Many people have been captivated by some of the folksy qualities of Rick Santorum. He drives around in a pickup truck, he wears a sweater vest and just might use the word "folks" more than any candidate on record.
A lot of people find it endearing.
But, outside of his down-to-earth campaign, I can't help but ask, do his repeated costly mistakes also make him endearing?
 |
Voters have seemed willing to brush off the fact that Mr. Santorum failed to qualify for nearly a quarter of the delegates in Ohio. Mistakes which made him ineligible for those coveted delegates.
Did voters also find it endearing when Santorum's tiny campaign staff completely missed the mark in Virginia and they failed to even get his name on the ballot? Virginia, his birth state and the state where he owns a second home. Those were gimme delegates that were awarded to his rival.
Costly mistakes continue to follow him.
The next crucial contest is this Tuesday March 20th in Illinois. The polls are tightening, but it really doesn't matter too much. Santorum failed to gather enough signatures for 10 of Illinois' 18 congressional districts. This means that he will not be eligible for 10 delegates of the 54 delegates.
Even bigger mistakes?
In the coming months, there will be four winner-take-all contests, Washington DC, Delaware, New Jersey and Utah. Mr. Santorum failed to even get his name on the ballot in DC.
According to Abc News, candidates had two easy options to get their name on the DC ballot and they had until January 4th to meet the requirements. One option, collect 296 signatures and pay $5,000 fee. The other option was to completely forgo the 296 signatures and instead opt to pay a $10,000 fee.
Santorum failed completely. He did not obtain 296 signatures. He did not pay the fee. In fact, according to DC Board of Elections, the Santorum camp never even made contact with them.
The result? Santorum's name is not on the ballot in a winner-take-all state.
It should be mentioned that Mitt Romney sent his son to personally deliver the fee along with 700 signatures three weeks before the January 4th deadline. (click here to read Abc News article).
Organization. Priorities. Quality.
***
The list of missteps continues to get worse--ballot problems, continually saying inappropriate things, continually rescinding those inappropriate comments and his campaign's organization problems.
Costly mistakes. Novice missteps. Completely unprofessional organization.
Still endearing?
Are these the qualities we want for a candidate who is going to face an extremely organized, disciplined and brilliant campaigner in the general election? Furthermore, are these the qualities we want in the leader of the most powerful country in the world?
No wonder the left is salivating at the thought of facing Rick Santorum.
 |
| Carlson/AP Photo |
It is important to ask, are these mistakes evidence of an individual who just might be in over his head? In a race that is now all about delegates, these mistakes just might be catastrophic missteps.
I would argue that they should be.
***
In the meantime, Romney's name will be on every ballot. He'll continue to advocate for more jobs, smaller government and less debt. He'll continue to manage his world-class campaign, but above all, Mitt Romney will continue to rack up the endorsements from Santorum's colleagues.
(Today, Romney's campaign announced the support of Illinois House Republican Leader and the endorsement of seventeen State Representatives and one State Senator).
Organization matters.
Go Mitt!
No comments:
Post a Comment