Miracles run out for Santorum
Photo: Jeff Swensen/Getty
Dateline Gettysburg, the P-G's Karen Langley reports from Rick Santorum's final day on the presidential trail:
Appearing with his wife, Karen, and four of their children before reporters in this historic Civil War town, the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania sounded as if even he had not anticipated the trajectory of his campaign, from the early days holding town hall meetings in Iowa to ultimately winning contests across the country.
"Miracle after miracle, this race was as improbable as any race you will ever see for president," he said.
Jim O'Toole has the news analysis:
In the years after his Senate defeat, Mr. Santorum had settled into a typical post-congressional career of speechmaking, consulting -- none dare call it lobbying -- and public commentary. But the health care debate, the tea party-led Republican congressional gains of 2010 and his personal ambition -- which had led him, when he was just 32, to challenge an entrenched Democratic House member -- once again pushed him to defy the odds.
Mr. Santorum leaves behind a formidable coalition of religious conservatives worried about social and moral corrosion and feeling the effects of the recession more sharply than Mr. Romney's supporters. The former Massachusetts governor does not speak to their issues nor in their idiom. They will support him in November, but not ardently.
Delegate expert Josh Putnam looks at Santorum's long odds and says despite the GOP's attempt to make the primary longer this year still played out like 2008.
NYT poll expert Nate Silver says Santorum faces bad odds in 2016 given the candidates eyeing a run should Mitt Romney lose this year (Mitch Daniels, Marco Rubio, etc) and notes he still has high unfavorable numbers despite his improbable run:
Mr. Santorum is himself fairly young at 53, so he will have plenty of time to build up his brand name and evaluate his options. Still, it could easily be that the 2012 nomination campaign will prove to be the high-water mark of his political career.
The NYT also has a cool interactive graphic on his run.
Santorum has almost $1 million in debt, about half of it owed to Pittsburgh media consultants Brabender Cox.