Political malpractice: Santorum’s loose lips
No one can doubt that his opposition to contraception and his recent denunciations of prenatal testing and women in combat reflect his deep moral and religious beliefs.
But they also allow opponents to pigeonhole Santorum as a religious conservative despite his considerable record on and knowledge of economic and foreign-policy issues.
It is political malpractice to give opponents such an opening in a year when voters are overwhelmingly focused on the economy and the Obama Democrats’ vast expansion of the size and scope of government.
It’s unfortunate also since Santorum sometimes make similar points in a less inflammatory manner. On the stump, he often cites a Brookings Institution study that shows that virtually all of those who graduate from high school, get a job, and marry before having children escape from poverty.
Blowback
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Running your mouth — easy. Running for President — difficult.
Paul-Cincy on February 23, 2012 at 5:03 PM
“But they also allow opponents to pigeonhole Santorum as a religious conservative despite his considerable record on and knowledge of economic[s].”
Indeed. Although Santorum is a staunch opponent of pornography, he is also a staunch proponent of budget deficits, national debt, No Child Left Behind, Medicare Part D, and Arlen Specter. What a great package.
Lord on February 23, 2012 at 5:06 PM
This was the last debate. In 2 news cycles this will all be forgotten, especially if Santorum manages an upset in the next couple of primaries.
If he does get the nomination, he’s going to have to bone up on his responses when he goes head to head with SCOAMF.
We shall see….
Rixon on February 23, 2012 at 5:08 PM
Game, set, and match.
MelonCollie on February 23, 2012 at 5:09 PM
Never let this topic change from the 1st Amendment.
If you do, you lose.
Schadenfreude on February 23, 2012 at 5:10 PM
By the way, I love how people jump all over candidate X for abrogating his conservative principles with a poor past voting record yet when candidate Y does the same thing and maybe worse, they jump to his defense and call it pragmatic politics.
Just an observation.
Rixon on February 23, 2012 at 5:11 PM
Romney’s just a more proficient liar. He’s also a professional campaigner. He’s been running for president for years. I came across this article this afternoon from the Boston Globe:
INC on February 23, 2012 at 5:13 PM
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/12/24/romney_left_mass_on_212_days_in_06/
INC on February 23, 2012 at 5:13 PM
This is true, but you could say the same about every candidate and our sitting president. When you have microphones that follow you 24 hours a day, and you give speeches and interviews everyday, you are bound to muck up or say stuff off the cuff that comes back to haunt you. And in this day and age of You-Tube and Blogging, running for president has never been so difficult.
cd98 on February 23, 2012 at 5:14 PM
So what. Palin left her governorship in Alaska two years early to make money at Fox News and build a national name for herself and no one begrudges her for doing it.
cd98 on February 23, 2012 at 5:17 PM
Lol. “No one”? I’m no Palin fan but that’s abject nonsense.
MelonCollie on February 23, 2012 at 5:18 PM
Barone’s bias is showing in the column. He makes no reference to Obama’s actions or religious liberty.
INC on February 23, 2012 at 5:19 PM
Maybe even more relevant, Rick Perry spent an awful lot of time outside of Texas running for President. So again, big deal.
cd98 on February 23, 2012 at 5:19 PM
That’s been refuted so many times here you need a new Leftie talking point. The shelf life on that one has expired.
INC on February 23, 2012 at 5:20 PM
So bring in the numbers.
My point is that Romney has been running for President since 2006 so he’s had lots of practice. He’s also obsessive compulsive about his messaging. I think it’s one reason why he comes across as so scripted.
INC on February 23, 2012 at 5:23 PM
What? That Rick Perry, governor of Texas, spent the several months outside of Texas running for President? Or that Sarah Palin left Alaska to pursue a more profitable career as a pundit with Fox News and work on establishing a national identity? (Oh you can pretend its something else).
And btw, I have no problem with what either Palin or Perry did. Nor do I have a problem with Romney leaving Mass. to set up a run for presidency.
cd98 on February 23, 2012 at 5:23 PM
??? on the numbers. Romney’s had his share of gaffes. Every candidate has. The fact that Romney is obsessive compulsive about his messaging is that he is trying to be careful because in this day and age, an election can turn on a gaffe. Better to have someone that understands that and keeps on message than have a candidate that doesn’t and blows an election by misspeaking.
cd98 on February 23, 2012 at 5:25 PM
Exactly right.
a capella on February 23, 2012 at 5:29 PM
True. We could’ve also written about the loose lips of…
Romney: do you like firing people? Do you care about the very poor? Are you a severe conservative?
Gingrich: did you cheat on your wife because you were working so hard for the country? Ever want to grant amnesty via citizen panels?
Paul: hey, who cares if Iran gets a nuke? Think a border fence would keep you sealed in? Ever write any newsletters?
Stoic Patriot on February 23, 2012 at 5:34 PM
cd98,
My replies are clearly matched to your pertinent comment.
INC on February 23, 2012 at 5:38 PM
Or even Obama admitting that if he didn’t reduce unemployment he shouldn’t get a second term or responding to a person telling him about her family’s person unemployment woes as “interesting.”
cd98 on February 23, 2012 at 5:40 PM
Bingo. Or his bitter clingers comment. Or juxtapose his comments about how it’s embarassing speaking English in Europe while giving speeches in Europe in English. Or ask how you speak Austrian. Or ask what a navy corpseman is. Or ask about why we honored many of our fallen heroes who were in the audience at his speech. Or ask about where we got an extra 7 states from. Or ask if the Cambridge police acted stupidly.
There’s a treasure trove of this kind of stuff regardless of the politician.
Stoic Patriot on February 23, 2012 at 5:56 PM
It’s gratifying to have a pro with the depth of Michael Barone voice the same concern that I’ve been hammering for the past few days.
This isn’t about gaffes. Everybody ends up with those. This is about framing the election.
ElectricPhase on February 23, 2012 at 5:56 PM
Santorum is a 3rd tier politician. He can’t even organize a campaign that gets him on the ballot in key states. He has no clue about message discipline. His debate performances were pitiful.
Santorum is the 2% guy who became the flavor of the month because the crazy gets hysterical with the thinking of nominating someone that the AM talk-show radio hosts don’t like.
joana on February 23, 2012 at 5:56 PM
+1
ChrisL on February 23, 2012 at 6:15 PM
Santorum is a garden-variety sort-of-conservative legislator, who happens to be a devout Catholic. I concluded a while ago that he isn’t really trying to get elected President, he is just running so he has a soapbox to talk about his beliefs on morality. I feel the same way about Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul.
The only people that were ever in this race to actually win it were Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.
rockmom on February 23, 2012 at 7:05 PM