Associated Press
Given all of the discouraging trends of late for Mitt Romney, why do so many continue to assume he'll win the Republican presidential nomination? Jon Chait flagged some interesting tidbits about the former governor's principal rival.
Here are some things to keep in mind when assessing Rick Santorum's chances of beating Mitt Romney. He has no pollster, no campaign headquarters, and no paid advance staff. He's currently getting outspent on television in Michigan by a ratio of 29-1.
You know the part of the campaign ad where the candidate identifies himself and says he approves this message? The completely ubiquitous feature of modern political advertising? Santorum's new ad seems to have forgotten it.
He also failed to get his name on the ballot in such states as Virginia and Indiana. Perhaps you have heard of them.
I initially thought Jon was exaggerating, and that Santorum's operation couldn't possibly be this bad, this far into the process. The description, however, is largely true -- ABC News reports that as recently as Monday morning, Santorum didn't have a national press secretary, a national headquarters, a pollster, or any paid advance staffers to ensure his campaign events run smoothly.
It's one of the reasons the former senator looked like he was telling campfire ghost stories at an event in Tacoma this week -- there was no staff to arrange quality lighting.
To be sure, voters generally don't know or care about such details, and it's hard to imagine a voter in Michigan thinking, "Well, I was going to vote for Santorum, but now that I know he doesn't have an advance staff, forget it."
But successful national campaigns need a structure to function, and at this point, it appears Santorum is just barely getting by with what can generously be described as a skeleton crew.
From the perspective of a Romney campaign supporter, I imagine there's two ways to look at this: (1) if the top GOP challenger has no meaningful organization, Romney's a shoo in for the nomination; or (2) it's mid-February, and the ostensible Republican frontrunner is losing to a guy with no staff, no pollster, and no headquarters.
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Wouldn't it be great if, instead of preparing for prime time, the Republicon, Robber Baron, Robot Candidates would prepare for :
Honoring the truth being told to Americans.
Honoring the civil rights of Americans.
Honoring religious freedom of Americans.
Honoring that opportunity be available to all Americans.
etc etc etc
Oh . . . wait . . . these things are all about honor . .. what was I thinking ?
Honor among thieves?
Honor among the Foxes watching the Hen House ?
Having covered two presidential campaigns what seems like 100 lifetimes ago and what mnust have been in a land far away, I can state from personal experience that the travelling circus is chaotic even with the best of full-time headquarters staffs and savvy advance people. Whether it is from a lack of money or an absence of organization, this deficiency in the Santorum campaign is going to catch up with him.
Two things are going to happen.
First, with his unexpected frontrunner status the news media is going to dig through every morsel from Santorum's past - the good, the bad and the ugly. Without a staff to answer, blunt or spin what gets uncovered, he will likely be hit with a succession of negative print articles and packages on network and cable news.
Second, reporters travelling with him are going to get really pissed if the lack of serious organization makes their job, which is tough to begin with, even more trying and taxing which will produce Hunter Thompson-like Fear and Loathing On The Campaign Trail coverage. All it will take is a week of cold sandwiches or soggy burgers for dinner on the charter, and a reporter who doesn't like Santorum in the first place, and the incompetence will be written about ad nauseum.
As a veteran myself I agree almost completely. I would add that reporters (yes, I am going global here with my indictment) are by nature lazy, given to complaining and interested in being number one among their peers in a never ending game of "I'm Smugger & More Jaded Than You."
Thanks for your thoughts. Some of what you say that is true, especially among reporters for national media. At the same time, NextStar, the job of travelling with a campaign is exhausting because of the unending series of early mornings, late nights, wondering how you'll get your underwear and socks washed, lousy food and constant competitive pressure. On one campaign I covered, things were so bad that if the travelling press secretary came through the curtain to the the back of the plane (where reporters were sitting), they would get pelted with food, magazines, anything that was handy, as the anger and frustration boiled over. And Dr. Thompson was sitting in the last row taking notes when he wasn't playing cards or sneaking into the toilet to smoke a joint.
Are you talking about the "No More Swill" pseudo-riot? If so we were on the same plane
OMG! We must have been on the same flight(s), dubbed "the zoo plane" by everyone who rode on it, and covering the same campaign. I'd never seen a Boeing 727 so trashed by so many people. More of that six degrees stuff people keep running into.
I guess us people on the Left should step up and help Mr Santorum and keep the circus going as has been suggested.
I would love to have him in the Presidential Debates explaining what 'Special Sex' is and why he wants to eliminate all other types.
Let's rally round and get him up there.
We could get the Girl Scouts involved. They could pitch tents , sell cookies and volunteer to be probed.
Oooo, just think of the fun of watching the Presidential debates with lil Ricky truly showing voting Americans the "14th century" style conservatism that he'll be pushing for:
No birth control, no abortions, no exceptions!
No social safety net, because why let personal security interfere with "individual liberty"!
No public education - you want your child to learn you teach them!!
Jobs hemorrhaging overseas, no problem - that's capitalism!
Iran, just bomb them - Israel needs to feel secure!!
All homosexuals, please go back into the closets!!
Wow, I'm just salivating at the thought of "defending those" principles!! I've got the popcorn!!
Let's not forget that Sanatorium promotes "fracking" when ever and where ever the corporations choose. Maybe in your back yard.
Some one needs to ask him where he stands on the XL pipeline too.
Hey I said support him, not tell the truth folks.
We wait on the truth until the fall.
I can easily see all of these (to normal people) negatives being HUGE positives to the teabagger crowd: "ooh, look! it's just a man and his mouth...a real conservative at last!"
Speaking of Michigan, this "anonymous" hate merchant hid his blog behind a firewall today. Scared, I guess, of this:
http://themoderatevoice.com/?p=138669
Even though the lighting was poor in Tacoma, the video was clear enough to view Sanatorium laughing out loud as protesters were being dragged by their feet, and then prodded with tasers before being cuffed. Could TMS show that clip?
Wow. I'd bet he doesn't even have a guy to steady his chair!
....So I read this and it immediately reminded me of the 2008 election, in that Obama was effectively the CEO of a massive, efficient (and ultimately successful) campaign organization, and that that was a good insight as to how effective he would be as an executive. Obviously, when compared to Obama's organization, Santorum is an amateur who can't hold a candle....
...and then that got me thinking about the whole "experience" thing. Obama was - if you bothered to listen to the right - the most inexperienced candidate EVAR before he went into politics (because community organizers are just a bunch of weed-smokin' hippie/communists or something) and that was proof he couldn't be a good president.
Sooooo....I took a look at Li'l Ricky's background and found that, between the time he graduated college and the time he entered politics, he "was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar and practiced law for four years at the Pittsburgh law firm Kirkpatrick & Lockhart" where his big gest success was "as an associate, he successfully lobbied on behalf of the World Wrestling Federation to deregulate professional wrestling, arguing that it should be exempt from federal anabolic steroid regulations because it was entertainment, not a sport."
Now, even if you completely dismiss Obama's work as a community organizer (which I wouldn't, because that would be stupid), it looks like Obama still spent more time in private, non-elected jobs than Santorum.
So why isn't Santorum, especially in light of his obviously poor campaign management skills, being criticized from the right for being too inexperienced? It's almost like there's a double standard at work here.....
Absolutely right. And where did Ricky's wealth come from, we should ask. He has tons of children, I don't think his wife works, he lives in very nice house from pictures I've seen. Do you think it got it on a government salary? Horse laugh now.
Plus your rundown of Obama's job experience reminds me of how false the firebagger left is in calling the president a corporatist.
Rick was a lobbyist again, after being overwhelmingly defeated in his reelection bid. So a bunch of money came from that stint, too.
