Romney Vs. Santorum Vs. Obama

[Scooter]

Just a wild guess, but I'm pretty sure that Santorum had already dismissed any chance of winning the Puerto Rico primary, or he would have kept his mouth shut.

Or maybe not, his foot is always in such close proximity to it.

[Lord Jim]

Right now Spanish and English are both official on the island, and the idea that English should take precedence irritates many Puerto Ricans, including [Luis] Fortuno [Puerto Rico's governor, who is both a Republican and the leader of Puerto Rico's pro-statehood party.]

I agree that politically it's very problematic, and if your objective is to win the Puerto Rico primary, probably not a good position to articulate...

I'm just saying that if hypothetically there were such a requirement imposed as a condition of statehood, it's not a slam dunk that it would be found unconstitutional...

[Long Run]

First of all, it is not a state right since Puerto Rico is not a state. As a semi-autonomous jurisdiction, they can do what they want for the most part. And Congress can do what it wants with respect to offering admission as a state. There is nothing wrong with making certain requirements for a territory to join the U.S. My guess is Santorum has done some political calculation that pointing out the language issue will get him some votes in a primary that matters, which makes Santorum a politician who uses a minor issue to try to get votes.

[dgs49]

There is NOTHING that would prevent Congress from making English-priority a de facto requirement of adding Puerto Rico as a state. Not the Constitution or anything else.

There are arguments both ways as to whether that would be advisable. It might make things easier when we annex Canada, including Kay-beque.

And as hinted above, "the Republican Base" (of which I am a proud member) would have no hesitation about making P.R. toe that particular line.

[Gob]

Internet pornography could conceivably become a thing of the past if Rick Santorum is elected president.

The unapologetic social conservative, currently in second place behind Mitt Romney for the GOP nomination, has promised to crack down on the distribution of pornography if elected.

Santorum says in a statement posted to his website, “The Obama Administration has turned a blind eye to those who wish to preserve our culture from the scourge of pornography and has refused to enforce obscenity laws.”

If elected, he promises to “vigorously” enforce laws that “prohibit distribution of hardcore (obscene) pornography on the Internet, on cable/satellite TV, on hotel/motel TV, in retail shops and through the mail or by common carrier.”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/14/vigor ... z1pDgIFXvS

Good old right wingers, always wanting big government to interfere in your life.

[Scooter]

There is NOTHING that would prevent Congress from making English-priority a de facto requirement of adding Puerto Rico as a state. Not the Constitution or anything else.

And once Puerto Rico became a state, what possible means would you have to enforce it?


crickets

[BoSoxGal]

Reclaim the Navy's land on Vieques and establish detainment camps for Spanish speakers?

[BoSoxGal]

[dgs49]

The (uconstitutional) reach of the Federal Government into Education could easily encompass a mandate that primary and secondary school instruction in Puerto Rico be conducted in English (as well as Spanish), and that after a certain date (say, 6 years off), English proficiency be required for high school graduation. All government signage and publications would have to be bi-lingual. The process could take a generation, but it has been done previously in other countries. Again, there is no thought of demanding that non-official communications be conducted in English, or that Spanish be abolished. Much of the American Southwest is effectively bi-lingual now.

Like everything else with Santorum, he made a logical, reasonable point, and his political enemies distort it into an attack on the U.S. Constitution.

And as for the pornography postings above (If elected, he promises to “vigorously” enforce laws that “prohibit distribution of hardcore (obscene) pornography on the Internet, on cable/satellite TV, on hotel/motel TV, in retail shops and through the mail or by common carrier.”), who but a liberal would react hysterically when someone suggests that we enforce existing laws? Just like immigration. Republicans are "racist" when they suggest that our existing immigration laws ought to be enforced.

[Lord Jim]

This is classic Santorum...

Has a big night, gets pushed back into contention, one week to go for a critical primary in Illinois where a win could really put Romney on the ropes...

So what does he do?

Head straight for Chicago and Downstate Illinois where he hammers away relentlessly at his populist jobs and manufacturing revival themes stressing his working class roots right?

Well, uh...no...

He goes to Puerto Rico, where he takes on those 2 burning issues uppermost in voters minds:

I'm speaking of course, of Puerto Rico declaring English it's primary language and internet pornography....

[Grim Reaper]

Like everything else with Santorum, he made a logical, reasonable point, and his political enemies distort it into an attack on the U.S. Constitution.

Mr. Strict Constitutionalist here thinks it's OK to keep doing things that aren't in the Constitution when he agrees with them. More hypocrisy from the so-called hater of hypocrisy. Just another example of your blind eye toward your own party.

And Puerto Rico already mandates English classes at every level of education. They just don't want to be told which language they have to prefer. Which you should appreciate since it means not making the government any bigger. But again, this is something a Republican put forth, so you have to blindly support it.

And as for the pornography postings above (If elected, he promises to “vigorously” enforce laws that “prohibit distribution of hardcore (obscene) pornography on the Internet, on cable/satellite TV, on hotel/motel TV, in retail shops and through the mail or by common carrier.”), who but a liberal would react hysterically when someone suggests that we enforce existing laws? Just like immigration. Republicans are "racist" when they suggest that our existing immigration laws ought to be enforced.

The problem is that "obscenity" doesn't have a hard definition. So vigorously enforcing a purposefully vague law isn't something to be happy about.

