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Santorum courts Obama-Big Labor Democrats with Robocalls

Santorum courts Obama-Big Labor Democrats with Robocalls

Rick Santorum is running robocalls in Michigan urging Democrats to vote in the Republican primary for Santorum and against Romney because … wait for it … Romney opposed Obama’s auto industry bailout but supported the Wall Street bailout.

Got it? The great conservative hope is attacking a Republican for not supporting the auto industry bailout, and is encouraging pro-bailout Democrats to help put him over the top in the Republican primary.

Where is all the outrage from conservative supporters of Santorum, who lashed out at Newt for criticizing Bain?

Instead, almost everyone is focused on Romney’s whining about the robocalls, which is ridiculous considering Romney’s underhanded tactics against Newt.

This is not an attempt to attract Reagan Democrats, it’s an attempt to attract Obama-Big Labor Democrats who never will vote for a Republican in the general election.

Here’s the recording.

Update:  Guy Benson:

Thought experiment: Let’s say that exact same spot reversed the names and ended with the words, “paid for by Mitt Romney for President.”  I’d imagine the truuuuuue conservative set would be experiencing coniption fits of rage, and justifiably so.  For the last few cycles, the Republican mantra has been some variation of, “we can’t allow liberals to choose our nominee.”  Here we have a Republican candidate for president — the guy who’s built his entire campaign around the idea that he’s the authentic, courageous conservative — explicitly appealing to liberals and asking them to cross into the GOP primary to swing the results.

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Comments

Ok… I don’t mind mud-slinging every now and again. But do we have to pretend to be our ideological opponents to sling it?

Rick, you might as well call Romney a Rascist whil you are at it. Make up some spun story about the 1%. May be jump in on Mr Romney’s religion?

While you and Romney are attacking each other Newt has a message, and is aiming at Obama. Both of you should do the same. Sell yourself by leading , not by screaming ‘BUT he did it too!’ or by adopting the tools of the enemy.

I’ve had enough of duplicitous and misleading personal attacks in this campaign. Could we focus on how you guys propose to lead Congress? That is a job of herding cats no matter what party you are in. Please do tell.

Here’s another one! Wow! He can be a dirty politician, who’d a thunk it??????

Dirty trick? Gun rights robo calls in Michigan boost Santorum, uses NRA name

By NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
Pro-Rick Santorum robo calls, using the National Rifle Association’s name, are running in Michigan ahead of tomorrow’s primary, an NRA member in Michigan emails First Read.

The call compares Santorum and Romney’s NRA records, urges members to vote for Santorum, and uses Romney’s own words against him.

But the NRA, which hasn’t endorsed a candidate, says it’s not running the calls.

More here:
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/27/10518784-dirty-trick-gun-rights-robo-calls-in-michigan-boost-santorum-uses-nra-name

Sante is going all in. And showing his quality in the process.

No surprise here.

    Well Gov. Sarah Palin was right again. Keep the process going so these fools can be exposed and let the cream rise to the top.

      Ragspierre in reply to wodiej. | February 28, 2012 at 2:47 pm

      That fine lady has some excellent instincts…or she thinks really well.

      Or both.

        JimMtnViewCaUSA in reply to Ragspierre. | February 28, 2012 at 4:05 pm

        Can’t believe I’m saying this….but I am reminded frequently now that an advantage of living in Dem-controlled CA (I know, ugh) is that I can with good conscience just write in Sarah in November rather than perform a less/worse analysis to convince myself to vote for a pro-BigGov Republican.

        Hey, who owns domain name http://www.writeinsarahpalininnov.com?

While I do understand that I should be more upset by the robocalls, at this point, after seeing Romney smear Newt mercilessly, I have to say that all is fair in love and defeating Romney.

Are these lies? Romney runs lies. Better for Gingrich if Romney loses.

    Ragspierre in reply to janitor. | February 28, 2012 at 12:54 pm

    Just a note here…

    Sante is whining about Romney running Sante quotes from when he endorsed Romney.

    No lie there. And no dirty politics, by any definition I understand.

    Conversely, Sante is using Deemocrat themes to invite cross-over support (like Romney adopting OWS themes WRT his tax proposal).

    Neither the kind of people I want.

    ThomasD in reply to janitor. | February 28, 2012 at 3:29 pm

    The enemy of my enemy may not be my friend, but he is still the enemy of my enemy.

