Wall Street Journal agrees with me on Santorum

During last night's live chat with THE BLAZE, readers and I had a good discussion about Rick Santorum's message.

"[The] economy seems to be his afterthought. His speeches center on marriage, abortion, etc. THEN economy," I said. Unlike me, many of our readers are Santorum supporters, including MOMVET and K2. They said the news media have positioned Santorum to appear to be obsessed with social issues, when he is actually also focused on the economy just as much.

A fair point. The media can create a narrative and run with it.

But I happened to come across this unsigned Wall Street Journal editorial from earlier this month. I hadn't read it when it was first published (Feb. 13) but it said almost the exact same thing I said in last night's chat. Emphasis is mine:

Mr. Santorum's weakness is that a party nomination, much the less the Presidency, is not won by values alone. Those issues work best when they are part of a larger vision of reviving America's self-confidence and economic growth. Mr. Santorum already has cultural voters on his side. He needs to win independents and Republicans who are more tolerant traditionalists.

Some of this is tone and emphasis. Mr. Santorum often gives the impression that he views the economy as a secondary issue, something he'll get to after he saves the traditional family. But a President can do only so much to shape the culture, while in the current moment he can do a great deal more to help the economy.

Just wanted to throw that out there.

The replay of last night's chat is here. The Santorum conversation began at 10 p.m.