We Pick Rick

All eyes will be on Michigan today where Mitt Romney tries to wrest his home state from challenger Rick Santorum.  The most recent polls have the two candidates in a virtual dead heat.

Romney needs this win more than Santorum.  A loss in his home state will seriously damage his campaign and give Santorum huge momentum going into next week’s Super Tuesday contests.

For all intents and purposes Santorum has already won.  With Michigan being a proportional delegate state; Santorum’s poll numbers indicate he will be awarded a large percentage of the delegates.  Taking Romney to a statistical tie in Romney’s home state is a win for Santorum in and of itself.  But an outright win in Michigan would be huge for PR purposes.

We are rooting for Rick Santorum.  Aside from the fact that we always root for the underdog when we don’t have a dog in the fight; we have sound reasoning for throwing our support to Santorum.

Rick Santorum, more so than Mitt Romney, represents the core beliefs of the Republican Party.  His strong views on gay marriage, abortion, contraception, religion, small government, defense, education, taxes, entitlements, immigration and collective bargaining are in lockstep with the most conservative elements of his party; and offer a clear contrast with those of President Obama.

You may have noticed that we listed the social issues first.  That is because social issues play a very important part in the Republican Party play book.  There is a reason why the first bill proffered by the newly elected Republican House was an anti-abortion bill.  There is a reason why there have been more anti-abortion bills proffered in this congress than any other congress in history.  There is a reason why we are debating the use of contraceptives.  There is a reason why Republican state governments all across this country are passing laws that infringe on a woman’s right to choose.  It is because theology plays a very important role in Republican politics.  The only Republican candidate willing to defend those beliefs is Rick Santorum.

Once you get past Santorum’s views on  social issues you find a candidate who wants to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, forcibly remove the Assad regime in Syria, eliminate the department of education, reduce taxes for the top 1% earners and corporations and eliminate entitlement programs or turn them over to the states.  And for all his blue collar rhetoric; have you ever heard Santorum support the unions or collective bargaining rights?  The answer is, no.

By today's Republican standards, Rick Santorum is a true conservative.  He alone accurately embodies the true tenants of today's Republican Party.  And unlike Mitt Romney, Santorum is not afraid to express and defend his beliefs.

So lets put those beliefs to the test.  Once and for all we would like to see a "true" conservative defend his beliefs on the national stage.  We would like to see a TRUE conservative stand toe to toe with this President and defend his world view.  Let's have that debate, and then let the voters decide which ideology they prefer.   

That is why we are rooting for Rick Santorum to win Michigan and eventually become the Republican nominee.