Supporters of Rick Santorum are on Day 3 or 4 of the type of distortion and character assassination which was unleashed on Newt beginning in mid-December, and only paused when Newt dropped in the polls.
In Newt’s case, almost all of it came from Republicans, in the form of Romney’s carpet bombing negative ad campaign and the establishment Republican media which fell all over itself to engage in the most outlandish taunts.
In Santorum’s case, it’s coming as much from the liberal mainstream media as anywhere else. Santorum’s responses on the campaign trail have fueled the fire being built around a social conservative candidate.
By this time next week we’ll know how big an impact it has on Santorum.
To Santorum’s supporters, every day must seem like a week, and every week must seem like a month. It certainly felt that way for Newt supporters in Iowa and Florida.
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Comments
I, of course, deplore false attacks on anybody.
That said, Santorum is a BIG NANNY STATIST, root and branch, IMNHO.
His leanings…and record…show a guy who distrusts individual self-determination in all kinds of arenas, and has no trouble putting my money where he thinks it will do him the most good.
Not my idea of a POTUS.
Rush has always said that the MSM will always tell you who they fear the most.
So…Marco Rubio…???
Seriously, who do they NOT attack…???
Why did these sorts of attacks not work — or why did they have far less effect — on Ronald Reagan?
If Rick Santorum is the candidate his supporters think he is, and the candidate conservatives need, he will learn (since I see no clear evidence that he ever naturally understood) how to turn these attacks and the attackers on their heads.
I not only refuse to accept the premise that the strategy of character destruction must always win, but insist that the right person and candidate will see it as an OPPORTUNITY and turn it against its prosecutors, thus not only triumphing but disarming his opponents and discrediting this strategy in our time. Call it political Zen. Naive?
In any case, ANY Republican candidate for President will get this treatment. The modern GOP’s response has been to seek out what they see as the candidate least likely to rile the Left and/or the one most conciliatory and accommodating to bipartisanship. This has been a fearful and tragic misreading. What we need is the candidate (all other things being in order) MOST capable of engaging the Left in the fight. Our ideal candidate should LOVE this stuff.
I felt it as a Gingrich supporter and I feel it as a Santorum supporter (whoever has the best chance of defeating the statist), but it isn’t discomfort or fear. It is anger.
I will take the MSM distortion and attacks over the Romney camp’s distortions and attacks any day.
I’d feel better if we Conservatives stop feeling the political pain and start inflicting some political pain.
I felt it as a Newt supporter when the attacks became out and out lies and the MSM was trying to rewrite history. I do feel for Santorum supporters, but I think Rick keeps fueling the criticisms as long as he stays away from the real issues. Case in point– http://libertarian-neocon.blogspot.com/2012/02/santorum-is-blowing-it-already.html
I have had 3 children – each one of the pregnancies had prenatal testing all the way up until delivery. In the beginning every few months, towards the end, more often. I do not understand how Santorum could say this is just in Obamacare??? (NOT DEFENDING OBAMA) Why is this a problem? Government didn’t pay for it nor did anyone else, my insurance did. I do not understand, women can develop blood pressure problems and sugar problems during pregnancy that require medical treatment. Oh how I wish Newt would win this election… Santorum is a CRAZY man!
My wife is pregnant with our 3rd. When Santorum says stuff like this he sounds like an alien to me.
Can we go back to Newt now? At least when he said something crazy it was defendable.
Agreed. My wife and I had twin boys almost six weeks ago and she was heavily monitored. Prenatal testing at week 16 and weekly visits there after. Santorums rhetoric is off the charts extreme. But, this goes back to the field being horrificly weak and a party that is completely incapable of developing a rational way to attack this president.
Yeah, it’s crazy to think that, under ObamaCare, prenatal testing will be used to encourage abortion.
Just like it was crazy to talk about them death panels.
Santorum is nuts. What does preventative care have to do w abortions? Nothing. He is obsessed like Jim Baker or one of the many other cultest evangelists.
I was just talking to my husband about this and he said that Santorum is looking at it like Early Prenatal testing might reveal defects in the child which could lead to the termination of the pregnancy, in other words… You get what you get, whether the child is healthy or not.
Considering Santorum is against abortion in any way, even in cases of rape or incest.
When you start getting into issues with the life/health of the mother or baby you’re at the point where moderates begin to support abortion as an alternative. Even Sarah Palin said she considered terminating her pregnancy for one brief moment when she learned Trig would be born with Down Syndrome.
Santorum is too far out of the mainstream on these issues.
But the current dustup over reproductive rights is just a smoke screen and the smudge pot was lit by Dems. They want voters to focus on anything but their shrinking paychecks, ballooning bills, skyrocketing gas prices and Michelle’s latest taxpayer-funded playcation.
Santorum’s raging social conservatism doesn’t worry me much. His raging compulsion to spend money does.
Sarah Palin knows a fighter when sees one and she says Newt is the fighter in this race and I agree, he is the one that will bring the political pain to the left:
YouTube video clip of Palin On Fox:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dPrCQJndL0
“To Santorum’s supporters, every day must seem like a week, and every week must seem like a month.”
