Rick Santorum Wasting Our Time

Absolutely no one missed Rand Paul in Thursday’s Fox Business GOP Presidential Debate from North Charleston.  His little feelings were bruised when his polling numbers got him demoted to the undercard.  He decided to boycott the debate.

Rick Santorum, who is barely garnering 2% in national polling, burned up some of his time introducing his sons who are cadets at The Citadel.  After a long-winded statement on why he is the best Republican to take on The Ice Cube In Heels, Rick cleverly declared, "I know I'm out of time. I'm going to take some of Rand Paul’s time here for a second.”

Santorum: “It Was Your Voice”

Today, shortly after 2:20PM, GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum graciously suspended his campaign thanking his supporters and the many volunteers who gave their all in his efforts to win the nomination.

It seems that when his daughter Bella fell ill again over the Easter weekend, he and his family re-evaluated their priorities and decided the run for the White House would steal precious moments with Bella from them.

Mr. Santorum’s improbable bid for the presidency amazed pundits and everyday Americans.  He worked harder on the trail that any other candidate.  Any other. Period.

During his presser, Santorum discussed the privilege of traveling around the country, hearing the stories of Americans. He said, “It has been inspiring to me, the story after story that we’ve been engaged with. And it turns out it wasn’t really my voice that I was communicating, it was your voice. The voice that you gave me from the stories and the experience that I’ve had.”

Almost immediately following his statement to the press, Team Romney sent the following email:

“Senator Santorum is an able and worthy competitor, and I congratulate him on the campaign he ran. He has proven himself to be an important voice in our party and in the nation.  We both recognize that what is most important is putting the failures of the last three years behind us and setting America back on the path to prosperity.”

Santorum Swears At New York Times Reporter

According to an AP report appearing in The Washington Post, while GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum was speaking to an audience of supporters, he said that Romney is “uniquely disqualified” to be the GOP’s presidential pick and urged his supporters to stand with him even as he faces an increasingly improbable pathway to the nomination. Santorum said “the race isn’t over until the people of Wisconsin sing,” and urged them to give his underfunded, underdog campaign a chance to derail Romney.

Later, near Racine at an evening rally, he said, “Pick any other Republican in the country. He is the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama.”

In an attempt to clarify his statement, his temper flared.

“On the issue of health care. That’s what I was talking about, and I was very clear about talking about that. OK?” Santorum told reporters who asked him about the scathing criticism. “Come on, guys, don’t do this. I mean, you guys are incredible. I was talking about Obamacare, and he is the worst because he was the author of Romneycare.”

Pressed by a reporter from The New York Times, Santorum said: “Quit distorting my words. It’s bulls---.”

I ask Santorum if Romney is "worst Republican" to run. He says: “Quit distorting my words It's bullshit." He says he was talking health care
— Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) March 26, 2012

Am I the only one who sees the scorching irony in the Drudge Report screencap where Santorum is pictured with fire-breathing pastor Dennis Terry at a Baton Rouge revival nodding in reverence?  Or his devotion to his faith and the need to swear?

If this man hopes to be the leader of the free world he must (1) get a handle on his temper, (2) remember that the Office of the President requires that he embody dignity and (3) must not let the media play him like a cheap fiddle.

He is letting the mainstream media set the narrative and that is political suicide. 

Speak No Evil

Allahpundit begins his post over at Hot Air with this line: “Faced with the reality that his chances have collapsed, the Sweater Vest begins to unravel.”

I haven’t yet weighed in on who I’d vote for in this presidential primary cycle.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  Prior to the Iowa Caucuses, my support was going to Thad McCotter.

Thad McCotter wasn’t allowed to participate in the Fox News/Washington Examiner Iowa Republican Party debate. Criteria for inclusion in the debate did not allow several other candidates, or potential candidates, to participate in the debate, including Buddy Roemer and Fred Karger who did not meet the polling criterion of at least 1% in 5 national polls.

Shortly after the debate in Ames, Iowa Thad dropped out of the race saying in an interview with The Detroit News that, "If they keep you out of the debates, you are out of the conversation, and you can't run. It was sort of death by media."

It is my considered opinion that if McCotter had been in the Ames debate that the GOP political landscape would look very different today and for the better.  But that’s a discussion for another day.

On Thursday, March 22, 2012 Rick Santorum uttered something unbelievably reckless:

“You win by giving people a choice,” Santorum said during a campaign stop in Texas. “You win by giving people the opportunity to see a different vision for our country, not someone who’s just going to be a little different than the person in there.”

Santorum added: “If they’re going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk of what may be the Etch A Sketch candidate for the future.”

Many of my blogger friends have come out strongly for Rick Santorum.  I had chosen to wait and watch.  I’ve waited long enough.

Despite the protestations of Erick Erickson of Red State who opined, “Much hay is being made of Rick Santorum saying he’d prefer Obama to Romney. Except that is not what he said or what he meant. Certainly he could have had a clarifying clause in his statement, but given the context, I think he was saying no more and no less than what I have been saying.”

Erick, he said, “…we may as well stay with what we have…”  Even the most rudimentary student of the English language or PoliSci 101 knows the inference was to vote to give the errand boy sent by grocery clerks a second term.

