Today former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, along-time…

Monday, April 21, 2008

Today former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, a long-time opponent of John McCain’s candidacy, grudgingly endorsed John McCain.

As recently as January, Santorum said “It’s amazing to hear what John McCain is trying to convince the voters he is all about. The bottom line is, I served 12 years with him, six years in the Senate as one of the leaders of the Senate, trying to put together the conservative agenda, and almost at every turn, on domestic policy, John McCain was not only against us, but leading the charge on the other side.” But’ it looks as if the Republican Party is closing ranks now.
In his statement, Santorum cited the Reagan axiom that “someone you agree with on 80 percent of the issues is your friend, not your enemy.” Santorum then goes down the list of issues to determine whether McCain is a “friend.”

Santorum believes that McCain knows our military, knows our enemies, and understands the human and financial cost of defeating them. Pulling no punches, Santorum says “In the end, with the exception of embryonic stem-cell funding, he always voted for life and stood for the culture of life. In short, he's been a reliable vote on life issues, which are critical to conservatives.”

Regarding the Gang of 14, Santorum says “I was in leadership pushing hard for a showdown with the Democrats on using the "Constitutional Option" to end their filibuster of judicial nominations. The Gang of 14 broke the impasse, and it probably was for the best. I was the one counting votes on that issue, and I was much less certain of success than others. In the end, the Gang deal resulted in numerous confirmations of qualified conservative jurists.” Santorum also adds that he can agree with McCain on appointing judges that will apply the law as written.

He points out his disagreement with McCain on taxcuts in the past, but gives McCain credit for thinking that the cuts should be made permanent to help the economy. Santorum continues to disagree with McCain on earmarks, believing that some are important for his state, but he appreciates McCain’s principled consistency on the matter.

Santorum offers as closing arguments the important matter of who controls bureaucratic appointments and his belief that McCain is will be better for America than Clinton or Obama.

“As for the Reagan Axiom, given his opponent, McCain is close enough to 80 percent for government work. That is why I am going to vote for my friend - John McCain.”

Notably absent from Santorum’s analysis of the issues, was his disagreement with McCain on campaign finance reform. Santorum earlier said that the bill was “an affront to personal freedom and liberty in this country, and what we’ve seen as a result of this misguided attempt to placate the New York Times and to help his stature within that community … is that special interests have absolutely taken over the political process, and individual candidates, unless you’re a billionaire, and parties have very little voice in the process.” His analysis of McCain’s views on immigration were also not articulated.

So, is the Reagan axiom a good concept? Is anyone who agrees with you on 80% of the issues your friend? How much does it matter what the 20% that you disagree on is?
This is Santorum's take on the matter:
"Many of my fellow Republicans have faulted me privately and publicly for being so outspoken about McCain, suggesting that I should have kept my mouth shut. First, I’ve never been very good at that. Second, I do not regret being up-front about such an important decision. Third, the primaries are a time when each party wrestles over what it’s looking for in a presidential candidate. Now is the time to come together."
Posted by D. Turner and C. Dalton