(Red Right Returning, a nautical mnemonic for the side of the buoy or marker on which to pilot a ship in order to stay in the channel, is a look back at the activity of the past week of the Republican candidates in the 2012 primary. Feel free to voice your opinions in the comment section.)
Rick Santorum bowed out of the Republican primary campaign paving the way for Mitt Romney’s eventual nomination of the GOP party’s challenge to Barack Obama for president of the United States. Sure, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul are still in the race but despite Newt’s bleating for Rick’s delegates, neither has a chance of obtaining the requisite number of delegates necessary to achieve the nomination for Republican challenger. Santorum was the last legitimate challenger. The general election begins now.
Santorum had several reasons to bow out. There was the illness with his daughter. No one can blame him for that and no one will. She takes priority. We can and should only hope that she gets better.
Next, Santorum was looking at losing in his home state to Romney. He had already been ousted from his Senate seat in Pennsylvania and polls show Romney was closing the gap. Losing in his home state would have been insulting and a career ender.
Finally, Santorum’s campaign had already shown signs of unpreparedness to take on the race for nomination. The math just wasn’t with him. He failed to place on the ballots in several states. Romney had already had practice at running from 2008. If anything, Santorum was showing signs of prepping for 2016. Same with Ron Paul: only Paul could be clearing the ground for a libertarian run for his son, Rand.
Rick Santorum may have taken one for the party. The writing was on the wall. Gingrich was just being obstinate. Ron Paul was being…well, Ron Paul. With Santorum’s exit it becomes clear that Romney is the Republican nominee. Let the games begin. The general election starts now.
(Editors note: this also possibly means the end of the Red Right Returning segment of this blog as well)
Related articles
- Rick Santorum Suspends His Presidential Campaign (washington.cbslocal.com)
- Red Right Returning…The Big Easy and the Land of Lincoln (538refugees.wordpress.com)
538 Refugees 