Posted by Chief Monkey | 27 January 2012

Having sat in countless meetings in campaign offices and with candidates the overwhelmingly most important discussion is "How do we energize the base?"

First, you have to figure out what your base is.

Barack Obama has a voting base of African Americans but, his working base of young, liberal democrats was the biggest reason he won in 2008. They worked the internet, worked the streets, door-to-door, Get out the vote and much more to assure his victory.

For the candidates for the Republican nomination for President, the bases are a bit different. Mitt Romney is after the more moderate wing of Republicans and hoping the rest join in after the primary. Newt Gingrich is pandering for votes from those easily swayed by rhetoric but, they don't get out and take part in the grassroots effort and he too is hoping the rest get in line after the primary.

For Rick Santorum its much simpler. His most loyal voters are the most conservative of the party and the key to energizing the largest base of the party. These are the hardcore conservatives that swept Ronald Reagan into office in 1980 and the single most important block when it comes to defeating Barack Obama in a general election. Rick Santorum doesn't have to hope these folks come aboard after the primary, they already are. They are the folks that are committed completely to their ideals and values and not afraid to let others know.

While national polling tells us that Santorum has a better chance of beating Obama than Newt Gingrich does, the number of uneducated voters thinking Rick Santorum can't win still doesn't give an accurate representation of real numbers in a general election

Newt Gingrich' up and down carnival ride during this primary is prime proof of the base he's working with right now. Very uncommitted for the most part and easily swayed.

You add Newt's numbers to Santorum's (if Gingrich doesn't alienate them all with moon colony promises) and you have a conservative candidate in Rick Santorum that will stand in stark contrast to Barack Obama. No other candidate for the GOP nomination looks so different from Obama as Santorum

And that is why Rick Santorum would win a general election. Energizing the most important base in the party and the conservative movement machine gets in nitrous mode.