I realize Rick Santorum is a political opportunist of the lowest order, but I would think an attack like this is even beneath his already low standards,
"He is imposing his values on the Christian church. He can categorize those values anyway he wants. I'm not going to," Santorum told reporters.
At some point you would think enough is enough, that Republican voters would refuse to accept this phlegm that their candidates keep coughing up on the campaign trail, but given dear Rick's surge in the polls, it seems that the teabaggers have found their "man."
Also worth noting is his less than original use of the "O" in his name.
It continually amazes me how puerile the right wing of the Republican party has become. Its message revolves around one simple idea (although it hardly qualifies as an actual idea): Democrats are intent on taking things away from them.
ReplyDeleteThe Republican base appears to have breathed new life into Freud's anal retentive personality disorder, a disorder that had been pretty much laid to rest as not exactly scientifically sound. But I'm beginning to wonder if anal retentivity isn't exactly what Rick Sanorum and his supporters are all about.
It seems that the tea party wants a "blue collar" kind of guy, not that Rickie "O" fits the bill, but he comes closer to Romney who has a combined wealth of half the teabaggers.
ReplyDeleteNow, I hear Sarah is considering a run of her own (again!) when her "horse" pulled up lame. What a whacky campaign season!
Palin entering the race? The Republicans may as well just light themselves on fire.
ReplyDeleteSantorum is scary. If he can learn to keep his mouth shut on all the other stuff he believes -- he is really out there on social issues! -- and just sticks to his working class message, he may be stronger than we want to think.
ReplyDeleteHis Iowa or New Hampshire speech was very powerful about being the son of immigrants, whose grandfather worked in the mines, and who came here in search of freedom etc. He has that story down, and it's a good one.
Palin misses all the attention.
ReplyDeleteHere is an interesting article on Santorum's family roots,
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/01/11/rick-santorum-s-italian-family-speaks-out.html
a far cry from the image he presents.
I'm not very worried about Santorum. Short of Palin, he is the worst possible candidate the Republicans could nominate. He's already managed to alienate more than half of the Republicans,
ReplyDeletehttp://video.msnbc.msn.com/up-with-chris-hayes/46446054/#null
That's a great article about his family. How far the fruit has fallen from the tree.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're right. He definitely has alienated most women, which would wipe out half the electorate. But if he learns how to strictly control his message, he may be more formidable than we want to think. He's supporting manufacturing jobs and even coming out in support of unions (except for government workers, of course). I think there are a lot of those independent/working class whites who will like that message if they don't dig too deep (and Fox News will make sure they don't have to).
The problem is that he is exposed. He may have captured the GOP's febrile imagination but it won't last long. That 2008 quote where he questions Protestantism is a real buzz kill for a large segment of the Republican electorate. Of course, he has since tried to "clarify" his statements,
ReplyDeletehttp://news.yahoo.com/santorum-questions-obamas-world-view-not-faith-181305027.html
but he has only dug himself a deeper hole with statements like this,
Rick Santorum on Sunday condemned what he called President Barack Obama's world view that "elevates the Earth above man" and requires insurers to pay for prenatal tests that will encourage more abortions.
We won't even go into his lack of any historical understanding when he says the country was founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs. You would be hard pressed to find much mention of a democratic form of government in the Bible.
I totally agree with you, but I'm also not so confident about the people who vote republican.
ReplyDeleteBut avrds, the people who will vote for Santorum--and I don't beileve for a moment that they will ever have that chance in a presidential election--occupy the 30% base who would vote Republican even if Ronald McDonald were the nominee. I just don't see this guy picking up any independents, even if (as you may remember) I don't believe everyone who claims to be independent actually is independent. Santorum is a nutcase with absolutely no staying power. If he proves me wrong, I will be willing to eat everyone's hat.
ReplyDeleteI sure hope you are both right. They both scare me for different reasons.
ReplyDeleteI'll be working the phones to get out the vote regardless of who is running!
I am, by the way, also an independent .... (I sometimes vote green or socialist if I could)
This Republican presidential campaign cycle has been a grotesque reality show. I don't know whether it has been designed to distract people while the SuperPACs work on getting Republicans elected to the Senate or it just how the chips fell this time around. I don't recall a worse set of candidates and more vile campaign rhetoric in the past. What I would be watching out for is who the Republicans are trying to slip into the Senate!
