Heading into critical primaries, including the multi-state Super Tuesday contest, Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum is facing new and intense scrutiny of his socially conservative views and his adherence to his Christian faith.
The question is whether the new attention will make it easier for Santorum to win over conservative voters who believe former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is too moderate, or simply hurt his chances with the broader GOP electorate, many of whom fear his views render him unelectable.
“Since Santorum has become a more probable winner, there has just been much more scrutiny of things he has said, now and in the past,” Paul Abramson, a Michigan State University political science professor, told The Washington Examiner.
Encapsulating Santorum’s dilemma Tuesday was the Drudge Report headline, “Santorum’s Satan Warning” over a story that quoted Santorum telling students at Ave Maria University in Florida in 2008 that the devil was targeting America.
“Satan is attacking the great institutions of America, using those great vices of pride, vanity and sensuality as the root to attack all of the strong plants that have so deeply rooted in the American tradition,” Santorum told the students.
The story comes on the heels of several provocative comments Santorum made in recent days about the use of contraceptives and pre-natal testing and the parallels he drew between Hitler and the Obama administration.
On Sunday, Santorum criticized President Obama’s “phony theology,” though he later said he wasn’t questioning the president’s Christianity.
While Santorum’s remarks have drawn fire from establishment Republicans, the conservative right, including popular talk show host Rush Limbaugh, continue to defend him. But even they are cautioning Santorum to tone down his socially conservative rhetoric. Wall Street Journal columnist William McGurn on Tuesday encouraged Santorum to avoid getting drawn into exchanges that end up generating negative headlines about his conservative viewpoints.
Santorum, once one of the least-scrutinized candidates in the race, has attracted intense interest as he shot up in the polls in recent weeks after sweeping two caucuses and a primary earlier this month. In January, he won the Iowa caucuses though a faulty ballot count delayed the announcement of his victory by weeks.
A new Gallup poll shows Santorum now leading Romney nationally by 10 percentage points, 36 percent to 26 percent, with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas trailing at 14 percent and 11 percent, respectively.
And Santorum is leading Romney in Michigan, which votes along with Arizona on Feb. 28. Michigan is considered a must-win state for Romney, who was born and raised there and whose father served as governor.
Though Santorum’s socially conservative rhetoric is often seen as provocative, it is helping him with Republican primary voters, said Dan Schnur, a top campaign aide in Republican Sen. John McCain’s 2000 presidential run.
“This type of approach is a very effective way for Santorum to rally social conservatives,” said Schnur, now director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California.
But Republican strategist Ron Bonjean warned that Santorum’s tact could prove irrelevant to voters overwhelmingly focused on the economy.
“Everyone knows that Santorum is a social conservative,” Bonjean said. “But what really grabs attention are solutions to rising gas prices and other important economic issues.”
