BOONE, IOWA — What do you call a former fire-breathing Republican senator who’s made his name with extremist social policy views? A uniter, not a divider.
Rick Santorum himself has been making this case somewhat, pointing to his victories in Pennsylvania as evidence that he can win over Democrats. In his latest ads, he promises that he’s the most electable candidate in the race. At a Pizza Ranch here Monday, I spoke to a Santorum supporter and local tea party activist who said it’s Santorum’s ability to compromise that makes him the best candidate in the race.
It’s a weird thing to hear in this purity-driven primary, and an even weirder thing to hear from a tea partier, whose natural enemy is compromise. But it’s maybe a sign that Santorum’s electability argument is connecting and could carry him ahead should he pull off the upset in Iowa.
Lynn Rodgers is a Democrat-turned-Independent (she didn’t vote for Obama) and a self-described 9/12er (the Glenn Beck-inspired movement that kicked off when the tea party did.) She read the entire health care law, made a Power Point presentation and went around town showing people how terrible it was. The Santelli rant is a highlight of her personal political journey. In short, she’s no fake tea partier. She’s the real deal.
“You know, I don’t think he’s so polarizing, I think he can reach people like me who are Blue Dog Democrats,” she said. “He does that because he has a proven record of working together. Our country is so divided right now, we need someone who is going to lead us back to being back to united.”
This was a bit of a surprise. I made sure we were talking about the same Rick Santorum and then I asked Rodgers to point out when Santorum — who, it should be noted, is also on the trail saying that that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell should be reinstated and making a strong case against contraception — has brought left and right together.
She had an example at the ready.
“Look at Barbara Boxer — she’s about as liberal as they come, right? In 2006, when Iran was starting to become a problem, Rick knew it and the woman who cosponsored the bill with him was her,” Rodgers explained. “Come on! he worked with her and convinced her to get on the bill.”
“Compromise,” she added. “We can’t do anything without compromise. People who don’t think we have to compromise aren’t living in reality.”
But isn’t being a compromiser a huge liability, especially among her fellow tea partiers?, I asked. She admitted that her perception of Santorum’s bipartisan nature is a tough sell to some primary voters, who fear compromise.
“They want to be hardliners,” she admitted. “But it’s not going to work in our country. I want all of us — we’re all Americans.”
“They say, ‘well we can’t compromise our values,'” Rodgers said of some of her fellow tea party types. “I say, I’m not talking about compromising our values. You know, sometimes you’re going to get 3/4 of what you want, sometimes you get half. But if you can even get half to move what you want forward, it’s better than nothing.”
Do they buy that? I asked.
“I don’t know because a lot of them are Ron Paul [supporters] and they just don’t listen to anything,” she said.