    There will be those temped to vote for Santorum over this add, and there will be those who may simply acquire a dislike for Romney over this add. Those people may choose Gingrich.

    Ultimately, if Romney begins to fade, at least some of his erstwhile supporters will choose to jump ship. Whether they break for Gingrich or Santorum remains to be seen.

    Either way, we are one step free of the ruling class ‘choice’ that they tried to thrust upon us.

conservativegram | February 28, 2012 at 12:27 pm

My favorite tweet of the day–“Courage is asking all the Democrats to vote for you because you’re afraid you’re going to lose.” Favorite Romney line–“He’s not just taking one for the other team. He’s putting on their jersey.”
He does realize why Democrats are e-mailing other Democrats to vote for him, doesn’t he?

    I realize why. The Donks think that Santorum will be an easier opponent than Mitt in the general. They think this because they believe their own “OMG! Theocracy!” and anti-religious narrative. They are wrong. Santorum or Gingrich are the two who actually have a chance to beat Obama. They’re playing right into our hands here.

    Also, it’s important to distinguish between unions themselves, monolithic Democrat political machines, and individual union members. This is a very, very smart strategy. The Republican candidate doesn’t have to convince anything close to a majority of union members to vote for him, but if he (the nominee) can peel off a significant minority-say 1 in 5 or 1 in 4 (20-25%), the Donks are done. They depend on near monolithic voting patterns from their various identity group constituents. Fracture that uniformity, just a little, and their formula for winning implodes. The same is true for other Dem voting blocks as well, but I think it’s easiest to do with the unions

      I think Santorum will be an easier opponent for Obama, now don’t get me wrong, Romney will be easy for Obama too just not as easy as Santorum. They are drooling at all the material being given to them by the GOP! That’s why I am ALL for the one they fear the most!

      GO NEWT!!!!!

        Terri in reply to Terri. | February 28, 2012 at 1:49 pm

        That completely didn’t come out right. hahahahahha
        I meant Romney will NOT be as easy for Obama to beat as Santorum. oh well…..you get my drift! 😉

          Weirddave in reply to Terri. | February 28, 2012 at 1:54 pm

          The professor linked to what I wrote about Romney’s electability in his roundup yesterday. Short version: He has none. Link

      wodiej in reply to Weirddave. | February 28, 2012 at 2:39 pm

      I don’t think Santorum has a snowballs chance of beating Obama in a GE. There is nothing on his resume that shows success. He was a big spender in Congress. He’s a religious zealot. He lost his own state by 16 points and was only a Senator a few terms. He’s never ran a business or led anything. It showed unadulterated arrogance for him to even run thinking he was remotely qualified. Based on what exactly? The Democrats know the only way Obama can win is with a weak opponent. For Santorum to invite them to vote for him is traitorous as far as I’m concerned. Just because Romney did the negative advertising does not mean the rest should fall in line and copy his actions. Who will we have left to beat Obama? I’m glad Gingrich stepped back from this and is concentrating on the issues. The only one who is.

      Hope Change in reply to Weirddave. | February 28, 2012 at 2:42 pm

      But Weirddave, with all due respect, how smart is this FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE?

      This is like saying it’s a good strategy to beat your opponent by drilling a hole in the bottom of the boat you’re ALL going to sail in once the race is over.

      The point is not just to “peel off” a few votes. The point is to have a PLAN, an agenda that will restore the country once you’re elected.

      This horse race spectacle may be interesting, as a horse race. However, the underlying essential question is what we will do to restore our country once the presidential race is won in the fall.

      Watch the rabbits run — but you elect either one of them and you’re electing continued incoherence on the part of the Republican Establishment (I should say CONTINUED & PERPETUAL INCOHERENCE) — ECONOMIC MALAISE AND EVEN COLLAPSE because they DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING AND HAVE NO PLAN — A probable swing back to another Leftist in the next election, because the very plausible argument will be made that the REpublicans are incompetent. Because these guys are incompetent to the task!!!

      Whereas Newt has a clear plan, It is written down. Everyone can see what it is.

      The Left and the Republican Establishment will obviously continue this fight to the death that they’re engaged in right now to try to prevent NEwt from getting the nomination.

      But we have a fighting chance with Newt’s PLAN.

