Over the course of the next two days, the ever-growing Republican presidential field will gain two more candidates: former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum and former New York governor George Pataki.
While a recent Pew poll found that Republicans view the early 2016 GOP field more favorably than they did at about the same time in the 2012 and 2008 cycles, the constantly increasing number of Republican candidates is a concern for some. Fox News recently decided to limit its August 6 presidential debate to the top ten candidates in the polls, which would seem to be bad news for Santorum, who’s currently polling at 2.3 percent nationally, and Pataki, who isn’t even included in most national polls. (When asked about Fox’s decision, Pataki’s communications director David Catalfamo claims that if the same restriction had existed when Abraham Lincoln ran for president in 1860, he wouldn’t have made the debate, either.)
On Wednesday, Santorum is scheduled to launch his campaign from the headquarters of Penn United Technologies in Cabot, Pa., not far from his childhood home. Santorum has long been friends with the owners of Penn United, a successful manufacturing company.
During the 2012 presidential election cycle, Santorum became a superstar among the GOP’s conservative base following his narrow win over former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in the Iowa caucuses. In the end, the former Pennsylvania senator didn’t have enough steam to stop Romney from eventually nabbing the nomination.
Santorum will face yet another uphill climb to the party’s nomination.
This time around, Santorum will face yet another uphill climb to the party’s nomination. Not only is the 2016 Republican field expected to be much larger than the one Santorum faced in 2012, but it’s also rife with candidates competing for the social-conservative voters who are his natural base.
The day after Santorum launches his campaign, former New York governor George Pataki is slated to announce his own candidacy for the nomination in Exeter, N.H. — the GOP’s birthplace. While rumors circulated that Pataki would run for president in both 2008 and 2012, the three-term New York governor bided his time in private life. Now, he finally appears ready to seek the nomination.
#related#Although Pataki’s pro-choice views and his strong support of environmental protections were acceptable to Republicans in New York, he will likely have a harder time selling his track record to GOP voters in more conservative states. For the past several months, Pataki’s main focus has been spreading the message of limited government through his recently formed super PAC, We the People, Not Washington.
With Santorum and Pataki throwing their hats into the ring, eight candidates will have launched campaigns for the GOP nomination since Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas) became the first to announce a bid back in March. More than ten other potential Republican candidates are still exploring a White House run.
— Julia Porterfield is an intern at National Review, editor-in-chief of Red Millennial, and a junior at Regent University.