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A Santorum Blow Out and Some Journalistic Hog-calling

By on February 8, 2012

Suey!

Against the backdrop of the glorified hog-calling contest that has been triggered by the HHS mandate, Rick Santorum swept to an impressive victory in all the three primaries in play last night. Minnesota and Missouri were anticipated by recent polling. Colorado was a surprise. Some of these states Romney won four years ago. This was more a failure of Romney’s than a triumph of Santorum’s.

Unfortunately many of these same hog-callers began their knee jerk response about his not connecting with Conservative voters. That is obviously part of the problem. The complete message here is that GOP voters do not want him as standard-bearer and are saying so frequently. Who can blame him after his gaff-ridden, plastic-wrapped performance to date. What is Romney’s base? So far Mormons seem to be the only group he can count on to show enthusiasm. This is not a swipe at the Church of Latter Day Saints. Catholics were enthusiastic about Kennedy. Texans promoted Lyndon Johnson and later George W Bush. African-Americans showed passion for Barak Obama. Trouble is this religious group is not a large enough to put him across nationwide.

Party leaders dread a dead-locked convention with a smoked-filled room compromise, but is this worse than a Romney candidacy? They should want this election to be referendum on Barak Obama. If so, they must find a credible substitute. That will be difficult. Jeb Bush is hobbled by his brother’s poor performance in the Oval Office. Mitch Daniels and Bobby Jindal seriously under-performed during their responses to State of the Unions addresses. Many current Republican governors are less popular than Obama, if the polls are correct. Scott Walker for President????????????? 

Meanwhile the press continues to under-perform on the HHS flap. They need to stop talking and start thinking. The problem is not a first amendment rights issue. No one is ordering nuns to take birth control pills.

The problem is that in the US, health insurance is tied to employment, and has been since 1946. It has become a very expensive item on employer balance sheets. So they are restricting coverage, and passing the costs and headaches on to patients. Religious-based employers have always added their own beliefs to the plans they offer. Why shouldn’t they if they are paying? Religious-based care givers add their own spins to the range of services they perform.

The only way out of this is to take this responsibility for health care insurance away from employers. They would likely welcome the extra revenue. There are several ways this could be accomplished. The goal would be to let individuals get the kind of coverage they want and providers can deliver the kind of services they wish to provide. These individuals should be given choices. Government can make sure that choices are available everywhere and that everyone is playing fair.

To make this transition,  the press needs to wake up and get out of their reactive mode, do their homework and stimulate problem solving. Other interested parties would help if they shift to a listening mode too. That is what this significant debate truly needs, not the ‘suey-suey-suey’ we are listening to now.

Tom Godfrey

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