Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
Paul A. Rahe ·
February 15, 2012 at 7:39pm
Anyone inclined to be misled by the Romney advertisement posted by Troy Senik below should read the article Was Santorum a Senate Spendthrift? posted by Jeffrey Anderson and Andy Wickersham on the website of The Weekly Standard. It turns out that the National Taxpayers Union -- no friend to big spenders -- consistently gave Rick Santorum higher grades than almost any other Republican Senator.
Santorum has his weaknesses. But in this particular he is unassailable. What will the Romney people do next? Accuse him of having committed nepotism with his own sister?
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Comments:
Dec '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
Stuart, et al, the very last thing we (the GOP) need(s) right now is a debate on social issues. Santorum keeps feeding right into this trap. Gheesh.
Apr '11
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
wmartin
katievs
I think he'll surprise you there. A lot of "normal Americans" are quietly appalled about how far we have gone into the swamp, culturally. They know it's not good. They'll respond to his common sense linking of fiscal soundness with family values. ·
Oh, they'll "respond", all right. They'll respond, and Rick Santorum will be crushed by a gender gap heretofore unimagined in national elections. ·
At the moment, Santorum gets pretty equal gender support. Mitt gets more women, Newt has the gender balance of an all male choir. There's a lot of pro-life women out there, and Santorum has had moments of brilliance in fighting the fight. It's true that the women in combat thing, laundered through Saturday night comics, People Magazine, and the other ways people get their news, is probably unhelpful, but the split won't be all that bad. An unattractive female VP would help.
Jul '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
katievs
wmartin
katievs
I think he'll surprise you there. A lot of "normal Americans" are quietly appalled about how far we have gone into the swamp, culturally. They know it's not good. They'll respond to his common sense linking of fiscal soundness with family values. · 1 minute ago
Oh, they'll "respond", all right. They'll respond, and Rick Santorum will be crushed by a gender gap heretofore unimagined in national elections. · 6 minutes ago
It's a conceit of the left that women are against Santorum. Lots of us like men who faithfully love their wives, who love children, who care about moral values, who think life is precious and gift from God, who don't want to see women objectified and children sexualized.
All the more if that man comes across as serious, competent, decent, and smart.
Agreed Katie.
But surely this description fits Mitt also.
Dec '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
There's a lot of pro-life women out there, and Santorum has had moments of brilliance in fighting the fight. It's true that the women in combat thing, laundered through Saturday night comics, People Magazine, and the other ways people get their news, is probably unhelpful, but the split won't be all that bad.
I can't buy into this. Most women I know are utterly appalled at Santorum. They are also not buying into the latest Catholic Church vs. birth control availability controversy. Most believe their birth control rights are under assault.
Dec '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
It's a conceit of the left that women are against Santorum. Lots of us like men who faithfully love their wives, who love children, who care about moral values, who think life is precious and gift from God, who don't want to see women objectified and children sexualized.
All the more if that man comes across as serious, competent, decent, and smart.
It's not a conceit of the left!! The "lots of us" you describe are NOT the majority of voters, sad to say. Plus, many women voters in this country see Obama as "serious, competent, decent and smart."
Apr '11
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
Palaeologus
The fact that Santorum was a better than average Republican Senator (top quarter/quintile or so)ca 1995-2006 on the issue is a useful, but hardly dispositive, data point.
While the NTU gives no details on how it arrives at its score (the objective part of the score is terrible for him), the Club For Growth has a study with more discussion.
eg.: "In the 2003-2004 session of Congress, Santorum sponsored or cosponsored 51 bills to increase spending, and failed to sponsor or co-sponsor even one spending cut proposal. In his last Congress (2005-2006), he had one of the biggest spending agendas of any Republican -- sponsoring more spending increases than Republicans Lisa Murkowski, Lincoln Chafee and Thad Cochran or Democrats Herb Kohl, Evan Bayh and Ron Wyden."
I hear that's the arch conservative Lincoln Chafee.
Apr '11
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
James Of England
wmartin
katievs
At the moment, Santorum gets pretty equal gender support. Mitt gets more women, Newt has the gender balance of an all male choir. There's a lot of pro-life women out there, and Santorum has had moments of brilliance in fighting the fight. It's true that the women in combat thing, laundered through Saturday night comics, People Magazine, and the other ways people get their news, is probably unhelpful, but the split won't be all that bad. An unattractive female VP would help. · 3 minutes ago
I know they're about equal at the moment. This is a Republican primary, after all. Right now, Obama is winning 52% of white women; I can't imagine that would be less than 56%ish once his comments on "the dangers of contraception" and various other things that have already been rehashed here again and again become more widely known.
Jul '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
BKelley14:There's a lot of pro-life women out there, and Santorum has had moments of brilliance in fighting the fight. It's true that the women in combat thing, laundered through Saturday night comics, People Magazine, and the other ways people get their news, is probably unhelpful, but the split won't be all that bad.
I can't buy into this. Most women I know are utterly appalled at Santorum. They are also not buying into the latest Catholic Church vs. birth control availability controversy. Most believe their birth control rights are under assault. · 1 minute ago
Come now.
Once we're speaking with a single voice, even the world's biggest stumblebum can communicate that there is a great difference between restricting access to the pill, and federally mandating that all employers must cover it without a co-pay.
Apr '11
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
BKelley14:There's a lot of pro-life women out there, and Santorum has had moments of brilliance in fighting the fight. It's true that the women in combat thing, laundered through Saturday night comics, People Magazine, and the other ways people get their news, is probably unhelpful, but the split won't be all that bad.
I can't buy into this. Most women I know are utterly appalled at Santorum. They are also not buying into the latest Catholic Church vs. birth control availability controversy. Most believe their birth control rights are under assault. · 4 minutes ago
My experience is the same, although somewhat better on the HHS Mandate, but I expect that the polling companies have more representative samples than we do.