ReplyDeleteYou can call it the Dolt vote,
ReplyDeletehttp://news.yahoo.com/santorum-says-obama-agenda-not-based-bible-011457960.html
All the news coming out about Santorum must have more than a few folks at the White House fist-bumping. That this nutjob might actually (although admittedly it is a very long shot) prevent Romney from getting his 1144 delegates is almost too good to be true.
ReplyDeleteGingrich/Palin 2012!!!
Or will it be Palin/Cantor 2012!
ReplyDeleteOr maybe Paul/Paul 2012!
ReplyDeleteThe possibilities are endlessssssssssss.
Yea, one can only imagine the chaos at the convention, especially if Sarah decides to join in the fray. Romney must be asking himself what he did wrong as he beats his head against the wall. "How can I possibly lose Michigan to this guy!"
ReplyDeleteIt does seem Rick has tapped into a vein here,
ReplyDelete"I refer to global warming as not climate science but political science," Santorum said to loud applause. He said Obama has "radical environmentalist policies" that reject robust extraction of oil and gas from many U.S. areas, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
he has the "Dolt vote" sewed up. Not even Newt could have said it any better. The only problem is that most Americans don't think this way.
http://news.yahoo.com/santorum-seizes-social-issues-romney-demurs-205523122.html
The above comment about global warming is ridiculous. AS IF he doesn't belong to the political party that has politicized this issue.
ReplyDeleteI see Rick now has Mitt wallowing in the same pigshit,
ReplyDeletehttp://news.yahoo.com/romney-says-obama-fought-against-religion-222645762.html
Interesting interview with Alan Simpson on the GOP campaign. He didn't have very kind words for Santorum or Gingrich,
ReplyDeletehttp://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/02/22/republican-alan-simpson-calls-rick-santorum-rigid-and-homphobic-video/
According to Santorum, a college education is now considered elitist. Not to be outdone, Gingrich has attacked democrats for carrying out a secular agenda. Just when you thought it was safe to watch Republicans on the campaign trail : (
ReplyDeleteYou have to love the way Ricky "O" is trying to lure Dems in Michigan,
ReplyDeletehttp://news.yahoo.com/santorum-robocall-urges-democrats-vote-gop-primary-210935228.html
blithely unaware that many Dems might just vote for him to keep this clown show going well into the summer,
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/15/1065052/-Announcing-Operation-Hilarity-Let-s-keep-the-GOP-clown-show-going-?detail=hide
in what Daily Kos calls "Operation Hilarity!"
Amazing country we live in.
ReplyDeleteIndeed! I don't know whether to laugh or cry?
ReplyDeleteSantorum's latest about Obama being a snob for encouraging people to get a college education is, well, only a position you take if you're a right wing nutball Republican.
ReplyDeleteAs Jon Stewart quipped, how is it that Romney can't put this guy away? A 3-point win in your home state that had less than 25% voter turnout is not cause for excitement, yet Mitt tries to put a good face on this squeaker heading into a Super Tuesday that will probably leave him battered and deeply bruised.
ReplyDeleteNo one in Michigan was likely to forget the editorial Romney wrote in the New York Times. I suspect he received many votes from people who were holding their nose in the polling booth. If Santorum wasn't such a blithering idiot, Romney would have probably lost by plenty.
ReplyDeleteYea, it really is amazing Romney is having such a hard time with Ratboy and Newt. These two were given up for dead last summer, but when Perry and Cain fell by the wayside, I guess the teabaggers had no one else to turn to. They simply aren't going to vote for Romney.
ReplyDeleteRight wing preacher introduces Santorum:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2emBxDOY7g
This is a major league embarrassment.
It seems Rick's slim chances at the nomination now stand at none.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I should be happy or sad. There just might be enough people out there crazy enough to vote for him in a general election -- be interesting to see what the campaign looks like under Mr. Etch-a-Sketch.
ReplyDeleteI've been missing Rachel Maddow for the last few months but listened to her opening feature tonight -- the company that makes Etch-a-Sketch shipped its Ohio jobs overseas in 2000 to meet the price demands of its major customer, Toys-R-Us, owned by .... Bain Capital. It's just one more thing after another for Mitt Romney.