Rick Santorum: The ‘Next in Line’ That Never Was

By Published on December 22, 2015

Cedar Rapids, Iowa — Rick Santorum is rolling his eyes. It’s the first week of December, and we’ve settled into the corner of an empty cafeteria in the bowels of the U.S. Cellular Arena here, where on an unseasonably warm Saturday the group FreedomWorks is sponsoring a forum featuring speeches from five presidential candidates. Santorum finished his and gaggled with a group of reporters — most of whom wanted to know, more or less, why he hasn’t yet quit the race — before joining National Review in the private setting. A nearby television flickered with images of the SEC championship game, and Santorum’s gaze continually drifted in its direction amid a few minutes of small talk.

Santorum admits he was angry four years ago but says that this time around his fervor is being mistaken for fury. The two are often indistinguishable; Santorum is passionate about his case but clearly upset that he can’t make it during a prime-time debate. It’s especially aggravating for someone who in 2012 won Iowa’s caucuses — and ten other states — en route to finishing runner-up to Romney for the nomination. In a GOP that often promotes its “next in line” — Ronald Reagan in 1980 after losing in 1976, George H. W. Bush in 1988 after losing in 1980, John McCain in 2008 after losing in 2000, Romney in 2012 after losing in 2008 — Santorum entered this cycle thinking he’d established himself as a brand in the party, especially so in Iowa, and was therefore well positioned to compete for the nomination.

Read the article “Rick Santorum: The ‘Next in Line’ That Never Was” on nationalreview.com.

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