Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum experienced for the first time Wednesday night what it feels like to be the “frontrunner” in the race for the Republican nomination.
Coming off a trio of primary victories earlier in the month, Santorum took heat from all sides in last night’s GOP debate in Mesa, Arizona. He was accused by Mitt Romney, his main competitor in the polls, of being a lavish spender during his time as a U.S. Senator. Romney pointed out that Santorum voted for the so-called “Bridge to Nowhere,” a famed project in Alaska that many conservatives now regard as a prime example of the need to gut earmarks. Santorum punched back, arguing that Romney, himself, had requested earmarks when he ran the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
That led to a prolonged and spirited back-and-forth between the two, during which Romney labeled Santorum a hypocrite for voting for the No Child Left Behind education law despite the fact he opposed it.
“Look, politics is a team sport, folks,” Santorum said in an effort to justify his vote. He used a similar defense when Romney charged him with voting to fund Planned Parenthood, arguing that it was merely a small part of a larger appropriations bill that needed to get passed. Though Romney’s own views on abortion and contraception have been questioned throughout the race, the line drew applause from the overwhelmingly conservative crowd.
The crowd also reacted heavily when Romney blasted Santorum for supporting then-Republican Senator Arlen Specter in his quest for reelection against former Club For Growth President Pat Toomey in 2004. Santorum said he agreed to support Specter after Specter agreed to use his position atop the Senate Judiciary Committee to back several of George W. Bush’s judicial nominees. Specter, however, would later go on to switch parties and vote for President Obama’s healthcare law, which received the minimum 60 votes needed to pass.
Texas Congressman Ron Paul called Santorum a “fake” for campaigning as a fiscal conservative in spite of his record on earmarks. Paul agreed with the debate’s moderator, CNN’s John King, who noted that on the whole, earmarks represent only a small portion of the federal budget. However, Paul, who has served in Congress for over two decades, argued that more often than not, earmarks lead to corruption and higher spending down the road. Santorum later shot back, calling the Congressman a “prolific” earmarker, himself.
All four candidates have said that they would ban earmarks if elected.
The increased scrutiny of Santorum clearly benefited Newt Gingrich more than any other candidate on the stage. With the spotlight away from him, Gingrich, whose stock sunk mightily after a pair of poor debate performances in Florida last month, appeared at ease. Rather than choosing to engage Santorum and Romney, he stayed above the fray, a tactic that Romney used successfully in previous debates. When King asked the candidates to weigh in on the recent flap over contraceptives, Gingrich vociferously attacked President Obama.
“I just want to point out, you did not once in the 2008 campaign, not once did anybody in the elite media ask why Barack Obama voted in favor of legalizing infanticide. Okay? So let’s be clear here…if we’re going to have a debate about who the extremist is on these issues, it is President Obama who, as a state senator, voted to protect doctors who killed babies who survived the abortion. It is not the Republicans.”
And with gasoline nearing four dollars per gallon, Gingrich said his energy plan, which mainly involves more domestic exploration and production of oil and gas, would bring prices down to $2.50.
Mired in either third or fourth place in most national surveys, Gingrich is hopeful that his performance last night will help propel him back into the race. While next Tuesday’s contests in Arizona and Michigan appear to be two-man races between Romney and Santorum, Gingrich should be in the mix on March 6, when voters in ten states, including his home state of Georgia, head to the polls.
In all, 19 states and 805 delegates will be in play between now and the next debate, which is scheduled to take place March 19 in Oregon.
