Acknowledging that his economic platform – focused on tax incentives for manufacturers – is “not necessarily gonna satisfy the supply-side folks,” Santorum recalled that his old congressional seat gave him firsthand experience with job loss in the industrial Midwest. Voters nod along as he talks about the threat of foreign manufacturers taking American jobs.
“All the old mills were in my district,” Santorum said. “I understood the struggles [manufacturing workers] were going through.”
It’s an almost George W. Bush-like, compassionate-conservative outlook on the economy, and one that has earned Santorum plaudits from some conservative intellectuals. “In the debates, Santorum has constantly talked about increasing economic mobility. In a heresy for a Republican, he’s acknowledged that some countries in Europe are more mobile than we are, and he has noted the disparity between the unemployment rates of college-educated and non-college-educated Americans,” Lowry wrote in a Dec. 28 column. “He’s right, although he is one of the few Republicans who seem determined to have the conversation.”
In some respects, his political profile is similar to Tim Pawlenty’s – a less-than-magnetic combination of authentic conservatism and down-to-earth accessibility.
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