In the wake of the South Carolina primary, it’s looking more and more like a two-man race for the nomination between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. But in theory, there’s an opening for Rick Santorum. After all, he can now claim victory in Iowa, meaning he has won just as many states as Romney or Gingrich. And he also has a case to make that he’s been a more consistent conservative than either of them. But the biggest obstacle to Santorum finding a seam between Romney and Gingrich is Ron Paul.
Santorum’s big problem is that he lacks money or resources to match his rivals nationally. And he won’t be able to win a big state like Florida with the sort of personal, retail campaigning that won him Iowa. So his big chance to make a splash is in debates. Last Thursday, he had a strong debate and was able to land some punches on both Gingrich and Romney from the right. If it were just the three of them debating tonight and Thursday, Santorum might have a chance to make some real headway. The problem for Santorum is that whenever he’s been on a roll in recent debates, Paul has been there to point out the areas in which he’s embraced big government Republicanism. Though many conservatives have strong reservations about Paul’s foreign policy decisions, they do generall trust him when it comes to fiscal and economic matters. Time and again, Paul has put Santorum on the defensive over his spending record.
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Though Paul isn’t really competing in Florida, he will be in this week’s debates tonight and on Thursday to make life more difficult for Santorum.
