Rick Santorum called into the Neil Cavuto show to address (whine about) criticism over his recent comparison of Romney and Obama. As usual, Rick was highly agitated in the interview and failed to actually answer the questions put to him. His go-to defense was simple incredulity. You can watch the entire interview below and then read my five observations.
1. Santorum: "Might as well stay with [Obama]..."
Santorum said this in San Antonio: "If you're going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk with what may be the Etch-a-Sketch candidate of the future."
Rick called the criticism of his statement "laughable"; "absurd"; "a hatchet job"; "not even worth printing"; and "a joke." He then attempted to explain the statement while questioning those who could possibly misunderstand what he was saying.
He then explained this to Neil Cavuto: "I meant that if we don't have a choice then the american public may decide to keep Barack Obama...We meaning we the people might; not me. A 'we' meaning a general 'we.'" So, when he says 'we' he means 'the people'.
So, let's plug his definition of "we" into his original statement: "If you're going to be a little different, [the people] might as well stay with what [the people] have instead of taking a risk with what may be the Etch-a-Sketch candidate of the future." He didn't say "the people might stay with..." He said "the people might as well stay with..." I guess it depends what the definition of "we" is. Thanks for the clarification, Rick!
2. Santorum's "True Conservative" endorsement
Regarding his 2008 endorsement of Romney, Santorum said: "I took him for his word; I shouldn't have."
"It's not the campaign, this is Rick Santorum. I think everyone knows, no one puts words into my mouth. The words out of my mouth were that if you want a Conservative as the nominee of this party, you must vote for Mitt Romney." - Rick Santorum, 2008.
When Santorum was confronted by George Stephanopoulos about a "controversial" portion of his book about women, Santorum responded..."Well, that section of the book was co-written, if you want to be honest about it, by my wife, who is a nurse and a lawyer."
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| "No one puts words in my mouth." "That section of the book was co-written...by my wife." |
I don't see "Karen Santorum" on that cover so it seems like he let her put words in his mouth. In addition, not only did he not give her credit for "co-writing" the book; but he also threw her under the bus when confronted about a portion of it.
3. "I don't play those games!""I don't play those games. I'm more focused on what the voters care about and what they care about is what you're going to do as President, not whether your campaign can spin a story."
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| "I don't play those games" |
"[Romney] has failed to be able to convince the people of this country and Republicans and Conservatives that he is actually worthy of their support."
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| Romney has failed to convince the people...that he is actually worthy of their support." |
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| Romney has 1,318,930 more votes than Santorum as of March 24, 2012 |
5. "ObamaCare is the most important issue of the day..."
Santorum repeatedly says that repealing Obamacare is "the most important issue of the day." And yet, every exit poll suggests that the economy is the most important issue.
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| Illinois Exit Poll: Most Important Issue |
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| Alabama Exit Poll: Most Important Issue |
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| Mississippi Exit Poll: Most Important Issue |
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| Ohio Exit Poll: Most Important Issue |
Hmm...even in the ultra-conservative states, the economy is the most important issue. Yet, Rick says its ObamaCare. Could Rick be spinning this because he knows Romney is far superior to him on the economy? Nah, Rick doesn't play those games.