I’m cool. It’s Romney who must surely be close to panic at this point. He is poised to lose in his very own home state. We may very well be about to see the GOP establishment itself jump in to force a brokered convention. They will parade “Jebbie” before us to choreographed Greek chorus just to set him up as the next in line for 2016 and then cram Mitch Daniels down our throats. That works for the GOP because they never planned to win in 2012, only to clear the landscape of conservatives for “Jebbie” in 2016.
Linked, thanks William: ‘The Building Backlash Against Rick Santorum’.
I guess you could say I’m a supporter of both Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, since I prefer them to Mitt Romney (although I admire Mitt Romney as a person and will support him if he’s the nominee). But seeing them attacked hasn’t made me nervous at all. I think competition is good and that’s why I’m glad the GOP is having such a competitive primary race. It may be nerve-wracking to live through but IMO all the candidates and the Party will be stronger when the time the Convention is over and a nominee has been selected.
Oh, boo hoo, Ricky.
You’re going to have to grow a thick skin like everyone else in this game.
It’s so funny to see him “whine” a bit when he was one of them telling Newt not to whine. I love it! I am sorry, I am for Newt, have been since the beginning and will be until he either withdraws or wins. He is the ONLY one who is focused on the issues. I don’t care what people do in their bedroom or who they choose to do to (as long as it is 2 consenting adults)
I do not feel sorry for Rick Santorum or his supporters. I have had enough. They certainly didn’t seem to feel anything for me as a Newt supporter. He turned on Newt when he should have been on his side, afterall, Rick said that got his ideals on Conservatism from Newt Gingrich.
http://youtu.be/pS7Bs0Ymi0s
Just like Bachmann, I was thrilled when she dropped out because she did the same thing to Newt calling him a frugal socialist on Glenn Beck, after gushing over him here: http://youtu.be/R8zz5myJ_hs
Say what you will, I am really considering supporting Romney over Santorum at this point.
Hey Newt supporters, you should vist theblaze.com there is an article there on Newt, you will see the vile nasty attacks by Santorum, Romney and Paul followers… It’s unreal! After that, I don’t think you would feel any pain for any of them or their supporters. Makes me so mad!!!
Would a serious conservative support Romney because Santorum was “mean” to Gingrich?
Bob Schieffer didn’t try to hide the contempt he has for Santorum this morning.
And I thought Rick handled himself quite well.
Bob Schieffer has contempt for anyone right of Stalin.
Well, here at the kennel-
In the upcoming Michigan primary, I’m voting Newt, and the little woman is voting Santorum.
Funny how the “native son” is getting little love from the “actual” natives.
We need to fight back on the false attacks. Not just Santorum. Newt and Mitt both engaged in some back and forth that should have never happened (and yes I know Mitt started it). I wish we had someone driving who could pull over and give the instigator a good spanking.
No sympathy for Santorum. When Gingrich got trashed, it was called whining. Santorum gets a smidgen of the same and Santorum supporters are upset.
Exactly.
That’s why I have no sympathy either.
The Santorum fans can scream “that’s not fair!” all they want.
Tough nuts.
What insight!
I’m not upset, as a Santorum supporter, I expect these attacks from the lame stream media. However, I am disappointed to see it coming from other conservatives. This is why Perry, Bachmann,Palin,and Cain were eventually thrown under the bus. The GOP establishment wants their guy,the rest want their guy and nobody is fighting the real enemy the media&Obama!
Newt&Santorum have both spoken out against the media in the past and most recently Santorum has when they tried to trap him on the comments Friess said. In the end we need to stop the negativity on the conservative candidates and leave the bashing to the media and Obama, we need to stand united and not let them divide us further. Obama and his propaganda machine will do enough of the mudslinging and digging in the General election, we need to stop giving them fuel to add to the fire.
Here are some of my reasons I support Santorum and don’t fear his presidency. Newt is my alternative, but Santorum’s values fit my beliefs best and that is what the primary should be about, in my opinion.
Reasons to support Rick Santorum…8yrs on the armed services committee&war hero General Boyken http://ht.ly/99C9M also see
Time to unite w/Santorum latest PPP poll:If Gingrich dropped out 58% of his supporters say they would move to Santorum, while 22% would go to Romney and 17% to Paul.Character Matters,Along W/Faith,Family&Freedom-Support Santorum in 2012 http://t.co/CYKH4gY <attacks on Santorum are an attack on conservative&religious values&freedoms…if we are to remain the party of family values&morals…we must Unite as One Nation Under God
This puts the lie to the idea that Obama fears Mitt. The MSM would be supporting Santorum if that were true.
Except that the PACs related to the DNC and at least two unions (SEIU & AFCSME) have been running attack ads exclusively against Romney.
You can believe what Obama’s people say, or what they spend their money doing.
The Florida race was a killer to live through. First I was angry with all the lies that Romney put out, then the agony of the loss which was very painful.
I think Rick needs to go through this too. One thing I can say with a good deal of certainty, if Rick keeps stepping in it like he has the last few days, this thing may be over for him. I think him calling out Obama’s “christianity” will be the shot heard around the world from Obama. We’ll see what Rick is made of when Obama hits back.