I'm entertained, incidentally, by the latest form that mandate support has taken, at least in the Dem fundraising emails I get. "Your boss shouldn't decide what kind of health care you use. That's just wrong." The only truly free way to live is to have the government make your choices! Without universal slavery, we will never have universal freedom!
Nov '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
wmartin
katievs
Oh, they'll "respond", all right. They'll respond, and Rick Santorum will be crushed by a gender gap heretofore unimagined in national elections. · 19 minutes ago
Right. The general electorate is really liberal on social issues. I mean, look at California, known as one of the most socially conservative states around (ahem), yet even there gay marriage was supported overwhelmingly by the electorate when they put it to the vote. Right? Or maybe not so much.
Apr '11
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
wmartin
James Of England
wmartin
katievs
At the moment, Santorum gets pretty equal gender support. Mitt gets more women, Newt has the gender balance of an all male choir. There's a lot of pro-life women out there, and Santorum has had moments of brilliance in fighting the fight. It's true that the women in combat thing, laundered through Saturday night comics, People Magazine, and the other ways people get their news, is probably unhelpful, but the split won't be all that bad. An unattractive female VP would help. ·
I know they're about equal at the moment. This is a Republican primary, after all. Right now, Obama is winning 52% of white women; I can't imagine that would be less than 56%ish once his comments on "the dangers of contraception" and various other things that have already been rehashed here again and again become more widely known. ·
Man, there's just no way to write about "how women think" without feeling like a neanderthal. Anyway, I agree that it will mobilize a lot of 'em, but I think that the church will mobilize a lot against. Women are much more involved in churches.
May '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
And he keeps rising in the polls. Odd.
Dec '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
As several other commenters here have said, some of us feel that social issues are in fact a far better battleground to fight on than narrowly-defined economic issues, especially because the jobless rate may be on an improving trend over the next eight months and Obama will be able to argue that to a draw. Certainly the Republicans in Congress aren't being very helpful in drawing a hard line on the issues of deficit spending and the debt.
May '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
BKelley14:There's a lot of pro-life women out there, and Santorum has had moments of brilliance in fighting the fight. It's true that the women in combat thing, laundered through Saturday night comics, People Magazine, and the other ways people get their news, is probably unhelpful, but the split won't be all that bad.
I can't buy into this. Most women I know are utterly appalled at Santorum. They are also not buying into the latest Catholic Church vs. birth control availability controversy. Most believe their birth control rights are under assault. · 12 minutes ago
Sounds like you hang around stupid women. "Birth control rights under assault" because some employers don't want to be forced to pay for them?
Virtually all the women in my life love Santorum.
Nov '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
BKelley14:
I can't buy into this. Most women I know are utterly appalled at Santorum. They are also not buying into the latest Catholic Church vs. birth control availability controversy. Most believe their birth control rights are under assault. · 11 minutes ago
Same for the women I know. This only goes to show that you and I both live in a blue bubble. Most of the women I know would have overwhelmingly voted for gay marriage when it was on the ballot in California. We know women who are not representative of the majority of Americans. Or, to put it in statistical terms, our (relatively small) samples are not very generalizable.
By the way, in at least one Michigan poll discussed here on Ricochet showed no gender gap among Santorum voters.
Dec '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
katievs
And he keeps rising in the polls. Odd. · 8 minutes ago
What polls? Not the general election polls.
Apr '11
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
Lucy Pevensie
wmartin
katievs
Oh, they'll "respond", all right. They'll respond, and Rick Santorum will be crushed by a gender gap heretofore unimagined in national elections. · 19 minutes ago
Right. The general electorate is really liberal on social issues. I mean, look at California, known as one of the most socially conservative states around (ahem), yet even there gay marriage was supported overwhelmingly by the electorate when they put it to the vote. Right? Or maybe not so much. · 8 minutes ago
If only whites and Asians had voted in 2008 , gay marriage would be legal in California due to the ballot box, and there would have been no controversial court cases. It is illegal due to demographic groups that are otherwise not in play for us.
Edited on February 16, 2012 at 3:56amJul '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
katievs
And he keeps rising in the polls. Odd. · 3 minutes ago
As Yoda said to Luke: Remember your failure at the Cain!
I know it wasn't your failure Katie, and that Cain's rise wasn't about social issues.
But I couldn't resist, and those polls might not last.
Dec '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
James Of England
Palaeologus
The fact that Santorum was a better than average Republican Senator (top quarter/quintile or so)ca 1995-2006 on the issue is a useful, but hardly dispositive, data point.
While the NTU gives no details on how it arrives at its score (the objective part of the score is terrible for him), the Club For Growth has a study with more discussion.
eg.: "In the 2003-2004 session of Congress, Santorum sponsored or cosponsored 51 bills to increase spending, and failed to sponsor or co-sponsor even one spending cut proposal. In his last Congress (2005-2006), he had one of the biggest spending agendas of any Republican -- sponsoring more spending increases than Republicans Lisa Murkowski, Lincoln Chafee and Thad Cochran or Democrats Herb Kohl, Evan Bayh and Ron Wyden."
I hear that's the arch conservative Lincoln Chafee. · 16 minutes ago
So the Club for Growth is an authority on the candidates' economic plans and their credibility with respect to those plans?
Dec '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
Palaeologus
katievs
And he keeps rising in the polls. Odd. · 3 minutes ago
As Yoda said to Luke:Remember your failure at the Cain!
I know it wasn't your failure Katie, and that Cain's rise wasn't about social issues.
But I couldn't resist, and those polls might not last. · 0 minutes ago
As Romney's poll leads have not.
He may mount a comeback. Or he may fall further behind.