Santorum Stops

Rick Santorum seems to have spent the Easter holiday in a state of deep reflection because today he finally suspended his campaign. He took a break from campaigning over the holiday to spend it in the hospital with his daughter Bella, and today he announced that he would essentially quit the race. The move comes after a lull in the campaign where it became apparent that Santorum had no realistic shot at the nomination. The media and the Republican establishment had seemingly moved on, but Santorum insisted on fighting on.

His continued candidacy was significant because it signified Romney’s inability to “seal the deal.” Even in the apparently decisive Wisconsin primary, Romney still won by only about 7%. The Santorum campaign won 11 states and he consistently won the “conservative” vote according to exit polls. Santorum’s strength in the South and the Midwest may illustrate Romney’s weakness with evangelicals. Santorum was unapologetically the candidate of the Christian right, pledging to ban online porn and he helped shape a ridiculous Republican narrative about contraception. Santorum has long been a hero of the Christian right, rising to prominence because of his opposition to gay rights and his role in the Terri Schiavo controversy, but his rise to prominence seems to show that some Evangelicals have a problem with Romney’s Mormon faith.

Last week I wrote that Santorum was living a political dream in his reincarnation as a credible Republican candidate for president and the sentiment still stands. If nothing else this race will probably make him a much richer man. His name recognition has certainly risen and he his calendar will be filled with speaking engagements in front of conservative groups. The author of two books, he will likely write another and see it rise higher on his hated New York Time’s bestseller list. 08’s Republican alsoran Mike Huckabee parlayed his success into a FoxNews talkshow, and Santorum will definitely be remade into a television pundit. Santorum’s decision to drop out before a potentially devastating defeat in his home state of Pennsylvania, ensures that he leaves the race with his political clout intact.

As a news outlet that believes in creating “fair and balanced” content, the Redel Traub Report never unleashed it’s vitriol against Santorum. For instance, in this very article I wrote about Santorum’s “opposition to gay rights” as opposed to his “homophobia,” we do this because we recognize that not all of our readers share our opinions unequivocally. We recognize that framing the debate in such a way better reflects the political reality. Santorum was a major player in the Republican primary and marginalizing him because he has different social values than the RT Report is irrelevant because he was fighting for the support of people with different social values than the RT Report. I’m trying to capture the state of the Republican race, not editorialize on well-tread culture war issues.

Santorum certainly has some political skill. He fought Romney with deep infrastructural deficiencies and kept the race relatively close. He was a representative of a Democratic leaning state for 2 terms. He won 11 states after being mired in the low single digits for much of the prelude to the Iowa Caucuses. After the Iowa Caucuses, I compared Santorum to Tim Tebow, and the analogy still seems apt. Like Tebow, much of Santorum’s success was due to the weaknesses of the opposition, but he still does some things well. Coincidentally Tebow was felled by the New England Patriots who play in Romney’s home state of Massachusetts.

Romney is also a skilled politician in some ways. He proved he could win independent and left-leaning votes by winning the governorship in Massachusetts. Romney’s had a bunch of success in the business world and to some people that makes him qualified to talk about the economy. The things that hamstrung Romney in the Republican primary will help him in the general and he may make things tough for Obama. He also has many personal and political weaknesses, but so does Obama in many folk’s eyes.

Right after Santorum’s announcement, Obama spoke in Florida. He gave a stirring defense of government’s role and attacked Republicans for offering more tax cuts for the wealthy. He also attacked Romney, though he referred to him as “someone who shall not be named.” These kind of speeches will be a daily occurrence in the coming months. Romney and Obama will barnstorm across the country, raising money and informally attacking one another. The Republican race is officially over, and if you thought it was crazy, just wait for the general.