Over the past month or so, I have seen mentions here and there from various friends and acquaintances about Rick Santorum, his socially conservative views, and the subsequent and commonly negative reaction one would have if he were to become the Republican candidate or even president.

Santorum’s views are likely no surprise to anyone who follows politics: He does not believe in legalizing gay marriage. He is pro-life. He supports a conservative way of raising one’s family. This is who Rick Santorum is and was six, 10, and 12 years ago.

Coming into this election cycle, conservatives and Republicans alike knew that Rick Santorum would be a definite favorite to more socially conservative voters, but the key problem was his electability. Well, that was supposedly the key problem until Santorum became the latest “anti-Romney” candidate.

As has been true of every candidate who has taken the second-place chair next to Mitt Romney in this Republican primary, increased attention has naturally highlighted whatever strengths and weaknesses the Santorun has. The problem is, being a socially conservative candidate, Rick Santorum has this tendency to, for lack of better description, focus almost exclusively on whatever social issue comes up on the campaign trail.

Why do I say this? It’s not that I’m annoyed that people don’t like Santorum because he doesn’t support legalizing gay marriage. The issue I have is with people, including Santorum himself, taking their eyes off of the big picture that is the major factor in this election: the economy.

It should be stated that I am not saying the economy is the big-picture issue this election in an effort to belittle the importance of social issues. They are still very important to me personally and deserve attention, but there are times when too much attention can be placed on a single issue, and in the 24-hour news cycle, the discussion of one particular issue increases exponentially.

Basically, whatever one hears about Rick Santorum and what he said at “X” campaign stop should be taken into consideration alongside the overall context of the election. Yes, single phrases and statements on specific issues can be important in determining whether one likes one candidate over the other. However, just because a candidate says a certain thing that one may disagree with does not reflect that candidate’s likelihood in gaining his or her party’s nomination or the presidency itself. Such is the case with Rick Santorum.

Assuming that the brokered convention scenario laid out in a Thursday column in The Daily Eastern News does not play out in Santorum’s favor, it is safe to say that the likelihood of Rick Santorum winning enough delegates via the primaries is low.

Why? Because, despite Santorum’s popularity with social conservatives, the presidency of Barack Obama has given economic issues the prominent role among many conservative voters, and Santorum’s record of supporting spending measures as Senator does not fall in line with the Tea Party-influenced theme of fiscal conservatism this election cycle. Add Santorum’s views on the role of government in advancing his socially conservative agenda, and one finds that he supports cases of government intrusion/intervention that make conservatives nervous.

While this is not to say that Santorum is guaranteed to drop out of the Republican primary within the next month, I do wish to stress to those concerned about him becoming the nominee that they can relax a little. At the same time, however, I would encourage those same people to understand the larger issues that are inherently present in this election, if possible. Doing so could possibly change your concerns to outright joy.

Greg Sainer is a senior communication studies major. He can be reached at 581-7942 or [email protected].