Giuliani-Santorum '08
By Aaron Goldstein (08/11/07)
Kathryn Jean Lopez, editor of the National Review Online, had the following advice for Rudy Giuliani on NRO's The Corner on August 5th:
Rudy has got to do something big to win the confidence of social conservatives, I think, if he wants to. Make a well-respected social con his veep choice early one and have an important domestic-policy portfolio. Rudy needs to let social conservatives know that he’s not just pandering and making good use of the way some demographics just happened to work in N.Y. or I don’t think he sells.
I have been giving this some thought for while myself. Although I am not what one would describe as a “social conservative” I am pragmatic enough to recognize one must build bridges and extend olive branches to people with whom one might ordinarily disagree about the weather outside to bring together the broad base that is necessary to win the White House.
With this in mind, I believe that Rudy Giuliani should name former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum to be his running mate the day after Labor Day. This would be exactly one year before the Republican National Convention convenes in St. Paul, Minnesota. It would also overshadow Fred Thompson’s formal entry into the GOP race.
There are three reasons I believe Giuliani should choose Santorum to be his running mate.
Santorum is Mr. Social Conservative
Perhaps no American conservative personifies social conservatism better than Rick Santorum, who is currently a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.. There is no ambivalence about his positions concerning abortion, same sex marriage, euthanasia and a host of other issues dear to social conservatives in the United States. His positions more than offset Rudy Giuliani’s moderate to liberal social inclinations. Naming Santorum as his running mate would do a great deal to assuage social conservatives who might have reservations not only about Giuliani’s social positions but might also have reservations about his spotty history as a husband and a father. Fair or not, Giuliani needs a social conservative to tell other social conservatives why they should cast their ballots for him in state primaries and caucuses, never mind the Presidential election. If Giuliani doesn’t have a social conservative on his side during Primary season then forget November 2008.
Giuliani & Santorum are in Simpatico on Islamic Fascism
While Giuliani and Santorum might agree to disagree on specific social issues they are perfectly in synch with each other when it comes to Islamic fascism and terrorist acts committed in its name. In a speech before the National Press Club in July 2006, Santorum spoke of the danger Islamic fascism posed to the United States and the world:
I believe that the threat of Islamic fascism is just as menacing as the threat from Nazism and Soviet Communism. Now, as then, we face fanatics who will stop at nothing to dominate us. Now, as then, there is no way out; we will either win or lose.
Later, in the same speech, he spoke about Iran:
Islamic fascism is truly evil. Such a regime cannot be permitted to build an arsenal of atomic weapons, and I don’t expect that we are going to convince them to abandon their nuclear program at the negotiating table. You can’t reason people out of something that they didn’t arrive at reasonably in the first place. ( http://www.eppc.org/publications/pubID.2821/pub_detail.asp ).
Santorum’s words on Islamic fascism are undoubtedly music to Giuliani’s ears which heard the horrors of September 11, 2001. It is important to note that Giuliani campaigned for Santorum on his unsuccessful re-election bid for the Senate last year. At a rally in Wilkes-Barre three days before the mid-term elections Giuliani warned of the consequences of not re-electing Santorum. “After September 11th, there is no excuse for not adequately seeing the threat. If Rick Santorum is not re-elected and his opponent is elected and people like his opponent are elected, they are going to push us very, very hard to go back on defense against terrorists rather than being on offense the way we are now,” said Giuliani. ( http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/11/4/94756.shtml?s=icp )
Of course, Santorum did lose that election. But Santorum’s understanding of Islamic fascism and its implications for this country might very well be, above all else, what earns him a nod as Giuliani’s running mate.
Let Santorum Lead The Fight Against Illegal Immigration
Kathryn Jean Lopez highlighted the importance of Giuliani giving his running mate “an important domestic-policy portfolio.” I cannot think of a more important domestic policy portfolio than combating illegal immigration. While Giuliani opposed the Senate’s efforts to address illegal immigration earlier this year his position on that issue is somewhat compromised in that New York City was (and remains) a sanctuary city. Consequently, some conservatives might have reservations about Giuliani’s willingness to enforce immigration laws. This is where Santorum comes in. Santorum has long opposed illegal immigration and needless to say was not fond of the Senate’s efforts. Santorum wants the United States to enforce its existing immigration laws and strongly opposes any kind of amnesty. He also strongly supports the construction of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, an increased presence of border patrol agents supplemented by the National Guard. Of course, all of that is much easier said than done and there would be vigorous efforts to oppose any plan put forth by Santorum on illegal immigration. There might very well be some compromises to be made. But Santorum, like Giuliani, thrives on controversy and if there is anybody who could tackle this specific issue head on it is Santorum.
The Downside of Santorum
Rick Santorum is one of those people in life about whom almost no one has a neutral opinion. You either love him or hate him. There is no doubt that Giuliani will gain conservative votes by naming Santorum as his running mate. There is also no doubt Giuliani will lose votes by naming Santorum as his running mate.
