GOP Debate Thoughts: Sparks Fly, Santorum Fizzles

Posted by Ashish on 02.23.2012

Romney runs circles around Santorum in latest debate...

The small chance Rick Santorum had to win the GOP nomination probably got squashed last night at the GOP debate as Mitt Romney and Ron Paul turned him from conviction candidate to typical Washington insider before our very eyes.

Thoughts on last night's spark-filled GOP debate:

* Rick Santorum took a beating. Mitt Romney came in with a clear strategy to make Santorum defend his past Washington votes, knowing that describing the process is always brutal. Santorum, in trying to explain the insider process of voting on bills, came off as a hypocritical insider who was every bit the typical politician Romney wants to paint him as and not the beliefs-before-politics conviction candidate that Santorum tries to present himself as. He got caught several times basically saying that he voted for things or supported people even though he didn't personally believe in the vote or person. That goes against the very core he is trying to win on -- that he has convictions and Romney doesn't. Romney did real damage to that image of Santorum tonight.

* Santorum lost his Tea Party cred. It's hard to present yourself as an anti-establishment crusader when you spent two hours explaining how you had to vote for things a certain way and support certain candidates because President Bush and your Senate colleagues made you.

* Newt Gingrich finally got back in the groove of things, mostly thanks to another loud debate crowd that ate up the red meat that he threw out there (Obama supported infanticide is another example of the over-the-top rhetoric that is going to hurt the Republican brand in the general election). I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a bit of a boost out of tonight, not enough to win Michigan or Arizona, but enough to probably cause Santorum to lose both. Any support Gingrich gains will come right out of Santorum's support and will cost him Michigan, which is virtually tied right now.

* Ron Paul was also very effective in denting up Santorum's "conviction candidate" image, getting him to constantly make excuses for past votes that he no longer agreed with. Again, Santorum spent almost the entire night defending past votes that he no longer agrees with and using twisted logic and explaining Washington process that made him come off as no different than every other Washington insider.

* We are once again witnessing why it is so difficult for a Senator to become elected President. Obama benefited from running against Hilary Clinton and John McCain, both Senators. But otherwise, Governors have huge advantages because they don't have the mile long list of votes that can be used against you later. Senators, by the time they run for President, usually have voted on thousands of things, many of which they probably didn't agree with but had to vote for due to pressure from their party. Romney did to Santorum tonight what Bush did to Kerry in 2004 -- make him explain his votes. There is no way to explain certain votes and not come off like a hypocrite, because every single Senator in history has voted for things they don't agree with due to party politics. It's a weapon Governors can always use against Senators in a debate and it almost always works. Sadly for Romney, he won't have that advantage against Obama now since his Senate record no longer matters.

* The GOP candidates protected Santorum on social issues tonight, but every second these candidates spend talking about birth control as if it's an immoral thing, reduced roles for women in the military, etc. is going to hurt them badly in the general election where women vote more than men. These are views out of the 50s and 60s. It's pretty stunning that at this stage in the GOP primary, where the fringe candidates are supposed to be gone, that these are the topics they continue to discuss, and in a way where they seem to not think that it'll kill them in a general election. Santorum's constant desire to bring up these social issues is forcing Romney to also discuss them and go further right on them, and that is music to Obama's ears.

* Romney gave a completely hypocritical answer on the auto-bailouts, basically being for and against it at the same time. It would really hurt him in Michigan had Santorum not had such a bad night, but seeing as he did, Romney should win Michigan anyway now.

* Pretty shocked Romney even knows who George Costanza is. Gotta figure somebody slipped him that line prior to the debate.

* Romney really did a great job coming in prepared with the Arlen Spector bit which I think hurt Santorum more than anything else. He came off extremely hypocritical in that exchange.

Overall, Romney just smoked Santorum tonight to the point where Santorum will likely lose Michigan and fizzle off completely. That being said, Santorum has already done major damage to the party. His extreme social rhetoric has gotten played on mainstream TV constantly for two weeks now, branding the entire Republican party and its eventual nominee as anti-birth control, anti-women in the military extremists.

Long primary battles often benefit the party. A perfect example was Obama and Clinton in 2008. But many don't. A perfect example is this year's GOP primary. Obama and Clinton did not push each other so far left that they couldn't get out. They didn't brand the party with extreme rhetoric. That is what is happening to the GOP right now. Gingrich and Santorum have spent weeks upon weeks flat-out questioning Romney's principles and honesty and have gone public with so many out-there statements that it will all get hung around Romney's neck whenever he does eventually win the nomination.