Rick Santorum is back. Didn’t we fire him?

One of the surprises of the Iowa caucuses last night was the performance of former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. As a Pennsylvania resident I thought I had seen the last of him. After all, when he ran for reelection in 2006 he lost handily to Democrat Bob Casey, Jr. by a margin of 59-41, a spanking that was the highest victory margin ever for a Democratic Senate candidate from Pennsylvania. Casey was also the first Pennsylvania Democrat to be elected to a full term in the US Senate since 1962. 

Despite his landslide victory, Casey’s biggest qualifications for the Senate seemed to be that he shared a name with his father, a popular former Governor, and that he wasn’t Rick Santorum. Casey is a somewhat bland, likeable fellow who speaks in measured, even somnolent, tones; he is the anti-Santorum. His victory was a huge rebuke to Santorum’s divisive policies and rhetoric which had worn thin with Pennsylvania voters.

Even in Pennsylvania, a state with the second highest NRA membership, his “I’ve taken the bullets” stump speech has worn thin. By the way, the fact that he continues to use this line, even after the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, tells you all you need to know about his hyperbolic personality and over-the-top sense of himself.

From Tricky Dick to Tricky Rick?

I give Santorum credit though. He is not one to lick his wounds and hide in a corner. After being resoundingly defeated by those who know him best, he somehow decided that his show would play better on a national stage, where the voters were less informed about him. He could well be following the path of his hero Richard Nixon who lost the California Governor’s race in 1962. Afterwards, he made his famous “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore” speech. His political career seemed over, but we all know how that turned out.

Unless Santorum has huge delusions of grandeur about his presidential chances, which given his massive ego and sense of self-certainty can’t be discounted, he is likely angling for a VP spot on the 2012 ticket. Having someone on the ballot who could bring in an important swing state like Pennsylvania would certainly be attractive to the Republicans this year. But Santorum is not that person. The voters here in Pennsylvania, the people who know him best, sent him packing in 2006. Nothing has changed since then to improve our opinion of the man.