Should Santorum be named as Giuliani’s running mate, Rudy can kiss many independent and moderate votes goodbye. Santorum’s rhetoric on same sex marriage and abortion might be music to the ears of social conservatives it will be an anathema to this bloc of voters. Of course, a majority of Republican politicians oppose same sex marriage but are not generally overtly hostile to homosexuality itself, at least publicly. This is not the case with Rick Santorum when he referred to homosexual acts as a form of “deviant” behavior in April 2003. This was also the time he stated if one were to have the right to commit homosexual acts one would also have the right to polygamy, incest and adultery and consequently he did not believe there was a right to privacy in the United States Constitution. These were comments to which I objected and I even went as far as to refer to Santorum as a bad apple. ( http://www.americandaily.com/article/3233 ).
In fairness, Santorum did rush to the defense of one of his staff members, Robert Traynham, two years later. Traynham, who worked as Santorum’s Director of Communication, was outed by a website. “He is widely respected and admired on Capitol Hill, both among the press corps and among congressional staff, as a communications professional. Not only is Mr. Traynham an exemplary staffer, he is also a trusted friend and confidante to me and my family,” said Santorum when Traynham’s outing came to light. ( http://www.washblade.com/2005/7-22/news/national/outed.cfm ) It should be noted that Traynham recently joined Fred Thompson’s campaign as a senior adviser.
Santorum’s defense of Traynham notwithstanding, he is widely perceived as being hostile and intolerant of homosexuals and whatever gay and lesbian vote Giuliani might have will drift to the Democratic nominee, presumably Hillary Rodham Clinton. In the grand scheme of things this would be unnecessary. Despite Santorum’s views, he would still be number two on the ticket. If there is a disagreement between number one and two it will be number one that prevails. Even if Rick Santorum becomes Vice President there is little need to worry about a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
But Santorum has also raised the ire of conservatives in Pennsylvania when he backed Senator Arlen Specter against the challenge for the GOP nomination from the more conservative former Representative Pat Toomey in the 2004 Pennsylvania Senate election. Specter narrowly defeated Toomey for the nomination but easily won re-election to the Senate. Toomey has since become the President of the Club for Growth, which supported his efforts against Specter. While Santorum and Specter didn’t necessarily see eye to eye it would have been bad form for Santorum not to support his senior colleague in the Senate. The same could be said for President Bush who also supported Specter against Toomey. (Of course, Bush did the same with Lincoln Chafee against Steven Laffey in Rhode Island last fall despite Chafee’s stance against the War in Iraq.) Whatever the case, there is no doubt that some conservatives stayed home last November because he would not support Toomey two years earlier. However, Santorum might have time on his side and perhaps by 2008 the wounds will have healed sufficiently for conservative Republicans in Pennsylvania to forgive Santorum by casting their ballots for him and Rudy Giuliani.
One could also argue a demographic disadvantage in Giuliani selecting Santorum. Both men are from the Northeast and neighboring states at that. It is difficult to know how a Giuliani-Santorum ticket would play in South Carolina or in Arizona. It is also worth noting that both men are Catholic. Certainly, the United States has come a long way from the anti-Catholic bigotry that destroyed Al Smith’s bid for the White House in 1928 and came close to preventing JFK’s ascension to the Oval Office in 1960. However, it could come into play given Santorum’s remarks about the role of Boston in the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal in an article he wrote in 2002. “While it is not excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm,” Santorum wrote. Not surprisingly, Santorum was condemned for his words (albeit three years after he wrote them) by the editorial staff of the Boston Globe and Senator Edward Kennedy. But Santorum was also criticized by the office of then Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. “What happened with the church sex abuse scandal was a tragedy, but it had nothing to do with geography or the culture of Boston,” said Romney spokeswoman Julie Teer. If Santorum is aspiring to a higher office it is usually not a good idea to put down an entire city. It doesn’t tend to win you a lot of votes.
Conclusion
Should Giuliani tap Santorum to be his running mate he will need to keep a tight leash on the former Senator from Pennsylvania. Santorum has a short temper and a short temper will not stand up to national scrutiny unless it is properly restrained. This could be all the more difficult if Giuliani decides to name him after Labor Day or anytime before the end of this year. No use in naming your running mate a year before the Convention if it is going to become a year of gaffes. Now speaking one’s mind is not a bad quality. But it can be if you are looking to court votes, especially if those voters are on the fence about you in the first place and don’t know if they can trust you. One can only hope Santorum has learned a thing or two from his electoral defeat last November which might help him in a national race. Despite Santorum’s shortcomings, his presence on the ticket would mollify a majority of social conservatives apprehensive about Giuliani. He would also compliment Giuliani’s clarion call against Islamic fascism. As long as Santorum’s role is confined to campaigning against illegal immigration, playing second fiddle to Giuliani in joint public appearances and doesn’t end up making a fool out of himself in the Vice Presidential debates this duo has a chance to be elected to the White House on November 4, 2008.
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