Editorial: Santorum's issues are staying
GETTYSBURG, PA - APRIL 10: Surrounded by members of his family, Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum announces he will be suspending his campaign during a press conference at the Gettysburg Hotel on April 10, 2012 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Credit: Getty/Jeff Swensen
Rick Santorum has thrown in the towel on his quest for the Republican presidential nomination, and perhaps the epitaph for his campaign is this: Love him or hate him, you never worried that his views would change with the polls.
The race began with numerous candidates vying for the big block of Republican voters to the right of near-certain nominee Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor: Rep. Michele Bachmann, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, businessman Herman Cain and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich all tried to seize the "True Conservative" mantle, and all enjoyed a moment when it looked like they could. None of them, though, could maintain any momentum once their initial hype wore off.
Gingrich remains in the race and says he will go all the way to the convention to have a say in the party's platform. But when the party debates ended in February, his campaign lost all its steam. Texas Rep. Ron Paul also remains in the race and has attracted a small group of devotees, but his run has always been about his philosophy, not the nomination.
Santorum had more staying power than the other candidates, even though his campaign started out with less money and publicity. He connected to whole swaths of people the other candidates couldn't attract: True social conservatives who put abortion and the role of religion in public life high in their priorities; defense hawks, firm in their belief that an aggressive foreign policy is the best way to maintain peace; and the blue-collar workers who have been stung by this recession and did not believe the other candidates felt their pain.
Romney knocked out Santorum with a war chest the former Pennsylvania senator couldn't match and a message that gives him a better chance to unseat President Barack Obama. The money and the Republican establishment won, but Santorum gave voice to the concerns of a lot of Americans along the way. He likely forced Romney to hear them, too. Those concerns, and those voters, aren't going to disappear simply because Santorum's left the race.