Then there’s Stacy McCain who jumped on the Santorum bandwagon after Herman Cain bowed out of the race following his unfortunate bimbo eruption.  No more stalwart supporter can be found in the dextrosphere.

Stacy posted his thoughts saying, “Santorum was making the same argument Phyllis Schlafly made in her 1964 classic, A Choice Not an Echo. He is saying something he has said many times—and something Newt Gingrich has also said—that Romney fails to offer a clear contrast to Obama. In this context, when Santorum said ‘we might as well stay with what we have,’ he clearly meant to express what the reaction of regular voters would be, if presented with someone who is just ‘a little different’ than the incumbent.  Santorum did not express himself clearly, but awkwardness of expression is not the same as endorsing Barack Obama’s re-election.”

Erickson and McCain both agree that Santorum was, shall we say, inarticulate.  I believe it goes much deeper.

Whoever the next president is, will appoint up to three Supreme Court Justices during his term. Those appointments are for life.  “Staying with what we have” means that Obama will appoint liberal justices who will be activists who could, potentially, increase the threats to the rule of law and further infringe upon our liberty.

During a September 2001 Chicago public radio program that aired on Chicago’s WBEZ-FM on September 6, 2001, titled “Slavery and the Constitution”, then Illinois State Senator Barack Obama said, “I think we can say that the Constitution reflected an enormous blind spot in this culture that carries on until this day, and that the Framers had that same blind spot. I don’t think the two views are contradictory, to say that it was a remarkable political document that paved the way for where we are now, and to say that it also reflected the fundamental flaw of this country that continues to this day.”

Another point to be made is that the Democrats took solid control of the Senate and the House in 2006.  Their progressive agenda, along with squishy Republicans is what put this country on its knees.

A clear message was sent to the Houses of Congress in the 2010 election via the Tea Party Movement.  It takes time to sever the tentacles of the monster that has held our government hostage for the past six years.

If Romney does become the nominee at the GOP convention in Tampa, we must coalesce behind him.

I find that Rick Santorum is easily led astray by the Left’s taunting of him.  He lacks focus.  He spends too much time with long knives out for his rivals and not enough time attacking the real problem—the current occupant of the Oval Office—a man who is committed to the radical transformation of the country we love.

Four more years will only make the community organizer bolder and brasher and more narcissistic.

Santorum made an egregious mistake uttering those words and I join Jeff Dunetz of Yid With Lid, who today, has withdrawn his support.

Dunetz writes, “Yesterday, Rick Santorum showed himself too immature to be President of the United States.”

He continues, “I am sure Santorum will try and walk back the statement but is too late, the damage has been done.  Rick Santorum committed the ultimate sin for a 2012 GOP candidate—saying Barack Obama would be preferred over his opponents. This was hyperbole, which is both false and irresponsible.”

“Barack Obama represents the biggest threat to individual freedom in my lifetime (Joe Biden might even say in the past 500 years). Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney would be far superior to Barack Obama. With his suggestion to the contrary, Santorum proves himself to be less than ready to handle the job.”

Santorum’s recklessness in the heat of battle is also a clear indicator that he is not ready for prime time.

UPDATE:  On Friday’s edition of Your World, Neil Cavuto said, “A lot of folks think you committed political suicide.” Santorum replied, “Neil, this is just laughable…the highest priority in this country is to defeat Barack Obama. And, what I was saying there was, if we don’t have a choice, then the American public may decide to keep Barack Obama, that’s all I said.”

In the video embedded below, Santorum sounds pathetic and panicky as he attempts to walk back his disastrous comment.

Linked at The Lonely Conservative, Before It's News and Sentry Journal.

Is There So Much Handwriting On The Wall That Even The Wall Will Fall Down?

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday, March 10, 2012 shows that 25% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-four percent (44%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -19 (see trends).

Looking at Tuesday's upcoming primaries, the GOP race in Alabama is essentially a three-way tie, while Mitt Romney leads by eight in Mississippi.   Nationally, Romney now leads Rick Santorum by 12 points.  Regardless of who they want to win, 80% of Republican Primary Voters nationwide believe Romney will be the party's nominee.

With the perception growing that he will be the GOP nominee, Romney leads President Obama by five points in a hypothetical 2012 matchup. Today's numbers show Romney at 48%, Obama at 43%. That’s Romney’s largest lead since December.

If Santorum is the Republican nominee, he is up by one point over the president, 46% to 45%. This is the second time since polling began in 2011 that Santorum has had a slight lead over Obama. Romney is the only other candidate to lead the president more than one time in the polls. 

“The true hypocrite is the one who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies with sincerity.”—Andre Gide 

Game On!

At 2:34AM Matt Strawn, state chairman of the Iowa Republican Party announced the final results of the seesaw battle between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.  Eight votes separated the two:  Romney garnered 30,015 votes and Santorum placed second in the caucuses with 30,007.

On New Year’s Day, I asked if the Iowa Caucuses would turn out to be a good underdog story for Santorum. The answer is decidedly yes.