      That is why, IMHO, this race between two puerile, selfish, political-empty-suit, trained seals is a distraction and a waste of time. IMHO.

      Here is a comment left here today:
      Uncle Samuel | February 28, 2012 at 1:49 pm
      For Newt fans – here is the speech that reveals the Conservatives battle plan. It is the best Newt speech I have heard so far:
http://kitmantv.blogspot.com/2009/11/part-ii-part-iii-part-iv.html
      There are a collection of Newt speeches and great conservative and anti-jihad speeches at this site.
      Enjoy! [end uncle samuel comment]

      Uncle Samuel has a great link here to all five parts of Newt’s 2009 speech, “2012: VICTORY OR DEATH.”

      Many people are not the same after watching this speech. Suddenly we understand that we are being called to something bigger than another vicious personal contest between two competing, big-government egotists and their respective political consultant henchmen.

      Uncle Samuel says it’s the best Newt speech he’s heard so far. It very possibly will change your feeling about America, our history and this election.
      http://kitmantv.blogspot.com/2009/11/part-ii-part-iii-part-iv.html

StrangernFiction | February 28, 2012 at 12:35 pm

“It’s very easy to excite the base with incendiary comments. We’ve seen throughout the campaign if you’re willing to say really outrageous things that are accusative, attacking of President Obama, that you’re going to jump up in the polls. I’m not willing to light my hair on fire to try and get support. I am who I am.”

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/romney-im-not-willing-to-light-my-hair

Mitt Romney talking down to conservatives and undercutting our criticisms of Obama. Shocking!

    Ha! I was joking when i called him the Hair Guy in a comment awhile back ( or was it a twitter post?) And now he’s Literally living up to the image I have of him.

    Sheesh, shallow, duplicitous say anything , look-at-me is the vibe I get from him. Its hard to see a difference between him and the incumbent at this point personality wise.

Romney is a _______________, you can fill in the blank however you like.

Romney Critiques Newt’s Style, Declares ‘No Whining in Politics’

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/12/romney-critiques-newts-style-declares-no-whining-in-politics/

Rush seems to like this tactic. He is going on right now about how, “…I think this tactic is very clever…if Romney can’t beat Santorum in Michigan….Santorum is unelectable? Santorum is unelectable?”

I just hope these two take each other out, and Newt rises to the top – a true statesman, the adult in the room.

I must be a bad person. Let ’em have at it.
In the end, there can be only one. (& it isn’t RP)

Santorum is doing what he is – BIG LABOR IS HIS SCHTICK. He is pro-Union and has no problem telling everyone about it. It’s so sad that he not only steals every idea Newt has (he’s used to doing that – how do you think he learned how to campaign)such as the petition to Obama, Newt did it first. Sante’s & Rombo couldn’t come up with an idea for their campaign if it hit them in the arse. Santorum is like the kid who had good grades in your class because he cozied up the the smart kid next to him so he could copy, this kid also bragged how smart he was & was usually a real smart-a$$ with an attitude. That was the kid that also got the crap kicked out of him, because he wasn’t that smart (and trust me it shows) and he had nothing to back up his mouth. When the smart kid next to him FIGURED OUT HIS WAS COPYING AND MOVED SEAT, there went his grades too. THIS KID WAS A LOSER FROM THE GET GO. SANTORUM HAS SAID, HE WOULDN’T BE WHERE HE IS NOW IF IT WASN’T FOR NEWT. He’s said his campaign & most of his ideas came from Heritage Foundation – and of course, GINGRICH was the one who has given them all thier info. to help future Republicans run for office. IT’S SOOO SAD PEOPLE DON’T WAKE UP TO SANTORUM & ROMNEY – neither of these guys has the capability to run the USA nor the intelligence or experience needed in the Pres. spot. If anyone watched the AZ debate, how can you possibly say Sante or Rombo are even in the same league as GINGRICH. They are always looking to Newt to explain what a conservative is and does. I had no idea copying could get you in the WH. Man were our teachers wrong, the easy way can get you to the top. NEWT YOUR THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN SAVE US, LET’S HOPE PEOPLE WAKE UP TO THIS SOON.

I couldn’t care less. Anything that helps the cause of a stymied convention is fine with me. Let these two tools destroy each other.

    Uncle Samuel in reply to raven. | February 28, 2012 at 1:54 pm

    Like it or not, Santorum and Newt seem to have a conservative battle plan to overcome both the RINOS and Obama. Santorum campaigns big in the states he can win and Newt likewise.

