Santorum, Gingrich and Bachman - Post Election

We all know that Mitt Romney didn’t succeed in his bid to become President.  Before he even got the Republican nomination, however, he battled in the primaries for almost ten months against at least six other Republican Presidential hopefuls.  They didn’t make it past the summer months but what are they doing now and what are their plans for the future?

Rick Santorum, former Senator from Pennsylvania, returned this week to Alabama to give a speech on signs of hopefulness for conservatives.  Alabama, a state he won in the March primary, turned out a big crowd to hear him speak.  He told his audience that “America is still great”, its future is bright and we need to “get back to principles that made us unique.”    Santorum had also been in Washington DC in the last week to lobby against the United Nations Treaty for  People with Disabilities.  The treaty was negotiated during the last Bush administration and has been signed by 126 countries. It requires signatories to update their laws for persons with disabilities.  It is being considered by the Senate during its current lame-duck session.  Santorum and others from the home-schooling lobby, believe that this treaty will impact the authority of the United States and will undermine parents – giving the state priority over parents. Santorum says he is open to considering another Presidential run in 2016.

Newt Gingrich, the winner of the South Carolina Republican primary which gave him impetus in the Republican race, has returned to his television appearances on both FOX News and as a guest on other shows, such as Jay Leno.  The former Speaker of the House of Representatives says he now want to study where Republicans erred in this election.  One thing he is very vocal about is the need for Republicans to broaden their reach, deriding their lack of diversity.  Gingrich is also vocal on the so-called “Fiscal Cliff” being a fantasy.   At a recent speech at the Ronald Reagan library in California, he said there was no fiscal cliff and that  it
is  “ absolute total nonsense.”  By negotiating with President Obama and the
Democrats on a plan to prevent going over the cliff, Gingrich believes that
Republicans are just giving them leverage and urges the Republicans not to
negotiate at all.

Michelle Bachman is back in Washington for her fourth term as the Congresswoman from Minnesota’s 6th District.  While running in the Presidential primaries, Bachman was also campaigning to retain her Congressional seat (as was Paul Ryna during his Vice Presidential campaign).  She succeeded, but just barely, by winning her seat with 50.6% of the vote over her opponent’s 49.4%.  In Congress she was the founder, and remains a member, of the Tea Party caucus.