Political Column: And The Winner Is!

Daniel Caccavale

As we all know, there is a very important election coming up in November, the race to see who will be the next president of the United States. Will President Obama be re-elected or will the Republican candidate be given a chance? But, then again, we don’t even know who that Republican candidate will be yet. Currently, we are in a race for a race. The Republican primary pushes on and we get closer and closer to the final candidate. However, before the race is even over, we may have our victor.

On April 10, 2012 candidate Rick Santorum made the announcement that he would be dropping out of the race for the Republican nomination. This announcement came as a shock to some at such a pivotal time in the race. Santorum was proving to be a very tough opponent for front-runner Mitt Romney. So why would he drop out of the race so suddenly? Well, according to an article published by BBC News on April 10, 2012 entitled “Rick Santorum Suspends US Presidential Campaign,” it had to do with his three-year-old daughter being admitted to the hospital. His daughter suffers from a genetic disorder and became ill. This is more than a good reason to drop out of the campaign and I do wish Isabella Santorum a quick recovery. However, politics stops for no one.

This declaration by Santorum basically leaves the gate wide open for Mitt Romney. Santorum was already barely hanging on and considering Newt Gingrich, who’s primary victories I can count on one hand, and Ron Paul, who has yet to win a primary election, are Romney’s best competition, it seems Romney has become virtually untouchable. Romney has everything going for him right now—popularity, little competition, and enough money to keep a campaign going in almost every state. It seems that it is almost impossible for him to lose at this point, unless by some miraculous occurrence. Even then, it would be amazing. So, now I am willing to throw in my personal opinion and say that we will be seeing Mitt Romney on the November ballot right next to the words “Republican Candidate.” But the question still lingers, can Romney truly beat Obama in the 2012 Presidential election? That is the true test of popularity, and will make for a very interesting November.