Santorum Is Out...So What Does That Mean?

Rick's out. It's official as of today.

Not that he was going to win the nomination at this late date, but we are now spared his super right wing, religiously based platform as a threat to run the country. Good.

But, what does Santorum more realistically mean?

Well, for one thing, it shows that the Republican Party - for all of it's seeming dislike of Mr. Mitt "I have an elevator for my cars at my house" Romney - prefers the upper crusty, major rich wheeler dealer insider than it does the righteous (or self-righteous) "social issues" candidate. For all the social issue fervor of the primary candidates, the Rs are in the end casting their lot with the aloof flip-flopper who is connected at the hip to Wall Street and has "paid his dues" in the party.

This is actually probably the best for that party's chances in the fall. I'm not saying Mitt "corporations are people, my friend" Romney will win the presidency, but I think he'll have a better shot that would have Rick, Newt or Ron. After all, most Americans are not going to vote for the overt ultra conservative agenda that those other candidates would have made their primary issues.

Indeed, the Rs essentially stepped away from the fire and brimstone frenzy happening in their living room, slowly backed away, closed the door behind them and turned around to shake hands with their mega-rich uncle in the hallway.

Santorum bowing out also means that the Republicans are still fielding a candidate fully in favor of the exact policies that got us into the economic mess of the last decade. Yep, for all their differences on social issues, the leading Republican candidates for president all pretty much agreed on an economic policy that would:

• Reduce taxes on the wealth and corporations while adding to the tax burden of the middle class
• Major degregulation for the energy, housing, financial and environmental sectors of the economy
• Increase defense spending

Sound familiar? It should. That's the toxic recipe that led to where we are today.

And finally, no more Santorum in the race means Obama and Romney will now go directly after each other starting now and through November. You think you've had it with all the political talk and advertising since January? You ain't seen nothing yet! The 2012 election will be a record setter. Why?

For those of you unfamiliar, the Supreme Court decided in 2010 that corporations and unions are due the same free speech rights as human citizens and, therefore, the government cannot restrict how much they can spend on political expenditures. Yep. Your Supreme Court in action.

This will mean massive seas of money sloshing and rolling into both the Obama and Romney coffers. They will be able to fire away consistently and - no doubt - harshly at each other for more than six full months. By the time of the conventions, there will have been an unprecedented amount media coverage, advertising and general talk about the two candidates.