New York Times columnist David Brooks, who is certainly more centrist than Rick Santorum, nonetheless sees the former Pennsylvania senator as the only candidate in the GOP field who can appeal to Republican voters of modest means who lack a college degree.
This wide sector of the GOP base could help Santorum in today’s Iowa caucuses and could give him a lift as he hopes to keep going well beyond Iowa, according to Brooks.
Photo: Josh Haner/The New York Times
Here’s a portion of the column:
“Santorum is the grandson of a coal miner and the son of an Italian immigrant. For years, he represented the steel towns of western Pennsylvania (in Congress). He has spent the last year scorned by the news media — working relentlessly, riding around in a pickup truck to more than 370 towns. He tells that story of hard work and elite disrespect with great fervor at his meetings.
“His worldview is not individualistic. His book, ‘It Takes a Family,’ was infused with the conservative wing of Catholic social teaching. It was a broadside against Barry Goldwater-style conservatism in favor of one that emphasized family and social solidarity. While in Congress, he was a leader in nearly every serious piece of antipoverty legislation. On the stump, he cries, ‘The left has a religion, too. It’s just not based on the Bible. It’s based on the religion of self.’
“… He is not a representative of the corporate or financial wing of the party. Santorum certainly wants to reduce government spending (faster even than Representative Paul Ryan). He certainly wants tax reform. But he goes out of his way in his speeches to pick fights with the “supply-siders.” He scorns the Wall Street bailouts. His economic arguments are couched as values arguments: If you want to enhance long-term competitiveness, you need to strengthen families. If companies want productive workers, they need to be embedded in wholesome communities.”
You can read the entire piece here.
