Santorum is either being deviously clever in drawing Obozo and his minions in the press out or he’s being stupid. At this point who the hell knows. Such remarks if soft and elliptical enough might not raise the warning flags on the Left that they ought to do, with the result that aspects of Obozo’s life and record not otherwise discussed are out and getting bandied about.
Listen to them some time ~ to them it's all about their sexual behavior or using narcotics on a regular basis
I think things are occurring on three levels here:
First and foremost, Santorum is calling it like he sees it.
On another level, this is a calculated risk by the Santorum team. They have to know Rick's bold past statements on social issues will come into play sooner or later. By getting it all out there in the primary there's a degree of innoculation. Should Rick win the nomination, by the time the campaign for the general picks up, and Obama tries to make an issue of Rick's religion, the Santorum campaign will be able to state that this is already old news that has been discussed at length, and people want to focus on the real issues facing this country.
Finally, by inviting deep inspection of his own personal beliefs and associations, Rick opens up Obama for the same. We saw some of this in his interview with Charlie Rose, where Rick scolded the press and challenged them to discuss Jeremiah Wright.