New Gallup polling shows the clearest picture yet of the great divide in the Republican Party that has been pushing Rick Santorum to the head of the class.
Behind Santorums eight point national lead over Romney is a yawing gap in ideological support for the two candidates.
Conservative support for Santorum stands at 42 percent compared to 24 percent for Romney. Among those who attend church frequently support for Santorum is at 44 percent and for Romney 22 percent.
In the nations heartland in the Midwest and South Santorum leads by 19 and 8 points respectively. It is only on the more liberal East and West coasts where the two are running neck and neck.
The poll also challenges conventional wisdom that Santorum is too conservative for the tastes of independent voters. He is leading Romney among Republican leaning independents by 8 points.
With Santorum establishing himself as the candidate of choice among conservative and church going Republicans Romneys tactic manifest in the debate in Arizona is to try and discredit Santorums credentials that is drawing conservative voters to him.
Having served two full terms in the U.S. Senate there are enough party line votes on Santorums part to expose him to the attacks he got in Arizona as being a business-as-usual party politician.
I dont believe this approach will dissuade those generally attracted to Santorums traditional values conservatism.
Even in the case of the most ideologically disposed candidate politics will always be the art of the possible. Particularly in a nation as big and complex as ours.
Consider for instance that the Supreme Court has recently agreed to hear a challenge to racial preferences in college admissions policies at the University of Texas. There is a good chance that the court decision will overturn the Grutter v Bollinger decision of 2003 in which racial preferences were upheld.
That decision arguing that the nation needed to continue racial preferences in college admissions was written by Sandra Day OConnor who was President Reagans first Supreme Court appointment.
Given Reagans legacy as conservative hero it is hard to believe that his first Supreme Court appointment was a pro-choice moderate.
It is also worth recalling that shortly into his first term Reagan convened a commission under the leadership of Alan Greenspan to fix Social Security. Rather than proposing bold changes in the structure of Social Security the commission simply slapped temporary patches on a broken system raising taxes and cutting benefits. By avoiding addressing the core structural problems of the system the Greenspan commission allowed the problem to get worse and bequeathed to us today an even more difficult challenge to confront.
Do the Sandra Day OConnor appointment and the Greenspan Commission challenge Reagans legacy as a great conservative leader?
Certainly not. Leadership is art. Even the most principled leaders must set priorities and choose which battles to fight. It is impossible to do it all.
A leader must identify the biggest most immediate challenges and where compromises are unthinkable.
In the case of Reagan this was cutting taxes shrinking government and taking a hard stand internationally against communism and the Soviet Union.
The most immediate challenge for our nation today is understanding that our hobbled economy reflects erosion of the cultural pillars that make possible a free society.
When Reagan became president 18 percent of American babies were born to unwed mothers. This has grown today to over 40 percent.
The way to stop runaway government today is to understand that it reflects the collapse of the core values which define personal responsibility and form the glue that keeps American families intact.
There is no candidate today clearer on this than Santorum. Its why I think despite the expected onslaught of attacks he will not only not lose his attractiveness among conservative voters but the attraction will strengthen.
Star Parker is founder and president of CURE the Center for Urban Renewal and Education a 501c3 think tank which explores and promotes market based public policy to fight poverty as well as author of the newly revised Uncle Sams Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves Americas Poor and What We Can do About It.
New Gallup polling shows the clearest picture yet of the great divide in the Republican Party that has been pushing Rick Santorum to the head of the class.
Behind Santorums eight point national lead over Romney is a yawing gap in ideological support for the two candidates.
Conservative support for Santorum stands at 42 percent compared to 24 percent for Romney. Among those who attend church frequently support for Santorum is at 44 percent and for Romney 22 percent.
In the nations heartland in the Midwest and South Santorum leads by 19 and 8 points respectively. It is only on the more liberal East and West coasts where the two are running neck and neck.
The poll also challenges conventional wisdom that Santorum is too conservative for the tastes of independent voters. He is leading Romney among Republican leaning independents by 8 points.
With Santorum establishing himself as the candidate of choice among conservative and church going Republicans Romneys tactic manifest in the debate in Arizona is to try and discredit Santorums credentials that is drawing conservative voters to him.
Having served two full terms in the U.S. Senate there are enough party line votes on Santorums part to expose him to the attacks he got in Arizona as being a business-as-usual party politician.
I dont believe this approach will dissuade those generally attracted to Santorums traditional values conservatism.
Even in the case of the most ideologically disposed candidate politics will always be the art of the possible. Particularly in a nation as big and complex as ours.
Consider for instance that the Supreme Court has recently agreed to hear a challenge to racial preferences in college admissions policies at the University of Texas. There is a good chance that the court decision will overturn the Grutter v Bollinger decision of 2003 in which racial preferences were upheld.
That decision arguing that the nation needed to continue racial preferences in college admissions was written by Sandra Day OConnor who was President Reagans first Supreme Court appointment.
Given Reagans legacy as conservative hero it is hard to believe that his first Supreme Court appointment was a pro-choice moderate.
It is also worth recalling that shortly into his first term Reagan convened a commission under the leadership of Alan Greenspan to fix Social Security. Rather than proposing bold changes in the structure of Social Security the commission simply slapped temporary patches on a broken system raising taxes and cutting benefits. By avoiding addressing the core structural problems of the system the Greenspan commission allowed the problem to get worse and bequeathed to us today an even more difficult challenge to confront.
Do the Sandra Day OConnor appointment and the Greenspan Commission challenge Reagans legacy as a great conservative leader?
Certainly not. Leadership is art. Even the most principled leaders must set priorities and choose which battles to fight. It is impossible to do it all.
A leader must identify the biggest most immediate challenges and where compromises are unthinkable.
In the case of Reagan this was cutting taxes shrinking government and taking a hard stand internationally against communism and the Soviet Union.
The most immediate challenge for our nation today is understanding that our hobbled economy reflects erosion of the cultural pillars that make possible a free society.
When Reagan became president 18 percent of American babies were born to unwed mothers. This has grown today to over 40 percent.
The way to stop runaway government today is to understand that it reflects the collapse of the core values which define personal responsibility and form the glue that keeps American families intact.
There is no candidate today clearer on this than Santorum. Its why I think despite the expected onslaught of attacks he will not only not lose his attractiveness among conservative voters but the attraction will strengthen.
Star Parker is founder and president of CURE the Center for Urban Renewal and Education a 501c3 think tank which explores and promotes market based public policy to fight poverty as well as author of the newly revised Uncle Sams Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves Americas Poor and What We Can do About It.
