Aw, too bad, Rick: "The applause was merely polite."

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Rick Santorum Reinvents Himself, and the Right Shies Away
By Trip Gabriel, May 28, 2015

As Rick Santorum prepares to officially enter the 2016 race on Wednesday night, a favorite parlor game of Republican insiders is explaining his plummet from the heights of 2012, when he won 11 state caucuses and primaries, to the indifference of voters today, as reflected in polls.

Among the explanations: Mr. Santorum’s success last time was mainly a fluke. This time, there are many more capable contenders. Voters want a fresh face, not a blast from the past.

But seldom does one hear what may be an equally likely explanation: Mr. Santorum’s reinvention from a cultural warrior to a working-class hero is not catching on.

Last year, Mr. Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, published “Blue Collar Conservatives,’’ a campaign manifesto arguing that Republicans should not cede the issue of middle-class income stagnation to Democrats. He wrote of laid-off factory workers who toil at “part-time jobs at big-box stores.’’

In campaign appearances, Mr. Santorum can seem either brave or crazy for ignoring red-meat social issues in favor of economic policies that go against his party’s usual views: raising the minimum wage, support for the Export-Import Bank.

Mr. Santorum, the grandson of a coal miner from western Pennsylvania, seems to come by his populism honestly, which also includes opposition to immigration policies encouraging competition for low-wage jobs. But there is little evidence that his economic message is winning him supporters.

At a joint appearance with former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas last week in Cedar Falls, Iowa, speaking to about 100 social conservatives who had elbowed their way past scores of gay rights protesters, Mr. Huckabee pumped up the crowd by warning that “religious liberty” was in dire jeopardy from “nine unelected people in black robes.’’ The crowd loved it.

Mr. Santorum, by contrast, spent his time onstage criticizing the Republican Party for championing business owners rather than the people who work for them.

“It’s hard for us to listen to,’’ he scolded, “but we have seen the wealthy do much better over the last six years,’’

Conservatives, he said, needed to address the issue or “we will be in trouble.’’

The applause was merely polite.
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