Rick Santorum leading Barack Obama in crucial swing states

Friday, January 1, 1904

It's looking as if Rick Santorum's steady opposition to ObamaCare might well make him the strongest Republican candidate against President Barack Obama in November.

A USA Today/Gallup poll highlights anew what has been clear since Democrats passed ObamaCare in 2010: that it remains unpopular with the American people. It is so unpopular, in fact, that it is damaging Obama's prospects in swing states.

That's crucial because the election won't be decided in states such as strongly conservative Tennessee nor deeply liberal Massachusetts, but in those with more evenly split views.

The survey found that in 12 battleground states, stretching from New Hampshire to New Mexico, 42 percent of registered voters think ObamaCare will make things worse for their families; only 20 percent think it will make things better. Only 16 percent of independents said ObamaCare makes them more likely to vote for Obama; more than twice as many, 35 percent, said it makes them less apt to back Obama.

"Opposition to the law is eroding Obama's support among the middle-of-the-road voters both nominees will court ...," USA Today reported. And former Pennsylvania Sen. Santorum is best poised among the Republican hopefuls to attract those votes.

That's because he has consistently opposed the unconstitutional law. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney says he, too, opposes ObamaCare, and no doubt that's true. But he shepherded into law in his state a reform that became the model for ObamaCare. So he will have a tough time convincing voters he will work hard to have ObamaCare repealed. He simply may not offer sufficient contrast between his views and those of Obama to spur conservatives and independents who oppose ObamaCare to turn out in high numbers.

Santorum's clearer stand against ObamaCare partly explains why he is stronger head to head against Obama in the all-important swing states. The poll found him leading Obama by 50 percent to 45 percent. Romney leads Obama by only 48 percent to 46 percent in those states.

Santorum is debunking the idea that a conservative can't beat Obama. America is a conservative nation, and Santorum may be exactly the right candidate after the nation has endured four years of the consequences of Obama's liberalism.