Baggage check

This is a baggage check for the General Election Airlines since I can't speak for conservatives and what they'd consider as baggage.

Romney

He'll probably have some explaining to do concerning Romneycare, but it's a complex issue, so some sleight of hand will probably satisfy. His record in Massachusetts isn't bad. I don't know of much the Dems can beat him up over. His aides all paid for their hard drives and took all the potentially incriminating (or just dull) emails with them. He didn't make big enemies here. The Olympics was a success, so opposition research will struggle to find anything there.

I suspect that someone looking into Bain Capital can find something shocking while Romney was leading it. I won't be surprised if Bain raided a pension fund or two. I also wonder about the heavy debts that some companies were left with. Was there full disclosure to those lenders? Somehow I doubt it. There's probably a cadre of researchers looking into Bain, supported by better-funded groups than the Santorum campaign. The diggers will be holding onto their mucky treasures until the general campaign.

General assessment: Pretty clean except for the suitcase stuffed with other people's cash.

Santorum

If this guy was going through customs, he'd be there hours. In 2006, he lost his Senate by 18%. That's a huge loss for an unindicted seating senator. Maybe a lot of Pennsylvanians got fed up with the same kind of statements that angered me: statements about how awful gays are, how selfish working mothers are, how selfish is it to get divorced, how people shouldn't be using contraception because it circumvents nature and greatly reduces the next generation that the country needs.

Then there are political choices he's made--the earmarks, his involvement in the K Street project to ensure lobbyists' loyalty to Republicans, his misuse of public funds and sweetheart business deals. I've just started to look on the web, and I've found more Santorum baggage than I can tote on a cart. From all the websites out in webland, I'm guessing Santorum riled the wrong people.

General assessment: Santorum looks and sounds like Mr. Clean, but his baggage is leaking santorum everywhere. Nonetheless, he's probably cleaner than Newt, which doesn't matter because Newt's campaign bid is now dead.

Maybe I exaggerate...

Extra: Google for "Santorum quotes on" to find out what people are asking. It's quite a long list, including gays, blacks, and birth control. Romney's list starts with abortion and taxes.