Is Rick Santorum too angry to be elected president?
Does Rick Santorum seem too angry to be elected president of the United States?
We ask this question because it draws together some criticisms of the ex-Pennsylvania senator that have been pinging around the conservative blogosphere in recent days.
It鈥檚 a political truism that Americans like their presidential candidates, and their presidents, to be optimistic, even sunny. Think Ronald Reagan, or Bill Clinton when he wasn鈥檛 answering questions dealing with impeachment.
But in recent weeks, as he talks about his beliefs on issues from economics to the needs of families, this is not always how Mr. Santorum has come across. In recent days Santorum and his aides have been grumbling that Mitt Romney and Ron Paul conspired against him in Wednesday鈥檚 CNN debate, for instance.
鈥淪antorum already has a reputation for being thin-skinned and peevish,鈥� wrote conservative blogger Jennifer Rubin today on her Right Turn blog in The Washington Post. 鈥淭his tactic certainly [makes] him seem like a poor sport.鈥�
Of course, the GOP race as a whole has not been distinguished by its cheerfulness. That鈥檚 what former Florida Governor and brother-of-W Jeb Bush was getting at Thursday night when he said he finds it 鈥渢roubling鈥� that the Republican candidates are 鈥渁ppealing to people鈥檚 fears and emotions.鈥�
According to , answering questions following a speech in Dallas, Jeb Bush said 鈥淚 used to be a conservative, and I watch these debates and I鈥檓 wondering, I don鈥檛 think I鈥檝e changed, but it鈥檚 a little troubling sometimes when people are appealing to people鈥檚 fears and emotion rather than trying to get them to look over the horizon for a broader perspective.... I think it changes when we get to the general election. I hope.鈥�
Plus, many Republicans feel strongly about ousting President Obama, and are responding to rhetoric that they consider rousing. Thus in his speech to the Maricopa County Lincoln Day lunch last week, Santorum ended with the tough words, 鈥淚t is your honor at stake. Will you be the generation that lets the flame go out? Will you be the generation that succumbs to the siren song that government can do for you" what you can do for yourself?
Maricopa County Republicans gave Santorum a standing ovation for this call. But as Kimberly Strassel writes today in editorial page, US presidential elections are not won by political party bases. They are won at the margins of the electorate, by winning over swing voters. And right now, those margins are not thrilled about the seeming willingness of social conservatives to impose their views of morality on the nation.
This is 鈥渁 trend that Mr. Santorum would seem to highlight,鈥� writes Ms. Strassel in her piece, which is headlined 鈥淢oralizer in Chief?鈥�
Santorum is a man of evident deep faith who speaks often of the need to revitalize religious institutions and families. Yet he鈥檚 also 鈥渓eft many Americans with the impression that he believes it is his job as president to revitalize these institutions,鈥� according to Strassel, who adds that Santorum needs to find 鈥渁 less judgmental way of discussing social issues.鈥�
That said, not everyone agrees Santorum seems more of a scold than others in the GOP field. At an on Tuesday, AEI scholar Henry Olsen said, 鈥淪antorum, despite his lapses into moralism, is somebody who presents a sunnier personality than Newt Gingrich, a more consistent personality than Newt Gingrich, is somebody who is clearly intelligent and conversant with the issues, unlike Gov. Rick Perry, and is somebody who is not prone to demagogic bombast as are some of the other candidates.鈥�
