3 Ways Rick Santorum Hurt Mitt Romney’s Chance at the Presidency
Rick Santorum announced this afternoon in Gettysburg, Penn., that he is suspending his campaigning — effectively leaving the race (suspension allows him to continue to raise money to pay off debts). Giving his announcement near the site of the pivotal battlefield was perhaps appropriate: Santorum’s bid for the nomination was always a long shot. Disdained by the smart money, he was able to plug along under the radar, peak at exactly the right moment, and drag the race out — only to be ultimately defeated by the better-funded opponent who everyone expected to win at the outset.
His withdrawal from active combat is just the latest sign of the near-certainty of Mitt Romney’s nomination as the Republican presidential standard bearer. (While Santorum’s exit leaves Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul in the race, neither has a serious chance at overcoming Romney.) That will save the former Massachusetts governor millions of dollars and millions of joules of energy contesting the Pennsylvania primary on April 24 and beyond. But Santorum’s three-month charge has left a deep impression on the race, and will likely make Mitt Romney’s road to November much tougher. Here’s how Santorum weakened the GOP front-runner.
1. He has pulled Romney to the right on key issues. Romney’s challenge has always been to convince the right wing of his party he is conservative enough without moving too far to the right and endangering his standing with swing voters in the general election. Santorum, a social (if not necessarily small-government) conservative of unimpeachable credentials, has made that much harder. Romney’s latest tax plan, for example, closely resembles a conservative plan previously released by Santorum. It’s been a similar story on a range of issues. But perhaps the most dangerous topic to have been pulled to the right on is contraception and women’s issues, which have become a flashpoint in the race. Santorum’s strict views forced the formerly pro-choice Romney to take stronger stands. Even with Santorum fading in recent weeks, those views have stuck to Romney, and he now trails President Obama among women by as much as 19 percent.