Politics 2012: Santorum Out, Romney In

Rick Santorum took himself out of the 2012 presidential race Tuesday, leaving Mitt Romney as the de facto GOP nominee to take on President Barack Obama.

Unlike Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, who insist on sticking around until the bitter end despite dwindling support, Santorum decided to face reality.  The former Pennsylvania senator's campaign, according to media reports, had run out of money and never could compete financially with Romney.  Also, even though Santorum and Gingrich split the Southern vote in the primaries, Romney accumulated enough delegates to take a commanding lead for the nomination.

Santorum didn't help his cause by being the candidate stuck in the 1950s.  He came across as a rigid guy in a vest, railing against taxes and government-run health care, women's reproductive rights, and separation of church and state.  Plus, he had a bad case of "open mouth, insert foot" syndrome common to politicians.  Still, don't count him out for 2016.

Now it's up to Romney, who started campaigning against Obama weeks ago while fending off the ankle-biters, to rack up the remaining delegates and claim his prize in Tampa at the Republican convention this summer.

But Romney has a few obstacles to overcome before he can occupy the White House.  Among them:

• He's not real popular among conservative women, Hispanics and Christians who voted for Santorum and Gingrich.  He's going to have a hard time winning over the states he lost in the primaries.
• Santorum dubbed Romney the "Etch-a-Sketch" candidate for hitting the reset button on his positions once too often.
• Inadvertently reminding everyone that he's a rich guy who has no clue how to relate to the masses who are struggling to get by.
• The Mormon faith Romney practices shouldn't be an issue.  President John F. Kennedy proved long ago that he didn't take orders from the Vatican, so why should Romney bow to the elders in Utah?  However, conservative Christians who still think Obama is a Muslim and wasn't born here aren't as likely to embrace someone who prays to a different God.
• Convincing his fellow Republicans, who don't think he's in rightward lockstep with the party, that he really can beat Obama in November.  His support from mainstream Republicans--whatever that's supposed to mean these days--is grudging, at best.
• Even with an uncertain economy, rising gas prices and the very real possibility of the Supreme Court striking down "Obamacare", the President still leads Romney by several points in the polls.  If the election were held today, that is.

Ready or not, the campaign leading to the general election has just begun.  Over the next six months or so, it gets worse before it gets better.