    Romney, like Napoleon in Russia, is expending his resources and winter is setting in. He will continue to expose his emptiness and lack while the people gradually ‘get it’ that neither Romney nor Obama has any way of saving our good country because they simply don’t know how. They think the answer is government. Newt knows better: http://kitmantv.blogspot.com/2009/11/part-ii-part-iii-part-iv.html

I agree. There has been a lot of rough campaigning and some low blows all around, but this really is different in that Ricky is openly appealing to Democrats — explicitly asking for their votes — on the grounds that Romney opposed an auto bailout that virtually all Republicans, conspicuously conservatives, agree was a bad idea cooked up to save the UAW.

What next? Santorum asks for Democratic votes in Washington based on Romney’s opposition to the NLRB’s attempt to keep IAM union jobs at Boeing in Seattle, instead of South Carolina?

    Terri in reply to JEBurke. | February 28, 2012 at 1:42 pm

    Santorum even admitted Sunday to George Stephanopoulos that he too did not approve of the auto bailout. Isn’t that kinda misleading then?

MaggotAtBroadAndWall | February 28, 2012 at 1:18 pm

I am not sure I agree that some Democrats who vote for Santorum in the primary will not vote for him in the general.

Santorum’s plan to give tax advantages to manufacturers probably resonates with many of the kinds of Democrats (and non-ideological “DINOs”) who became part of Reagan’s coalition to defeat Carter in 1980. I don’t like what Santorum is selling. It’s another form of crony capitalism – giving tax breaks to a preferred class – but that doesn’t mean it won’t be effective in getting moderate, non-ideological crossover Democrats to vote for him.

    I am not sure I agree that some Democrats who vote for Santorum in the primary will not vote for him in the general.

    I think the same.

    Some people don’t want either Obama or Romney. They want a change in the country’s direction. As Americans they are entitled to vote.

    There’s no primary to vote in to eliminate Obama but they can vote in a primary to eliminate Romney.

    I think there are a lot of potential votes from democrats against Obama in the general election that a Romney nomination would take off the table.

Romney has said that he voted in democratic primaries in the hope that a weaker candidate won.

And….

Santorum also opposed the auto bailout.

It’s getting to be like a roadrunner cartoon without the roadrunner. Just two Wile E. Coyotes going after each other.

    Hope Change in reply to Jack Long. | February 28, 2012 at 2:51 pm

    Yes, Jack Long, my point exactly!! Excellent! If you elect one of them what have you got? Wile E. Coyote with consultants!

    Go NEwt!

For Newt fans – here is the speech that reveals the Conservatives battle plan. It is the best Newt speech I have heard so far:
http://kitmantv.blogspot.com/2009/11/part-ii-part-iii-part-iv.html

There are a collection of Newt speeches and great conservative and anti-jihad speeches at this site.

Enjoy!

First Bachmann, now Santorum. The shadowy presence of Karl Rove.

The Christian Right in action, fighting Satan.

    SmokeVanThorn in reply to gs. | February 28, 2012 at 4:53 pm

    The guy who said he won’t have to think twice about supporting Romney over Santorum – now claims to see the hand of Rove behind the “Christian Right.”

    See a therapist.

Personally I think its funny as hell…just the imagined pained look on Mitten’s face is enough reward. Hey…good for Santorum..its like James Kirk messing with the terms of a no win scenario…on order to win.
And Im not big on Santorum..but man…good plan.

I’m enjoying watching Romney and Santorum beat up each other and whine over their bruises. The only candidate the RINOs and Democrats fear is Newt because Newt is out there offering solutions to the issues. So no matter what happens today, doesn’t change my support for Newt.

Only reason to support Santorum is to get a brokered convention. If Newt surges again it would be fine to try to push him over the top. Otherwise we desperately need somebody else.

Look for a governor (not Senator and definitely not a House member) with a conservative track record. They should be able to raise big cash quickly and carry their own state in the general election.

Amazing to me that Santorum supporters don’t have a problem w this except of course many of them are the Democrats he called. lol

Santorum’s response to Hannity’s soft balls on Rick’s Operation Democrat Chaos robocalls is slightly different from the actual robocall.