Any politician worth their weight should let these things roll off their back.
There is one person in this race that people don’t say much about and that’s Ron Paul. I’m beginning to think he had a “love affair” going with Mitt Romney. I wouldn’t put it past him to throw his delegates to Mitt and double-cross the conservatives. I don’t trust him.
Oh, and anybody here from Michigan, should vote for Santorum. I think the UAW workers are going to vote against Mitt. I think if you vote Newt you will be voting for Romney.
Mitt needs to go down HARD.
Ron Paul and Mitt are forming an alliance, with the Republican candidates attacking one another with abandon, each day bringing fresh headlines of accusations and outrage.
Mitt Romney and Ron Paul haven’t laid a hand on each other. They never do. Despite deep differences on a range of issues, Romney and Paul became friends in 2008, the last time both ran for president. So did their wives, Ann Romney and Carol Paul and one of his relatives is married to one of Ron Paul’s relatives. The former Massachusetts governor compliments the Texas congressman during debates. There is not a single issue on which Mr. Romney has taken a stand that is not the opposite from what Ron Paul has been preaching ALL OF HIS CAREER.
The Romney-Paul alliance is more than a curious connection. It is a strategic partnership: for Paul, an opportunity to gain a seat at the table if his long-shot bid for the presidency fails; for Romney, a chance to gain support from one of the most vibrant subgroups within the Republican Party.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/for-paul-and-romney-a-strategic-alliance-between-outsider-and-establishment/2012/01/20/gIQAf8foiQ_story.html
The Romney dump on Santorum campaign should be at full dose by the time the Georgia debate would have happenend, And, voila, no Romney availability to answer for it.
Thanks, Professor Jacobson (“the Magnificent”–your full title in my head).
Twice (though really, that post is kinda one-note to deserve linkage, but who am I to quibble?)
The only place whining scores points is on a soccer field.
It appears to me that the MSM is regurgitating the 2005-2006 attacks that sent him home from the Senate. His fight with the Penn Hills school board, his iffy Good Neighbor charity, his use of Leadership PAC funds for personal causes, the K Street lobbyists, and crony capitalist ties to GlaxoSmithKlein are making it around the HuffPo and Salon beats — probably Politico as well.
But conservatives are concerned about earmarks and key votes favoring unions and big ticket welfare leanings such as Medicare drugs. He talks the good game at times but his actions are just wrong. Further, he simply is not presidential, and we are living with such a guy right now.
I simply do not understand the basis for Santorum’s support by anyone who has analytically read what has surfaced of late about the man.
This…THIS…is what is so infuriating about this primary season. Neither Mitt nor Rick is running on his record. In fact, they’re both running *from* their records.
What better indicator of a person’s intent could there possibly be than his record to date? I don’t care what you promise me…show me what you’ve done so far.
Today on MTP, David Gregory pulled the classic divide-and-conquer media trap on Paul Ryan, asking him to respond to Santorum’s comments about Obama’s “theology” while framing the comments to fit his leftist narrative. Paul Ryan walked right into it.
When are we going to learn?
Ryan has no obligation to answer for Santorum or for anybody else. Ryan also implicitly endorsed Gregory’s narrative rather than outright challenge it. Santorum was deriding (in poor fashion) the secular “religion” of the Left, not questioning Obama’s Christianity. That Ryan didn’t understand this is incredible. That he didn’t rebuke Gregory was inexcusable. It’s why we’re losing. A huge lost opportunity.
You never see the Left do this to themselves.
It’s so true, Raven. They walk right into it by trying to give an answer that they think will be accepted, when there is absolutely nothing that the Left will accept.
He should have done what you said, and told Gregory that he doesn’t speak for Santorum. Period.
Next question!
Raven, I agree. I so agree.
Is it stupidity? Are they in an echo chamber? I want someone who challenges the narrative and wins.
I thought Paul Ryan was one of those guys. I’ve sent him money! I know he’s smart. I love Paul Ryan!
I am BEYOND tired of feeling helpless about this.
Newt has my support in part because Newt stands up to these guys.
And that’s what we need, Hope Change.
A fighter.
Not someone who’s going to fall for the media tricks.
Hang in there, Hope. Faith is warrented. The voting public is sort of like a shark tasting each candidate in turn and spitting him or her out because of the untasted new one just ahead. Santorum may get torpedoed by mittens or may step on his own, um, tie, but there is every chance the primary voters, having ultimately tasted every candidate, will return to the one that tasted best. That may well be Newt. He’s got enough fat on ‘im to be tasty.
I don’t think it’s fair to criticize Santorum’s votes to raise the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling is NOT “spending” – it is paying the bills for the spending already authorized by law. If you want to cut spending, you have to cut spending, not refuse to pay the bills.
Other than that, the left has their usual “he wants to control your bedroom/body” complaint, but Santorum has done nothing to discourage that. Obama would like nothing better than a culture war to stir up his disillusioned troops and divert attention from his record.
You Newties are living in some fantasy world to believe he was ever an effective leader as Speaker or a consistent conservative. He throws you some rhetorical red meat and you salivate like Pavlov’s dogs. Those of us who were involved at the time and since know better.