Santorum and big city values

In Mitt Romney, Republicans seemed to have a candidate who had a chance of cracking the 30% barrier with Jewish voters — especially given the Obama-Bibi bumps in the road and lingering questions about the economy.

But today Rick Santorum is the man. OK, he’s still facing an uphill delegate fight. But those wins in Alabama and Mississippi have expanded his victory map and demonstrated his ability to be Romney’s main challenger — even in Newt Gingrich’s southern backyard.

So what’s Santorum’s potential with Jewish voters?

Polls consistently show that Jewish voters are more liberal than the general public on a host of domestic issues. And Santorum is more conservative.

So he’d have some work to do, no matter how Obama and Bibi are doing come Novemeber.

But policy disagreements are only part of the challenge. It’s also the way Santorum frames these disagreements — candidates who talk about an us-vs.-them values clash in America tend to worry Jews who see themselves falling into the "them" category. 

Here’s what he told supporters after winning the Kansas caucuses on Saturday:

“I kept saying, you just stick with us, you go out and vote for your values and trust what you know,” he told supporters. “Because you don’t live in New York City.  You don’t live in Los Angeles.  You live like most Americans in between those two cities, and you know the values you believe in.”

New York and Los Angeles boast the two largest Jewish populations in the country. Those two cities embody and reflect a great deal of Jewish success and integration in America. So Jewish GOPers should let Santorum know — if he wants to make big inroads in the Jewish vote, ixnay on any talk about only people outside of big cities having real values.

Just think about the optics back in 2008 when then-candidate Barack Obama theorized that his primary setbacks were in part due to folks clinging to things like guns and religion when times were tough. And Obama thought he was chatting behind closed doors at a fundraiser. Imagine if he had said it during a speech?