Combined, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich have twice as much support
among Republicans as does Mitt Romney (Scott Audette/Reuters)
Headline of Mitt Romney
press release:
IF YOU LIKED NEWT GINGRICH, WAIT 'TIL YOU GET TO KNOW RICK SANTORUM
Sorry about the caps lock. That was their call, not mine. Anyway, the first thing that occurred to me when I saw that headline was that maybe the Romney campaign shouldn't be so cavalier about assuming why people liked Newt Gingrich. Obviously, their hope is that they can destroy Rick Santorum just like they destroyed Newt Gingrich, but the thing that they appear to be forgetting is that a big part of the reason Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich have done well in the polls is because
people do not like Mitt Romney.
Combined, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have 50 percent of the GOP primary vote in the latest Gallup poll. Romney has just 26 percent. The last time the Not Romneys had that much combined support was between Dec. 5 and Dec. 9, and back then there were four different Not Romneys to choose from!
So while Romney can claim credit for nuking Newt Gingrich, the beneficiary of his barrage was Rick Santorum. Now Romney's hoping that slamming Santorum will benefit Romney, but that's a big assumption—assuming that he can slam Santorum as easily as he nuked Newt. Based on Romney's press release, I'm convinced he can sell the case he's trying to make.
Here are four key attacks leveled by Romney:
- "Speaker Gingrich And Congressman/Senator Santorum Are Career Politicians:" True, but thanks to the fact that Rick Santorum was never a high-profile leader like Newt Gingrich, people don't think of Santorum as being the same kind of insider as Gingrich. Moreover, Mitt Romney first ran for U.S. Senate in the same year that Rick Santorum did. The difference: Mitt Romney lost, Rick Santorum won, so Romney wanted the same career in politics that Santorum had. And being a bigger loser than Santorum isn't a great defense.
- "Speaker Gingrich And Congressman/Senator Santorum Were Pushed Out Of Office By Those Who Knew Them Best:" Again, true story. But the only reason Mitt Romney can't say the same is that he's never tried to run for reelection. Sure, he probably would have gotten pasted in 2006, but didn't even try. And outside of his gubernatorial election, every time he's run for office before, he's lost.
- "Speaker Gingrich And Congressman/Senator Santorum Moved To Washington, D.C. And Never Left:" Again, Romney is basically correct. On the other hand, 2012 is the third time Romney has tried to move to D.C. (as did his father before him), and the first two times, the voters said no.
- "Speaker Gingrich And Congressman/Senator Santorum Failed To Qualify For The Primary Ballot In Their New Home State Of Virginia:" Republicans might find this to be the most persuasive argument, because Romney is basically accusing his rivals of incompetence, which is probably a fair accusation to make in this case, despite Virginia's idiotic rules. But this kind of argument is probably best made by third parties, given that Romney is basically celebrating the fact that Virginians won't have the opportunity to vote for anyone but Ron Paul or himself.
In the end, Mitt Romney's biggest problem isn't that Rick Santorum isn't Newt Gingrich, however. His biggest problem is that he's Mitt Romney.