It looks as though it's come down to Santorum and Romney. And it looks like Santorum is pulling away. What about Newt? C'mon. You really didn't believe that he'd last, did you?
If it is indeed the case that Santorum takes the Republican nomination, the American people will have a much clearer choice than if Romney were to win.
Romney would have a much easier time moving to the Center after the primaries. Reasonable people, reasonably cynical people, could argue that Romney had moved to the Right in order to satisfy the Republican base. Even if Romney would have trouble harking back to his moderate approach as governor of Massachusetts, his surrogates could and would make that very argument. And his surrogates will have plenty of money to both chop down Obama and explain away the schizophrenia apparent in Romney's political life.
Santorum is not principled and consistent in the same way as Ron Paul. Paul can easily navigate through a policy stance that opposes federal laws against recreational drug use while holding the personal view that recreational drug use is wrong-headed and that the states have the right to regulate it. It's a true Libertarian, Constitution-grounded position. Santorum, on the other hand, is an unreconstructed social conservative without care for true conservative principles.
Santorum only wants the government out of our lives as long as we're living the life that he wants us to live. As a cynical, ambitious politician, Santorum can support federal anti-drug legislation, he can tell us who we can sleep with and who we can marry, and still portray himself as someone who is for personal freedom. In that way, he draws a clear contrast with Obama.
In that way, he may be Obama's best hope for re-election.
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