The amazing story behind Santorum’s successful showing in Iowa is the demonstrated hard work he put into the race.  His efforts to visit all 99 counties in the Hawkeye state and hold more than 370 town hall meetings helped to propel his second-place showing.

While Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich were traveling across the state in large campaign buses with their names on the sides, Santorum had been riding in a Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck called the “Chuck Truck”.  The truck is nicknamed after his campaign aide Chuck Laudner.  Tuesday night he said he was taking the “Chuck Truck” to New Hampshire.

The other point to note is that Santorum’s campaign success was achieved without any kind of funding that compared to the Romney campaign.  So, Santorum emerges from Iowa with the wind at his back and a slew of new-found attention.

There’s one other thing he’s got today that he didn’t have yesterday and that’s a giant target on his back.

Fox News Should Fire Alan Colmes

Anything Alan Colmes ever says from this day forward should be disregarded in its totality.

On Fox’s Happening Now, Obama lapdog Alan Colmes, uttered something so offensive that I am calling on Fox News to fire the bastard.  Here’s why:

At 10:51am on January 2, 2011, Mr. Colmes posted an article on his website where, among other things, he wrote, “When the fourth of Rick Santorum’s children was born prematurely at 20 weeks and lived for just two hours outside the womb, he brought the dead child home for his other kids to play with.”

Mr. Colmes, as is so often the case with liberals who have their sharp knives out for anyone who believes in the sanctity of life, deliberately painted a picture of a dysfunctional man grieving the loss of his infant son.  His article was a lie.

Mr. Colmes cited an article written by Mark Leibovich, a Washington Post staff writer.  The article entitled Father First, Senator Second begins, “In his Senate office, on a shelf next to an autographed baseball, Sen. Rick Santorum keeps a framed photo of his son Gabriel Michael, the fourth of his seven children. Named for two archangels, Gabriel Michael was born prematurely, at 20 weeks, on Oct. 11, 1996, and lived two hours outside the womb.”

“Upon their son's death, Rick and Karen Santorum opted not to bring his body to a funeral home. Instead, they bundled him in a blanket and drove him to Karen's parents' home in Pittsburgh. There, they spent several hours kissing and cuddling Gabriel with his three siblings, ages 6, 4 and 1 1/2. They took photos, sang lullabies in his ear and held a private Mass.”

[snip]

“He and Karen brought Gabriel's body home so their children could ‘absorb and understand that they had a brother,’ Santorum says. ‘We wanted them to see that he was real,’ not an abstraction, he says. Not a ‘fetus,’ either, as Rick and Karen were appalled to see him described—‘a 20-week-old fetus’—on a hospital form. They changed the form to read ‘20-week-old baby.’"

Did Mr. Colmes fail to read the entire Leibovich article?  I say no, because the paragraph in the article that destroys his claim was in the fourth paragraph.  Even a man with a limited attention span could make it to the fourth paragraph in his reading of the article.

No, Alan Colmes is so consumed with disgust for anyone of faith that taking cheap shots is like a game to him.

Karen Santorum authored a book, Letters to Gabriel: The True Story of Gabriel Michael Santorum, a recounting of the bond between mother and child.  With tenderness and love, Karen Santorum offers a profound statement about the gift of life, the grieving process and the paradox of suffering.

On May 29, 1998 Mrs. Santorum appeared on C-SPAN to discuss the book which is a compilation of letters she wrote to Gabriel before and after his birth.

Embedded below is the exchange between Rich Lowry and the beclowned Mr. Colmes.

“To take something that is that personal and that hurtful as losing a child and mocking it like that…that is beneath you, Alan,” Lowry said. “What you’re saying is contemptible.”

UPDATE:  Allahpundit doesn't know where Colmes got this sick idea, but describes his bleating as pure instinctual, ideological bloodlust.  You’ll also find a video from a few months ago in which Santorum talks about his tragic loss.

UPDATE II:  Feeling the heat from the outrage, at 8:02PM Colmes tweets Rick Santorum to apologize for his "hurtful comment."

This post was linked at Randy's Roundtable.  Thanks so much.

Welcome Hot Air readers.

Will The Iowa Caucuses Be A Good Underdog Story?

Image credit:  Mark Marturello/Des Moines Register Illustration

The good folks of Iowa are set to light the fuse for the 2012 Republican presidential contest on Tuesday, January 3, 2012. 

Today we learn that the latest Iowa Poll shows a surprise three-way matchup in contention to win the Iowa Republican caucuses:  Mitt Romney (24%), Ron Paul (22%) and Rick Santorum (15%).

The final Iowa Poll before the caucuses is seen as a strong indicator for the first-in-the-nation voting.

According to the poll, 41 percent of caucus goers have a first choice, but said they could still be persuaded to support another candidate, while 51 percent said their minds are made up.

Cook Political Report founder, Charlie Cook, describes Santorum as the “remainder man” citing that “undecideds decided to decide and Santorum was the fresh choice.”

You have to admire the tenacity of a candidate who lived in the back seat of a car as he crisscrossed the area of the country often referred to as the “American Heartland.”  He has spent more than 100 days campaigning in Iowa slipping “into every county when few were watching.”