And your cute little strawman about immigration laws shows just how little you care to understand about what your fellow Republicans are actually doing. Once again, your so-called hatred of hypocrisy falls flat when it comes to your own party.

[Sue U]

Internet pornography could conceivably become a thing of the past if Rick Santorum is elected president.

Nothing worse than Santorum in your porn.

He goes to Puerto Rico, where he takes on those 2 burning issues uppermost in voters minds:

I'm speaking of course, of Puerto Rico declaring English it's primary language and internet pornography....

Gotta hand it to the boy, nobody's even got to give him any rope -- he's out in the shed pulling as much as he can off the spool all by himself.

[dgs49]

As pointed out above, there is nothing in the constitution about polygamy, but Utah had no chance for statehood until it abandoned polygamy. The people who claimed Santorum was assaulting the Constitution were well aware of this FACT.

More than half the population of Puerto Rico does not currently speak English, according to the governor.

Regardless of the definition of "obscenity" all Rick has said is that he will enforce the existing laws.

[Grim Reaper]

As pointed out above, there is nothing in the constitution about polygamy, but Utah had no chance for statehood until it abandoned polygamy. The people who claimed Santorum was assaulting the Constitution were well aware of this FACT.

Once again you don't care if Congress does something not outlined in the Constitution if it's something you agree with.

Regardless of the definition of "obscenity" all Rick has said is that he will enforce the existing laws.

The definition does matter since he had to reinterpret the definition in order to make it seem like the laws aren't already being enforced enough.

His whole and entire point is that he doesn't think the laws are currently being enforced to the standards he believes that they should be held to. This means he has to make up his own interpretation of "obscenity" in order to even have a point to talk about.

[Gob]

Such importance given over to such mundane issues, issues no self respecting mature democracy should be even contemplating, in your electoral process, no wonder the USA is going down the pan.

Another couple of republican presidencies with their focus on hate and control of the individual, while ensuring the divide between rich and poor gets even wider, should leave the country as a spent force.

[dales]

Now, now Gob...

You're envious of the "Bread and Circuses" aspect of the political climate here, aren't you?

[Lord Jim]

Santorum is a puzzle and a mystery to me...

He could have been a contender...he could have been the champ....

I have never seen a politician kick himself in his own ass the way this guy does...

The puzzling thing to me, is that it's not like he doesn't know how to avoid these pitfalls...

Go back and read my OP in this thread...he has a very sellable message, he knows how to sell it and he knows how to avoid being drawn into the role the liberal media wants to assign to him...

I know that he knows these things, because he's been able to do it....

But for whatever reason, he seems congentally incapable of doing it consistently...

Rick's not a dummy; he knows what he needs to do, he's shown that he can do it, but he just can't seem to keep doing it...

The man has the message discipline of a two year old...

(Actually that's not fair; two year olds have superb message discipline when they want something...believe me, I know... )

Davey's whining and carping about the liberal media is really quite beside the point...

Any conservative running for high office is going to face that, it's just a fact of life...

It's true that they will bait you, and distort, and take things out of context but that's something you just have to deal with...

And the good ones do...

NOBODY had message discipline like Mr. Reagan...

In the 1980 election, the press desperately wanted to hang the "right wing crazy" sign around his neck, but The Gipper was having none of it...

No matter how they tried to bait him, he just kept a smile on his face, and hammered away at his "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?" theme...

Santorum just cannot seem to do this...

If you're taking a walk during a driving rain, it's not good enough to open your umbrella half of the time; you'll still get soaked.

[Lord Jim]

The exit polls for every single caucus and primary held to date shows that 50% plus of the voters name the economy as the number one issue...

But even in the states that he's won, Santorum trails Romney on this issue by a significant margin...

The reason for this is obvious...

He keeps letting himself be driven into a "social issue" ditch...he keeps providing the press with sound bites that easily enable them to paint the portrait of Santorum that they are more than happy to paint...

Santorum has an optimistic, compelling pro-growth message to sell, and when he chooses to do so, he delivers it well....

He also has a likeability and ability to connect with average people that His Royal Mittness can only dream of...(His wife had great line the other day about how Rick not only knows what a gallon of milk costs...he knows what six gallons of milk cost...and she went on to talk about how they shop at Costco to save money...Why Rick doesn't talk about these things is a complete mystery to me...just as I don't understand why it took him months to finally mention that his his mother not only worked the whole time he was growing up, but that she made more money than his father...that sort of thing is campaign gold...)

But the boy just insists on shooting himself in both feet, re-loading and firing again...

Trust me on this one Rick; the percentage of voters who are going to name contraception or internet pornography as their number one issue is infinitesimal....even in a GOP primary....

Maybe the 12 years he spent in The World's Greatest Deliberative Wind Tunnel has something to do with this...

Senators have a tendency to just run on at the mouth...

[rubato]

"...

Santorum has an optimistic, compelling pro-growth message to sell, and when he chooses to do so, he delivers it well...."

Right, "let's do the same thing Bush II did for 8 years". It caused stagnation in wages and GDP for the longest period since WWII, a jobless recovery after the smallest recession possible, and then the worst economic collapse in 80 years.

Oh yeah, that's a really compelling message. It compels people who are educated to run away. But treason on that order must give great comfort to Al Qaeda.

yrs,
rubato

[Gob]

The exit polls for every single caucus and primary held to date shows that 50% plus of the voters name the economy as the number one issue...

The other 50% of voters being more concerned about abortion and gay marriage I take it?