FAHY and WERRY: Santorum’s sudden rise

OPINION:

The GOP nomination contest is reaching a moment of clarity. After his impressive South Carolina victory, Newt Gingrich has imploded. Ron Paul remains an unserious candidate. Mitt Romney appeared poised to claim the GOP nomination after his win in Florida’s primary. As many noted before Tuesday’s votes, the supposed “wild card” was Rick Santorum.

Belated victor of the Iowa caucuses, Mr. Santorum had put on strong debate performances and even outpolled President Obama in a recent head-to-head matchup. Yet many conservatives and establishment Republicans were dismissing him, considering him a dark-horse candidate at best. His sweep of Tuesday’s contests in Colorado, Missouri and Mississippi demands that he be taken seriously. Furthermore, his success should not be a surprise, given that he is showing himself to be the only candidate with the background, policies and abilities to oppose Mr. Obama on his merits.

First, as evidenced most recently on Tuesday, Mr. Santorum is a winner in states that matter. He has a record of winning in an important swing state, Pennsylvania, on a conservative platform. Any GOP hopes of winning the presidency this fall hinge upon the Republican nominee winning purple states such as Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Colorado and Florida.

Second, Mr. Santorum has been a mostly consistent small-government conservative for 20 years who can credibly propose conservative policies on taxes, health care, entitlement reform and energy that stand in stark contrast to the president’s. In contrast, Mr. Romney lacks both a conservative track record and the ability to articulate a coherent conservative philosophy. His recent conversion to conservatism is admirable but questionable. Exhibit A: Mr. Romney’s support for indexing the minimum wage to inflation when challenged on his claim to not be concerned for the very poor.

Third, Mr. Santorum is better equipped to make a compelling argument for smaller, conservative, constitutional government in a general election campaign. He has forcefully defended conservatism, has attacked big-government Romneycare during the debates and is the ideal candidate to challenge Mr. Obama on issues such as the administration’s assault on religious freedom and the Catholic Church. In contrast, Mr. Romney has consistently failed to explain his support for Romneycare and is prone to gaffes.

Fourth, if elected, Mr. Santorum would be the more reliable governing conservative. He has several conservative policy achievements to his name (e.g., welfare reform) and is the more likely candidate to support future GOP reformers such as Rep. Paul Ryan. In contrast, Mr. Romney represents four years of support for several policy heresies conservatives despise: gun control, cap-and-trade, green energy and tax increases. Furthermore, he offers no compelling evidence of the political acumen necessary to weather and prevail in the Beltway’s nasty political fights. See Exhibit A above.

Fifth, Mr. Santorum’s appeal is crystallizing because he’s both the anti-Newt Gingrich - because of his clean personal and political history - and the anti-Mitt Romney - because of his passion and energy. Mr. Santorum is a scrappy, happy fighter conservatives can rally around because he avoids the two greatest political weaknesses: scandal and boredom.

Finally, Mr. Santorum is showing himself to be the stronger candidate because he is the true counterpoint to Mr. Obama. Consider the Planned Parenthood versus Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation funding controversy. Where Mr. Santorum is rock-solid on the sanctity-of-life issue, Mr. Romney is wobbly at best. Mr. Romney is likely to lose key GOP contests because conservative voters don’t see his positions as contrasting sharply with Mr. Obama’s.

What conservatives did not see before but are seeing now is a viable conservative alternative to Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama. They are witnessing the one contrast that’s been missing: a proven and scandal-free conservative versus Mr. Romney. A Santorum-Romney debate, free of the grandiose distractions of Mr. Gingrich and the isolationist Mr. Paul, would be a truly clarifying moment for conservatives and the GOP. If Mr. Santorum can maintain the momentum he’s gained lately, conservatives may get the matchup they’ve been waiting for. It can’t come soon enough.

Garrett Fahy and Shonda Werry worked for the Senate Republican Conference.