I don't think much of Santorum or Romney, but I find it interesting that without a staff and lots of money Santorum can be a big challenge. I hope he makes it for it will show that you can win without big money on your side. Maybe the Presidency won't be bought after all.
Rick Santorum doesn't need those petty, worldly things like money and organization! He has GOD whispering into his ear telling him he is his political representative on Earth and giving him a new set of commandments:
1. Thou Shalt Oppress Women
2. Thou Shalt Oppress Gays
3. Thou Shalt Wear unattractive sweater vests that make you look like a human bowling pin
4. Thou shalt not pay attention to pesky things such as facts
5. Thou shalt ignore science
6. Thou shalt spew stupid every time you open your mouth
7. Thou Shalt NOT show respect for anyone but Straight White Christian Males who believe exactly as you do.
8. Thou Shalt put your foot in your mouth at least once a day
9. Thou Shalt NOT Think
10. Thou shalt raise your eyes to Heaven and become the leader of the Republican Taliban.
I think that about covers it.
Don't forget, Thou Shalt Engage Only in Special Sex.
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/02/15/rick-santorum-wants-you-to-have-only-special-sex-video/
I'm so thoroughly done with the arrogant, self-righteous, religious *sshole male types who think they're God's spokesmen for humanity, who get to define "divinity" and consecrate it to themselves and their sheeples who mindlessly obey, while dehumanizing and shunning if not outright destroying those who choose otherwise. This reeks of control, ritual, hierarchy, and the sort of stiffness which leads to impotence, ironically, and also happens to be the perfect substrate for major flare-up's of their insidious reptilian little brains, superseding conscious thought and sentience. Seriously, tippy-toeing around religion has got to go. These people are so dangerous and filthy and bad for liberty, freedom, truth, justice and just plain living according to one's conscience ... which, ironically, develops most proficiently under free and critical thinking, aligned with experience and intuition, alchemized by soul reflection. NOT G-DMN PATRI-F*CK-ARCHAL DOMINION. ! When will these nasty little piggies put their sh*thole dicks back in their magic underpanties?!
Wouldn't it be great if ALL political campaigns had this little money and organization. Maybe they would all have to concentrate on issues that they believe are important to their prospective constituents instead of a barrage of expensive ads that say NOTHING.
Rick "Frothy the Snowjob" Santorum is the creepiest of creepy politicians and his positions are even worse. But he gets his message out, and the voters decide. What he got, he earned.
Brooklyn Michael...ya think???
Keep in mind that for the radical right, all that matters is that Rick Santorum thinks and says all the right things. Ideology trumps everything else. They will vote for him on that alone. So if nothing else goes right in his campaign, if he says nothing right about the issues that matter to the rest of us, it doesn't matter - because he has the ideology right. All those debates weren't about the issues, they were about finding the guy with the right ideological sound bites, and it's Rick Santorum.
"Santorum communications director Hogan Gidley emails to say the version sent to TV stations has the proper disclaimer."
So, holding true to form, the Santorum campaign maintains its piety and throws the TV stations under the bus. As if we're supposed to believe that the TV stations edited the disclaimer out before running the ads? Unbelievable.
Just goes to show, even true Republicans will support a stead-fast underdog instead of an unliked shoe-in.
If Santorum can snatch Michigan and few other big states, it may send Romney's campaign into a death spiral. Establishment Republicans will lose control of the national campaign if Romney gets knocked out and Santorum wins the nomination. This would also affect which candidates will get a lot of financial support from the establishment Republicans. The only way out of this mess would be a brokered convention.
Santorum and his preaching of morals and integrity and values belongs in the pulpit
not the Oval Office. If he is elected President he will spend his time trying to convert the country to his over the top radial beliefs.
The way he talks, he has real hangups about sex. Maybe, at one time he was some priest's special altar boy.
The chances of Santorum actually being elected president are roughly the same as me winning the Lottery.
Hmmm - maybe I should stop buying tickets until after the election.