Contemplating Frothy Mix's Campaign End Game

There is much speculation that Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum's chances of succeeding in his presidential nomination bid are dwindling rapidly and that, if he hopes to retain as much positive maneuvering space for the future, he needs to end his campaign soon. That, of course, assumes that Santorum is sane and rational - something I'm not willing in my opinion to concede. I would argue that if Santorum was sane and rational, he would not have championed half the batshitery that has been the hallmark of his campaign. That said, if the nation is lucky, Santorum will ignore the good advices of others in the GOP and utterly kill his political future. Would that his Kool-Aid drinking, knuckle dragging supporters be similarly driven into the political wilderness. Here are highlights from a Washington Post story:

“If Santorum runs a principled campaign and then concedes graciously then he has a big future ahead,” said Steve Schmidt, who managed McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. “If he runs a character campaign attacking Romney, then Santorum’s future is more limited.”

Santorum could follow a similar path, according to conversations with a number of GOP strategists, both those aligned with Romney and those not.Early returns aren’t promising for those hoping for a peaceful wind down of the Santorum campaign — either now or in a month’s time.

The former Pennsylvania senator has seized on the “Etch-a-Sketch” comment made by a Romney aide on Wednesday. Not only did Santorum buy a bunch of the children’s toy at a Toys R Us in Louisiana but he’s also added an Etch-a-Sketch line into his stump speech. “You’re not looking for someone who is the Etch-A-Sketch candidate,” said Santorum on Wednesday. “You are looking for someone who writes what they believe in in stone and stays true to what they say.”

It remains to be seen whether Santorum will continue down that rhetorical road after Louisiana’s primary vote, which he is expected to win, on Saturday.

If he does, watch for more major establishment figures to come forward to both support Romney and carry a more overt warning to Santorum about what his continuing on his current course could mean to his political future.

Whether Santorum listens or not depends on what he wants. In 2016, Santorum would only be 58 years old (and only 62 in 2020) and, given how much he has overperformed expectations in this presidential race, he would almost certainly have a constituency on which to build a bid. (Of course, the potential 2016/2020 field is packed with talent on the Republican side and Santorum would not likely be in the first tier of candidates.)

On the other hand, if Santorum genuinely believes nominating Romney would send the Republican party not only to defeat in 2012 but to a place that it shouldn’t go ideologically, he may well stay in until he feels more comfortable with where the GOP is headed. And, Santorum knows that he is currently one of the last two men standing in this race — a prime spot that he may never be able to replicate in future races.

Remember: It’s not when Santorum decides to begin winding down his campaign that matters. It’s how he does it.