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Thursday, Apr 1, 2010 2:15 PM UTC

Rick Santorum, a serious presidential candidate?

Former Pennsylvania senator gearing up for campaign, reportedly based on premise he was right all along

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Topics: Rick Santorum, War Room, 2012 Elections,

Rick Santorum, a serious presidential candidate?Pennsylvania Republican candidate for the US Senate Rick Santorum gestures to a supporter while conceding the race to Democratic challenger Bob Casey in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 7, 2006.

At Politics Daily today, conservative writer Matt Lewis makes an interesting argument: 

 

Rick Santorum has some high hurdles to overcome, but don’t write him off. Just as Mike Huckabee came out of nowhere to pose a credible challenge to John McCain in 2008, Santorum may also surprise in 2012.

Yes, this means Lewis thinks that the former Pennsylvania senator is a viable presidential candidate two years from now.

It’s an interesting thought exercise — and Lewis does make some good points — but probably not much more than that. Santorum has a whole lot of baggage. And, more importantly, the economy is likely to remain a major issue come 2012. If it is, someone like Santorum whose identity centers around social, not economic, conservatism is at a real disadvantage.

But Santorum and his advisors have a strategy, Lewis reports:

 

Every campaign needs a narrative — it must tell a story. This one would require creativity. My sources indicate the Santorum camp has settled on a Churchillian narrative. Essentially, it goes like this: Santorum was right all along. He was right about creeping socialism. He was right about the culture. He was right about Islamic fascism. The people didn’t appreciate him. He was a Cassandra. But now he has been vindicated.

Also, everyone’s having sex with dogs. It’s the hot new thing!

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon. More Alex Koppelman.

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