Rick Santorum’s waning star has been as quick as his meteoric rise on the national scene. At the beginning of the Republican primary season, Santorum was just another presidential hopeful of middling status within his party’s establishment and of little note to the nation as a whole. Dwarfed by a political season that has been dominated by two other frontrunners, Mitt Romney and, for a time, Newt Gingrich, Santorum failed to make a splash until recently. Yet, his perplexing performance on the national stage has been the nail in the coffin for his campaign.
From a purely logical perspective, Santorum doesn’t have a chance. In the world of presidential primaries, delegate numbers are the final word on a campaign’s viability. Santorum does not have nearly enough delegates to clinch his parties nomination. Nor does he come close enough to justify a brokered convention, in which delegates could switch sides in order to give one candidate a clear majority. Nor does it seem likely that he will miraculously overcome Romney in the coming primaries. Even among the voting block to whom Santorum is closest, Roman Catholics, he trails Romney significantly in popularity.
Santorum’s challenging remarks have certainly not made his case any easier. The way Santorum has done this well in the race is by appealing to those Republican voters who believe that Romney does not truly share their conservative values. Yet, a significant portion of deeply conservative Americans no longer think that Santorum’s campaign is on track. Positions like Santorum’s public rejection of the separation of church and state bother Americans who, while deeply religious, recognize America as a country that must continue to respect people of all faiths.
Although he started his campaign with serious economic proposals, Santorum’s focus on America’s economic ailments has been derailed by pandering to the far-right of his party. In contrast, Romney has succesfully defined himself as an accomplished businessman. Criticisms of “radical feminists” and same-sex couples are not necessarily effective attacks when unemployment remains the most serious problem for many voters. Furthermore, his outbursts of anger detract from his claims of leadership credentials. Far from helping him, vitriolic language towards reporters tends to strike a negative contrast between himself and the reserved cool of “no drama Obama.”
In a heated political climate, Santorum has begun to appeal to the spirit of anger far more than the spirit of progress that most Americans share.
