Santorum’s moment – will it last?

It may be the biggest event since the fall of Rome. Actually it isn’t, but since our shrinking media world seems increasingly focused on presidential contests to the exclusion of all else, the Iowa caucuses loomed really, really large.

 

In the aftermath, I was impressed as I usually am by the thoughts of my old colleague John Baer of the Philadelphia Daily News, who today tells you why Rick Santorum is headed nowhere.

Baer’s take on the meaning of Santorum’s performance….

“It means that some lily-white Iowa evangelical farmers think that the problems of the country can be solved by outlawing abortion and gay marriage and bombing Islamic nations.

It means that the heretofore-ignored Santorum gets a turn in the Mixmaster of presidential-campaign coverage.

It means that his campaign momentarily rises before sinking like the lead balloons of former “front-running” campaigns of Bachmann, Perry and Cain.

And for three reasons: He has no money; he has no general appeal, and, nationally, nobody knows much about him.”

Read the rest here. 

And for perspective, take a look at Roger Simon’s column in Politico.com, written before the caucuses, in which he reasons that Iowa ends the Republican presidential race, period.

Finally, it’s interesting to observe the way Newt Gingrich’s momentum collapsed, in contrast to the other anti-Mitts.

Rick Perry imploded because he couldn’t remember his own proposals in debates. Herman Cain went down under the weight of past indiscretions. But Newt’s surge was killed the old fashioned way – by millions of dollars worth of vicious, 30-second attack ads.

Isn’t it reassuring when the immutable laws of the universe are confirmed?