Posted by
Republican Majority 2008 on Sunday, June 24, 2007 11:05:07 PM
By Jonathan Tallman
At first glance, the idea of seeing the title vice president in front of former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum's name, seems like some far-right conservative's pipe dream. Any intelligent political advisor working for one of the Republican candidates for president may want to keep his name on the short-list of possible running mates, assuming that their candidate wins the Republican Nomination.
Senator Santorum lost his seat in the Senate to Bob Casey in the 2006 Election. Santorum only managed to garner 41% of the vote. The Senator left after two terms with many controversies following behind. For a presidential candidate, Santorum's previous statements and this humiliating defeat in 2006, would be sure to crush any hope of being president. Controversy does not keep nominees' running mates from becoming vice president, however.
Vice President Dick Cheney had quite a past when then Governor George W. Bush chose him to be his running mate in 2000. Cheney was a career politician and a former CEO of an "oily" company that brought in millions for the former congressman/chief of staff/secretary of defense. Was it a a risky move for Governor Bush to choose somebody with such a controversial past? Absolutely not, Americans don't vote for the bottom of the ticket, they vote solely for who is at the top of the ticket.
This is the reason Senator Santorum could possibly become vice president, assuming that a Republican wins the White House in 2008.
Senator Santorum's support among conservatives is astounding. Any candidate who is not considered "conservative enough" for the right-wing of the party, should look to Senator Santorum as the cure. Having him on the ticket wouldn't hurt the Republican presidential candidate with the average American voter, but it certainly would make conservatives happy knowing that there is a conservative Republican who is within earshot of the new president.
Three candidates stand out most to conservatives as traitors to the party; former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, and Senator John McCain. All three have questionable pasts in the eyes of the far-right of the party. That is why, with Senator Santorum on the ticket, they could garner many more votes from the most enthusiastic Christian conservatives.
The question will obviously be raised, will Senator Rick Santorum accept such an offer should it arise? Recently after his defeat, he said his wife would kill him if he ran for president, but nothing was ever said about being a running mate to a presidential nominee.
Santorum recently said that the only Republican that he could not support for president would be Senator McCain. If he were to be offered the position, however, his point of thinking may change. After all, Santorum has been a man for the Republican Party for some time now, and I doubt that he would risk Republicans losing the White House if he knew he could do something to prevent it.