ROCKFORD, Mich. ? Mitt Romney has no problem painting Rick Santorum as the king of earmarks and a Washington insider.
But ask Romney to whack his leading rival where he?s most vulnerable ? on social issues like birth control, religion in politics or women?s role in the workplace and the military ? and you won?t hear a peep, despite the fact that those issues are a big turn off to swing voters in November.
Continue ReadingRomney rally in Rockford, MI
Romney?s biggest weakness is the fact that Republican primary voters suspect he?s not a sincere conservative. Santorum, by contrast, is a conservative warrior ? a dedicated pro-lifer and gay marriage opponent who has the votes and credentials to prove it. The combination of these factors make Romney the wrong candidate to take the battle to Santorum on issues conservatives hold dear.
?Romney runs a risk saying Santorum is going too far to the right,? said Dan Pero, a Michigan GOP strategist who ran John Engler?s campaigns. ?That?s a lot different from talking about Gingrich and talking Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.?
Pero argued that while Santorum?s views may turn off general election voters any Republican would need to win in November, Romney?s past makes him unable to carry the critique in the primary.
?That just sends all the wrong signals to the base ? they?ll be saying, ?Where are you Romney? He?s back in the middle on that.?
Florida-based GOP consultant Rick Wilson, who worked on Rudy Giuliani?s 2008 campaign, said he?s sent messages to the Romney high command pleading with it to paint Santorum as too extreme on social issues.
?Every time you help Barack Obama to demagogue and falsely accuse us of a whole variety of things on contraception, we?re losing,? Wilson said. ?I think [Romney] is not fluent in social conservatism. He?s not immediately comfortable with the language and diction of social conservatism. He has a problem feeling like he?s going to be vulnerable.?
And Romney himself, at a Monday morning rally, acknowledged efforts to keep the campaign focused on the economy and not on the social issues that propel Santorum.
?I saw this morning that Senator Santorum wrote a piece in The Wall Street Journal, I?m glad to see that,? Romney said here. ?He wrote a piece in there about the economy and tax policy and regulatory policy. I?m glad he recognizes this is going to be a campaign about the economy. It?s time for him to really focus on the economy.?
The danger for Republicans is that if Santorum is the nominee ? or even a major figure in the race for much longer ? the campaign and party?s focus will be on social issues and not the economy, where Romney and Republicans believe they have an advantage over Obama.
But Romney senior strategist Stuart Stevens wouldn?t go near the question of whether Santorum?s social views ? which during the campaign have extended to Santorum calling contraception ?a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be? and his super PAC?s chief funder joking that birth control should be an aspirin held between the knees ? render him less electable than Romney.
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