Catching many people off guard and giving up his “against all odds” campaign as Romney’s tenacious conservative rival, Rick Santorum just suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. Santorum’s withdrawal basically solidifies Mitt Romney as the front-runner for the presidential election against the current Democratic President Barack Obama.
Santorum said he dropped out because of he wants to make sure he’ll always be there for his family. His daughter, Bella, has an often fatal, rare disease and was hospitalized twice during the campaign.
While it’s true Bella has this genetic disorder, Current Issues teacher Mr. Wadlington believes Santorum “dropped out due to pressure.”
There’s no denying his opponents were aggressive. Santorum had been facing a loss in the April 24 primary in Pennsylvania where the Romney campaign planned nearly $3 million in ads against him. Romney also beat Santorum in the Washington, D.C. primary by an overwhelming margin, Wisconsin, and the Maryland Republican presidential primary.
Losing three in a row, things weren’t looking good for Santorum. So what does this mean for Romney and Santorum’s many followers?
“This game is a long, long, long way from over,” Santorum said as he bowed out of the contest with Romney.
History teacher Mr. Terhaar couldn’t agree more. Terhaar deems “the real presidential campaign is just beginning.”
Romney and Santorum fought hard, and both claim it was never about beating each other, but defeating Obama. Voters who preferred Santorum’s traditional conservatism may not like Romney’s more moderate views; however, they will likely remain loyal to the party.
Romney faces stiff competition from our current president who says his campaign has been expecting to face Romney all along and has already been targeting him. Obama has turned directly to face Romney, his campaign working to display Romney as a rich elitist who will win the Republican election simply because he buries his opponents under millions of dollars in negative advertising.
In fact, Romney is not faring so well in the polls against Barack Obama, who has opened up with a significant lead.
While Romney spent millions of dollars on ads against Santorum, Santorum’s comebacks were just as cunning. It’s likely that Obama will use Santorum’s words against the already struggling Romney. Will he be considered conservative enough? Is he ready to go up against Obama or did Santorum leave him enough ammunition to be president for another four years?
We’ll just have to wait until November 6th to see.