claim that  that the electoral math does not work out for Mitt Romney.

Michael Steele is absolutely wrong that the electoral math doesn't work for Mitt Romney. For example Mitt Romney won the Puerto Rico Primary today and will probably pick up most, if not all, of the 20 delegates available in that state. Although we won't know the full amount of delegates Mitt will get from today's victory, he continues to maintain his gigantic lead of delegates over other GOP contenders. Here's where the delegate counts stand today: 

Lets look at how well Mitt Romney has done since Super Tuesday:

He won six of 10 states, including Ohio, the night’s marquee contest. His win rate was higher than John McCain’s in 2008 on a night that all but clinched the GOP nomination. He has won about 40 percent of the delegates he needs to win the nomination and has more than twice as many as Santorum, his nearest competitor. And the party’s new system requiring the proportional awarding of delegates, though it has slowed Romney’s coronation, now makes it essentially impossible for anybody to catch him.

In fact, the evidence is overwhelmingly clear that the electoral math doesn't work for Rick Santorum. He cannot get the necessary 1,140 delegates needed to win. Part of the reason why he cannot become the Republican nomination is because he has struggled to get on the ballot in Virginia, Ohio, Washington D.C. and Illinois: 

The stress of a national presidential campaign on Rick Santorum's shoestring budget is again showing its effects, with reports Thursday that Santorum will not qualify for Washington, D.C.'s presidential ballot. Santorum further failed to file a full slate of delegates in Illinois's March 20 primary, meaning — as in Ohio — Santorum will be unable to win some of the state's delegates.

According to ABC News, Santorum's campaign never even approached the District's Board of Elections to try to qualify for the ballot — and the city's 16 delegates that will be up for grabs on April 3. Unlike other states like Virginia — where Santorum notably failed to qualify for the ballot — candidates in D.C. can simply pay a $10,000 fee to secure a space on the ballot. If a candidate is looking to save money, he or she can halve the fee by collecting 296 signatures — a paltry amount relative to other nominating contests.

In Illinois, Santorum has qualified for the statewide ballot, but his inability to file a full slate of delegates means that, at most, he can win 44 out of the 54 delegates available in the state. In that state, candidates must collect 600 signatures in each of the congressional districts; Santorum fell short in the state's 4th, 5th, 7th and 13th districts.

Most of those districts are in the Chicago area, which is expected to favor other GOP candidates. But the 13th district, a suburban Republican enclave southwest of Chicago, could have proven more favorable for Santorum.

Not only does the failure to qualify for a full slate of delegates hurt Rick Santorum, but the future primary elections doesn't look good Rick Santorum either: 

From now until the end of April, we expect Romney to win not only the majority of nominating contests, but also the majority of delegates awarded in these contests.

It’s fair to ask how Romney’s position can be so strong after finishing third in the two major primaries held on Tuesday, Alabama and Mississippi. The most important thing anyone can do on any primary night is to remember the calendar — not the primary schedule but the general election date. The two Deep South primaries appear critical, yet they will be long forgotten by Labor Day, much less Nov. 6. Barring a massive, difficult to fathom shift in this contest, Mitt Romney has a better than 80% chance to be the GOP nominee. No amount of wild tapping on CNN’s magic wall will alter those odds.

The reason is that, much like when Hillary Clinton was fighting a front-running Barack Obama in the last few months of the 2008 Democratic primary, the delegate math — and particularly the lack of true winner take all contests — favors the candidate with the big delegate lead.

That candidate is Romney. While different news organizations have different ways of measuring delegates, calculations from National Public Radio, the Associated Press and others show Romney with a consistent lead, holding about two times as many delegates as Santorum. Days like Tuesday — when the results in little-followed contests in American Samoa and Hawaii gave Romney an edge in delegates over Santorum at the end of the day — generate great headlines for Santorum, but actually make his daunting odds for a delegate majority even longer.

While its good to have a healthy competition among Republican candidates and to allow more states to have an influence on the nomination process, we cannot forget that the most important competition is the battle to defeat Barak Obama. That is why conservatives need to rally around Mitt Romney so that we can begin the campaign to make Obama a one term president now.