HANNITY: You did support Governor Romney in 2008, and you said he was a conservative. Is that one of those moments you regret or do you look at it as the circumstances? What has changed, in other words, in four years?

SANTORUM: Well, you know, I waited until five days before the Super Tuesday primary when it was down to McCain and Romney. And you know, I had served with John McCain and I knew that he wasn’t the conservative and Mitt Romney promised me that he would be a conservative, that he had changed his ways and he was going to be a different person as a presidential candidate. And then a few months after the primaries, he walked out and supported the Wall Street bailouts and having government get involved in a very big way.

Note that the part about opposing auto company bailouts is not here. In any regard, this Pennsylvania so-called conservative must have his own principles screwed up because he now criticizes Romney for opposing the auto bailout when he indeed voted for bailout of steel companies in 1999. Justin Gray gives us that videos and the facts here.

Man, when he gets his talking points down, he repeats and repeats – yuck.

Do not leave this page without putting this link somewhere so you can watch this speech if you haven’t yet. You very well may see American and yourself differently. It’s really that good.
http://kitmantv.blogspot.com/2009/11/part-ii-part-iii-part-iv.html

Here’s Uncle Samuel’s comment again– this is the best link I’ve seen, to all five parts of the speech. Thanks, Uncle Samuel! [begin Uncle Samuel}

Uncle Samuel | February 28, 2012 at 1:49 pm
For Newt fans – here is the speech that reveals the Conservatives battle plan. It is the best Newt speech I have heard so far:
http://kitmantv.blogspot.com/2009/11/part-ii-part-iii-part-iv.html

There are a collection of Newt speeches and great conservative and anti-jihad speeches at this site.

Enjoy! [end Uncle Samuel]

Thank You Uncle Samuel for the link to Newt’s 2009 speech.

There must be a third Newt surge. I heard Rush say today that Newt’s still in it. Just hope he has a landslide victory in Georgia.

Awwwww. Was that nasty Rick Santorum mean to sweet, little, innocent Mittens?

NC Mountain Girl | February 28, 2012 at 4:23 pm

I thought we were all supposed to fall in behind Romney precisely because Democrats unhappy with Obama will vote for him in November.

Say what @ 2:09 – Exactly! Having as much fun as I did the night of AZ debate. Article in Newsmax on Gingrich is spot on! One if not both are coming out completely bloodied. What Santorum is doing right now will come back to haunt him quickly. Wonder why no one ever brings up the fact that Santorum’s Charity Organization has many questions, where’d all the money go? As well as all the money that never went to other candidates that he supposedly raised in support of their elections. If anyone really looks at his past record in Senate as well as AFTER he was historically beaten in a re-election bid, there’s some big red flags. Santorum is a sleazy SOB, and his voting record, his personal business records, and Charitable Organizations prove this. The fact that he’s a lawyer on top of all this – that’s the final nail in the coffin. Newt is the only true conservative with bona fides to show it as well as the only candidate looking out for the American people.

Also, gotta love that Rombo has pulled every Obama trick in the book (got early voters, pandered to the auto industry (Unions), put up millions in negative ads, actually pulled Kid Rock into a rally, did rally in Ford Field, and still can’t win handily in his home state. Sorry Romney, this proves you can’t beat Obama by almost being Obama. Soros was right, you’d be the same as him, just not as good at his game as he is – Guess that’s why even McCain thinks your gonna now lose the Natl. no matter what (front page Newsmax article).
Go NEWT!!!

I’m curious. How do you know whether a robocall is really sponsored by the organization which the robocall says it’s sponsored by?

    gibbie in reply to gibbie. | February 28, 2012 at 6:42 pm

    Duh. By reading the article.

    “Following some speculation that the robocall may have been a “false flag” effort designed to harm Santorum, a spokesman Hogan Gidley confirmed to TPM that they were indeed footing the bill, and reaching beyond party lines.”

    “Hogan Gidley”? Who are these people?

[…] for Mitt Romney to blast Santorum for robocalling Democrats in the open Michigan primary because this is not an actual expression of democratic support by the electorate but rather DailyKooks misch…in order to deny Republicans the right to determine their own nominee. Hillary Clinton supporters […]

[…] Santorum actually solicited Democratic votes in Michigan’s primary on the grounds that Mitt Romney had opposed the Detroit bailout.  That a Republican presidential candidate would solicit votes from outside his party because […]