COMMENTARY | CNN reports that Rick Santorum continues his surge in the polls nationwide, creating an even bigger lead over Mitt Romney. In the Gallup daily tracking poll for Feb. 20, Santorum had 36 percent of the votes from Republican registered voters nationwide, while Romney had 26 percent of the votes. Instead of Newt Gingrich taking the anti-Romney votes, it appears that Santorum is steamrolling ahead, which could make a nomination difficult for Romney. As a 24-year-old female Republican voter, how is how I feel this new information will play into the road to the 2012 presidential election.
Santorum is seeing a surge at a crucial time within the Republican Party, since it is getting closer to Super Tuesday, which occurs on March. 6. There are a lot of primaries ahead for the Republican candidates, which means a lot more delegates are up for grabs. At first, it seemed that Gingrich would become the anti-Romney candidate, because he did well in the first few primaries, but has since slipped in the polls. As more information comes out about how much Gingrich enjoys big government spending, he appears to not have the conservative record he has tried to claim throughout the debates. It looks like from here on out, it will be a race between Santorum and Romney, which means Ron Paul and Gingrich are basically going to be non-factors as the primaries progress.
I still do not think Santorum will get the nomination, based on the fact that he just cannot seem to gain enough support from the moderate Republican base. The biggest issue with Romney is that he cannot appeal enough to the very conservative base, especially Evangelical Christians, and tea party members. Santorum has the votes from these groups of voters, but it will not be enough to win him the nomination. I think that Santorum just does not have the financial means to compete with Romney in every state, and he does not have the huge fundraising base that Romney does, which will hurt him down the road. Even if more organizations and individuals donate money to Santorum, he will still lack the funds to stand with Romney.
Overall I think that this news really is showing how fed up the Republican Party is with Romney, and how Romney has not excited the Republicans this time around. Santorum will likely stay in the race until the very end, but he is just gaining support because there is not one candidate that is shining in this election, and some people just want anyone that is not Romney, even if they do not agree on a lot of the issues. If it came down to Santorum and President Barack Obama in the general election, Obama would win hands down, because Santorum does not have that electability. It hurts to say it, but Romney is the only chance the Republican Party has to win the election, and that is what really matters in 2012.
Myself, Personal Opinion
Ashley Killough and Kevin Liptak, “Poll: Santorum lead expands nationwide”, CNN