Rick Santorum Rising

In my post earlier this month where I endorsed Newt Gigrich, I made some comments about Rick Santorum that made some of my readers further question those comments, especially with his recent surge as the Iowa Caucuses approach. To recap, here is what I said:

"Rick Santorum (A good man who is a good conservative, but is damaged as he lost his Pennsylvania US Senate seat by 18 points)"

I very much respect Rick Santorum as a Conservative and a politician. He won his House seat in Pennsylvania, in a very blue collar, Democrat district, and won his Senate seat, in 1994, by endorsing Newt Gingrich and the Contract with America, while stressing issues relevant and important to Pennsylvania. Rick Santorum is a stellar campaigner, an expert on retail politics, and a finisher. One story about his retail politics expertise comes to mind. A good friend of mine attended P-5 in Orlando earlier this year and at the after-party, held in Orlando's Icebar, Rick Santorum was the only candidate who attended to speak to the Young Republicans gathered. In his time there, pretty much the majority of the event, Santorum made his way to speak to each person there, one on one, and not only spoke to them, but gave that person the feeling they were the only one in the room.

In Congress and the Senate, he has clearly articulated Conservative values and in this campaign, is one of the most consistent Conservatives. What happened in 2006, in losing his seat by 18 points, was unfortunate, but it also must be figured in that a Casey ran against him and it was a clear Democrat year. Even though there were those asterisks, it was still a loss by 18 points, and no matter how consistent a conservative or how much an expert in retail politics Rick Santorum is, that is the last thing America knows him by, and even though I predict at least a 3rd place finish in Iowa, he is damaged in this election and has a very high mountain to climb to gain the nomination.

But fear not, Rick Santorum fans (myself included), all is not lost. Santorum is young, at 53 years of age, and after serving in a Cabinet position or attempting to run for Pennsylvania Governor, if Tom Corbett chooses not to, he could very well mount another run for the presidency and in that run, he will be known for his consistent Conservatism and not the results of his failed 2006 campaign.