Why Republicans Shouldn’t Ignore Santorum

Gerald Seib: “Republicans already obsessing about the 2016 presidential sweepstakes have paid little attention so far to Rick Santorum. That’s a mistake.”

“A mistake not because Mr. Santorum, the former Pennsylvania Senator and unsuccessful 2012 presidential candidate, is likely to win his party’s nomination. He’s a long shot if he runs again.”

“It is a mistake because Mr. Santorum has written a new book, Blue Collar Conservatives, that shows he grasps two important realities that seem to escape many others. The first is that, outmoded stereotypes notwithstanding, blue-collar Americans, particularly working-class whites in the South and Midwest, today comprise a core element of the Republican Party. The second reality is that, because of the alienation these people feel from both the political and economic systems, the table is set for a new period of populism.”