Ding-dong, Santorum’s dead.
And no, I’m not talking about the “frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex,” a common definition of “Santorum” found on Google.
I’m talking about former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and his failed bid for the Republican presidential nomination – and hopefully the end of his political career.
The news is about a week old, but for the past seven days I’ve not been able to wipe the smile off my face knowing the once-candidate is no longer.
To verify, Santorum is not actually dead, but the suspension of his campaign and dropping out of the 2012 GOP primary is good enough for me.
The crazed politician, with all of his radical policies and retrogressive thinking, can now be an afterthought in the political realm. I rejoice.
Santorum’s exit gives way for the highly anticipated contest between GOP frontrunner and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama.
I originally intended to write on Santorum’s potential demise heading into next week’s primaries, which are taking place in a slew of Northeastern states, including Santorum’s home state of Pennsylvania.
That being said, he made my job much easier by giving into what was becoming inevitable.
Santorum saw the writing on the wall well before those primaries arrived, watching his campaign finances quickly drying up and realizing that he wasn’t
polling well in Pennsylvania and the other upcoming states.
To be honest, the sudden exit comes as a disappointment for the politician that came so far, but Santorum has promised it won’t serve as the be-all end-all for his political career. In fact, some believe his stronger-than-expected campaign has established the former senator as a new leading voice for the conservative wing of the Republican Party.
I’m not one of those people.
Santorum holds media entertainment value, and he has established a celebrity status of sorts, but his campaign platform proved to be too socially radical to resonate among the Republican Party as a whole.
Santorum proved to be nothing but a clown in a suit. Sure, he triumphed over some of the other pretenders and clowns that comprised the weakest Republican field in recent memory, but what merit does that really hold?
Joshua Green of Bloomberg Businessweek noted that “most of the party’s top prospects, such as Jeb Bush, Bobby Jindal, Mitch Daniels and Chris Christie, opted not to challenge an incumbent president. But if Obama wins another term, most of them are expected to run in 2016.”
That would present a much more formidable field for Santorum and a bleak outlook for his chances in 2016. He had enough problems raising money during this election cycle, so all I can say is good luck against the likes of those other characters in 2016.
The enormous sigh of relief and noted pleasure I’ve felt in seeing Santorum walk away from the race only shows one side of my excitement. Now we can all bust out our happy dance in knowing this presidential race will actually be about much more than sweater vests, tax returns, Cadillacs and Swiss bank accounts.
Romney’s and Obama’s
political arrows now point squarely at each other.
The Obama campaign recently released a commercial that tries to link Romney to the oil industry, stating that Romney “stood with big oil for their tax breaks, attacking higher mileage standards and renewables.”
In a speech Wednesday, Romney argued that Obama “has failed by the measurements he set.”
The gloves are off, and the gauntlet has been thrown down. With Santorum out of the way, we’re now on a one-way track to one of the most significant presidential elections in recent history.
Matthew Westfall is a 23-year-old mass communication senior from Winchester, Va. Follow him Twitter @TDR_mwestfall.
 
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Contact Matthew Westfall at [email protected]