Heir Apparent - Rick Santorum

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Now that Rick Santorum has officially suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination for President, he assumes the Republican mantle of Heir Apparent.  Santorum will be running for President in 2016  and will receive the nod and nomination from the Republican party.  That's how it works in the Republican party.  The tradition of the loser in one primary season is automatically next in line and 2016 will shape up that way for Rick Santorum.  That is of course, if Mitt Romney is unsuccessful in his bid to unseat President Barack Obama.

Santorum will follow the tried and true strategy of his Republican predecessors.  He will write two or three books, speak endlessly across the country and manage to keep himself out in front of the Republican conservative base.  At the same time, he will begin the process of building a political organization similar to the one that Romney built when he was defeated in 2008 by John McCain. 

The strategy works and Rick Santorum will follow the lead created by President Reagan, President George H. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney.  The nomination is as good as his unless he really falls off  the map in the next two to three years.  The one piece that he hasn't performed is endorsing his party's eventual nominee, Mitt Romney.  This is an important and critical step for him to secure the nomination in 2016. 

Clearly, Santorum saw the writing on the wall with his home state of Pennsylvania coming up.  His numbers were falling as Romney's were improving and another loss on the home front would have been devastating for him.  He lost his Senate race in Pennsylvania by double digits just a few years back. 

Santorum's first book will be on his belief that President Obama is at war against the Christian faith.  It will be a goodie and a must-read for all conservatives.  At some point, Santorum will write another book designed to carve out his political positions and policies for the nation.  Both books will be bestsellers and will add to the already  partisan politics of America. 

Now that Santorum has made the right decision to give Romney and the Republicans a shot at President Obama, it only leaves Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich to fade away like the soldiers they should be.  No matter what happens with the also-rans, the Race is on.  Mitt Romney versus Barack Obama.  It certainly won't be pretty and there sure will be a lot of money spent trying to convince we Americans which direction we wish our country to move in. 

For Santorum, he will endorse Romney soon and get to work on his two books and his eventual nomination in 2016.  The bad news for Santorum however is that Hillary is right around the corner and I suspect she will be positioning herself in much the same manner.  One term as Secretary of State with a solid, outstanding record of service.  Her books will sell better than Santorum's and of course, she will have two Presidents in her pocket.