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United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

His Heart Will Go On

Paul WaldmanMar 07, 2012
(Flickr/Gage Skidmore)

In the past couple of weeks, I've probably heard a dozen different Republican operatives say utterly unconvincingly that a lengthy primary season is good for the party. Their nominee will emerge stronger! They get to talk about their issues! No one buys it, particularly since all the evidence (see, for instance, this poll) suggests that the longer the primary goes, the less popular the Republican party in general and these particular Republicans in particular become. For a long time, Mitt Romney had hoped that Super Tuesday would put an end to all this, and he could stop spending his time pandering to his party's extremists and get on with the more serious business of pandering to independent voters. But after last night, Rick Santorum is going nowhere.

And why should he? We can all agree that Santorum, possibly America's most unpleasant politician, will never, ever be president. Whether he knows that I can't say for sure, although I doubt it. But even if he did, is there a reason in the world for him to pull out of this race? Delegates, shmelegates—as long as Republican primary voters keep giving Mitt Romney a collective "Meh," and as long as there are states in the South and Midwest left to vote so Santorum can continue to notch victories here and there (even if they garner him few delegates and thus are mostly symbolic), the former Pennsylvania senator is going to keep going.

Politicians are human, and don't forget that this is the greatest thing that has ever happened to Rick Santorum. Everybody in America is learning his name. He's talking to bigger crowds than he ever did as a Congressman and Senator. He feels the love from millions of his people. Sure, he's getting heat for his 14th century views on sexuality, but for someone like him, the scorn of liberal elitists, uppity feminists, and gay bullies just proves how right he is. I wouldn't be at all surprised if in the quiet moments, he believes that God himself is placing His hand at the back of the Santorum campaign and pushing it forward. And it isn't like Rick has a whole lot of other things he wants to do right now.

So sorry, Mitt. We all know you're going to be the nominee, but Rick Santorum just isn't going to let this go for a while. And that's making Barack Obama very happy.

When in Doubt, Spend

Jamelle BouieMar 06, 2012
(Flickr/401K)

The people who vote in presidential primaries might be more partisan than the median voter, but that says nothing about their overall knowledge of the political process, or the candidates in particular. For the most part, presidential primaries are low-information elections: Few voters know anything about the candidates outside of what they learn from media, and the circumstances of presidential primaries—a relatively short window for campaigning, multiple candidates, and the fact that everyone belongs to the same party—make it difficult for voters to form strong opinions. Go to almost any primary event in any state, and you’ll meet a large number of attendees who are there with an open mind—they just want to see what the candidate "is all about.”

Republican Women Still Like Rick Santorum

Jamelle BouieFeb 24, 2012
(Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

Yet another poll shows Rick Santorum with a lead among Republican women; according the latest survey from ABC News and The Washington Post, 57 percent of Republican women have a favorable view of the former Pennsylvania senator, compared to the 61 percent who have a favorable view of Mitt Romney. What’s more, as The Post notes, Romney has higher negative ratings among GOP women than Santorum does—28 percent to 18 percent.