Rick Santorum: "If You Want A Real Conservative, Vote For Mitt Romney"

Rick Santorum has consistently attacked Mitt Romney for not being conservative enough. Santorum claims that Romney is not a conservative because of RomneyCare despite the fact that he previously supported that program. He doesn't think Mitt is a conservative because Romney implemented the individual mandate which a key part of RomneyCare despite the fact that he has previously supported an employer mandate in which his plan would mandate that employers be required to offer their workers a chance to purchase health insurance.

Rick Santorum felt differently about Mitt Romney in 2012 in which he felt that Mitt was an authentic conservative. Although Rick Santorum has publicly retracted his 2008 endorsement of Romney, he can't avoid that he said those words and that he made it clear that his endorsement came from him personally and not because the campaign asked him to.

Watch the video below:

Mitt Romney Can Defeat Obama. Rick Santorum Can't.

Right now, Mitt Romney is leading the GOP nationally by eight points according to Gallup and up by nine according to Pew Research Polling. According to the Fox News Poll, he's ahead in national GOP match ups and is the most competitive against Obama compared to other GOP match up with the President. A recent Bloomberg/Selzer poll has Romney tied with Obama and Santorum losing to the President by six points.

However, if you're not impressed by the polls, consider the how the 2012 general election will turn out and why Mitt Romney is in the best position to boot Obama out of office. William Tucker, writing for the The American Spectator, explains why Mitt Romney is the best candidate to defeat Obama in this election. Accorrding to Mr. Tucker, the 2012 election will most likely be a replay of the 2008 election and that crucial votes will boil down to the new upscale and highly suburban areas in the East. William Tucker then makes the case why Mitt Romney is the best guy to win these voters:

The answer for Republicans is very clear. Mitt Romney's main appeal is to these upscale voters. In every primary, he has run best in urban and suburban areas. He appeals to people with a college education, he appeals to women, he appeals to the more affluent. These voters are not scared by his Mormonism but they are put off by social issues and are worried about the economy. Romney scores well on all counts.

Rick Santorum is the antithesis. His entire appeal is to voters from rural areas who are already going to vote Republican anyway. He appeals to people with less education who are doing far worse than everyone else and are extremely resentful of those in other parts of the country -- even though no one outside Washington is doing much better. They are passionate about abortion and social issues and want to restore religion to the center of American life. Santorum would win by a landslide in Alabama, Mississippi, Wyoming, and a few other rural outposts but would get slaughtered everywhere else. And don't be fooled by that "I won in Pennsylvania" rhetoric. The last time Senator Santorum ran for re-election in 2006-- after he had picked up the banner of social conservatism and tried to make himself a national figure -- he lost by 700,000 votes, the worst defeat of an incumbent Senator in Pennsylvania history. He wouldn't do any better in a Presidential election.

The choice for Republicans is between making a statement and winning an election. Choosing Santorum or Gingrich will give the Republicans their George McGovern moment, when they can sacrifice electability for principle. And by the way, we can thank Newt for splitting the arch-conservative vote and making it less likely either of these unelectable candidates will win. With candidates driven solely by personal ambition, ego always trumps outcome.

By choosing Romney -- who seems "not conservative enough" only when contrasted with these two -- Republicans will be getting more than just an appealing candidate. They will get an even chance or better of winning the election and taking back control of the Presidency. Compared with four more years of Obamaism, that seems like a pretty attractive choice.

If conservative are truly serious about making Barak Obama a one term President, then Mitt Romney is our best choice to do that. That's why we cannot afford to drag out the GOP primary because the longer we do, the less time the GOP candidate has to start focusing on the national campaign against Obama. Mitt is in the best position, due to his massive organizational structure to take down and large war chest, to take down Obama. Its time that conservatives focus on Obama rather than engaging in a protracted war over which candidate should win the Republican nomination. 

Its time for conservatives across the country to unite around Mitt Romney in the remaining primaries so that we can focus on the real battle of defeating Obama in 2012.  

Obama Campaign Scared Of Mitt Romney

Yes, that is a legit e-mail from the Obama campaign. They are terrified of Mitt Romney.