Is Santorum Electable?
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I would say no. I like a lot of his ideas but in the general election he would get slaughtered. We have to keep our eye on the prize, which is beating Obama. We need someone who can win, not just someone who is the “purest” in terms of ideology. I still think it is healthy to have a competitive primary to show the eventual candidate what kind of ticket the base wants.
What Concerns Us Most Is The Misconception That Rick Santorum Is A Full Spectrum Conservative, And That Tea Party Members Are Willing To Support Him DESPITE His Serious Flaws On Fiscal Issues, Big Government & Union Supporting Votes.
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The Case Against Voting For Rick Santorum In 2012
Rick Santorum has had a great night tonight by winning the Colorado and Minnesota caucus and the non-binding Missouri primary. However, voters need to know why conservatives cannot vote for Rick Santorum in future election contests. Look at the list below for reasons why:
1. Rick Santorum has trashed the TEA Party.
2. Rick Santorum faces several ethical questions about using his position in Congress to benefit himself and others.
3. In the 104th Congress Sen. Santorum joined all Democrats and a minority of Republicans in voting to filibuster the bill S. 1788, the National Right to Work Act of 1995. (“On the Cloture Motion (motion to invoke cloture on motion to proceed to consider S.1788),” Senate Bill Clerk, Vote Number: 188, http://www.senate.gov, 7/10/1996)
4. During that same congressional session, Santorum also voted to retain the 1930s-era Davis-Bacon Act that forces taxpayers to pay union wages in government-funded construction and gives Big Labor an unfair advantage over non-union companies and workers (“On the Motion to Table (motion to table Kennedy Amendment No. 4031 to S.Amdt. 4000 to S.Con.Res. 57),” Senate Bill Clerk, Vote Number: 134, http://www.senate.gov, 5/22/1996)
5. He also voted against allowing a waiver of Davis-Bacon in emergency situations.
6. Has flipped flopped on his positions regarding unions. He routinely supported them but then abandoned them as soon as he started running for President.
7. He drafted legislation that would increase the national minimum wage.
8. In 1993, Santorum was one of 17 House Republicans who sided with most Democrats in backing a Clinton administration bill to protect striking employees from being permanently replaced by their employers.
9. He quickly became a millionaire in six years after after losing the Senate.
10. Rick Santorum may have played a role in the K Street Project scandal but he denies it.
11. Rick Santorum has repeatedly attacked Mitt Romney in several debates about RomneyCare yet he endorsed RomneyCare.
12. He also supported President George W. Bush’s big government entitlement program Medicare Plan Part D.
13. He failed to qualify for the Virginia ballot and the Indiana ballot.
14. He supported Arlen Specter against Pat Toomey, and thereby provided Obama, years later, with his final critical vote for the “Affordable Care Act,” or Obamacare.
15. He also voted for Alexis Herman in which she was appointed by Bill Clinton to be Secretary of Labor.
16. Lets not forget his embarrassing involvement in the Terri Schaivo case.
17. He voted for Alaska’s Bridge To Nowhere.
18. He voted against confirming Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense in 2006.
19. Rick Santorum also voted for mandatory Federal child care funding.
20. He has voted for minimum wage increases on six different occasions.
21. He voted no on the Employer Verify Amendment (S AMDT 4177)
22. Voted yes on English As National Language Amendment (S AMDT 4064) which would have made English the official language of the United States but voted against the on the English as Unifying Language Amendment (S AMDT 4073) which requires that all services or materials provided by the U.S. government to be only done in English. This vote doesn’t make sense to me since he wants to make English the official language of the U.S. but doesn’t want our government to publish all documents only in English.
23. In 2005, Santorum voted against the Reduction in Dependence on Foreign Oil (S AMDT 784) that sets a goal to decrease imports of foreign oil by 40 percent over the next 20 years.
24. Voted against the Kosovo Resolution that would have authorized President Bill Clinton to send troops in Yugoslavia.
25. He voted against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Implementation Act. (HR 3450)
26. In 1993, Santorum voted against Authorization for Use of U.S. Armed Forces in Somalia (S J Res 45)
27. He voted twice in support of Fedex Unionization
28. He voted for a law to require a union representative on an IRS oversight board and also voted to exempt IRS union representative from criminal ethics laws.
29. He voted against creating independent Board of Governors to investigate IRS abuses
30. In 2001, he voted against eliminating the marriage tax penalty.
31. He voted for the Cesar Chavez Workplace Fairness Act (HR 5) which prohibits employers from hiring permanent replacements when employees strike over wages or benefits
32. Amazingly, he voted against Off-budget Lockbox Amendment (S Amdt 3690) which would protect Social Security surpluses and move Medicare trust fund surpluses off budget to prevent using them for other purposes. This bill alone would have helped save America tons of money and help us reduce our national deficit since politicians love to raid entitlement funds to pay for other projects we cannot afford only to make it more difficult for America to keep our entitlement programs running. Unless we reform our entitlement program, our country is headed for some serious economic trouble.
Based on Rick Santorum’s record, he’s a candidate conservatives and Republicans cannot support. I could go on with more facts about his voting record but its sufficient to say that there are alot more reasons why Republicans and conservatives cannot vote to support him.
We need a President who will really help us become energy independent, fight against unions, will support free trade, lower taxes and manages our entitlement programs responsibly. Clearly, Rick Santorum isn’t that man.
Conservative Samizdat
Rick also attempted a coalition with democrats to invade the GOP primary in Michigan with his robo calls to union families blasting Mitt Romney for being opposed to the government bailouts of failing auto companies.
The election is still 8 months away and alot can happen but if it was held today, I think Santorum would lose in a landslide.
I look at presidential elections with the theory that each side starts with about 1/3 of the vote and than fights for the middle third. The problem for Santorum and the other R candidates is that they have gone so far to the right in order to appeal to primary/caucus voters, that I believe they are going to have a problem trying to appeal to the middle in the general election. Once there is an R candidate and things settle down, it will be interesting how the nomine polls against President Obama especially among women.
My gut tells me that all of this craziness they have gotten involved in the last couple of weeks plus Rush’s comments may have done the party irrepairable harm with women voters in this election cycle.