Santorum's Southern Double

What began as a seemingly Quixotic run for the Republican nomination is not looking so hopelessly romantic tonight.  Rick Santorum has taken both the Alabama and Mississippi primaries.

In doing so, he prevailed over Mitt Romney's money in Newt Gingrich's backyard.  This, after capturing 51% of the vote in Kansas last weekend, is startling.

The man may not have money and organization, but he has traction.  Can he really win the nomination, however, over the howls of angst from Dorothy Rabinowitz (whose man is Newt Gingrich) and the Upper East Side Republican set?



For now, two things are worth pointing out.  The first is that at least one highly educated woman has happily and safely reposed her trust in him. There are probably a lot more like her in the country who would welcome a President whose primary gesture of solidarity with women wasn't to toss them free condoms.

I imagine there are a lot of women who wish they'd met a Rick Santorum, or are glad they did, and hope their daughters do, too.  I pray they speak loudly and persistently on Facebook, Twitter, etc. to baffle the media and counteract its assault on his values and person.

The second is that Rick Santorum is solidifying a momentous rapprochement that has grown throughout the abortion wars between Evangelicals, Catholics, and some mainline denominations such as southern Baptists.  This is an event of historic proportions.

The simple facts are that many if not most reasonable Americans are religious, even in big cities, and they have more to fear from unreasonable secularism than they do from a Papist putsch.  They want a seat at the table, and they appear to be lining up behind Santorum in order to claim it.

I have been thinking that Romney-Santorum makes sense because they compliment each other's electoral strengths, and compensate for each other's weaknesses.  While hoping against hope for a more conservative candidate, I have fatalistically assumed that money and media would have its way, and that Romney would prevail.

The prospect of an actual Santorum candidacy, however, liberates the mind to consider his possible running mates.  Santorum-Rubio?  Santorum-Paul--Rand, not Ron?

I like the sound of either pairing.  Personally, I think he'd be well advised to align himself with a classical-liberal-leaning VP in order to temper his mildly-Statist economic tendencies, and to ensure that he caucuses with someone closer to the upper east side perspective before pronouncing on social issues.

He wants to win over Americans' hearts and minds to what he knows to be good and true.  Beyond the dependency belt in Democratic strongholds, I don't think there's much distance between him and a majority of Americans on those scores.

A Quixotic tilt at windmills, however, won't build the enduring coalition necessary to heal the nation from decades of faulty reasoning, libidinous morals, putrid enculturation and Leftist jurisprudence.  I pray that should a Santorum candidacy materialize, God gives him the wisdom to lead his Party and campaign effectively.