Posted on 12/07/2010 11:27:00 AM PST by Moseley
Will the real Rick Santorum please stand up?
BEFORE the November 2, election, Rick Santorum defended Christine O’Donnell in her US Senate race in Delaware (though trying to have it both ways to some extent).
Now, AFTER the election, Rick Santroum is now trying to jump on the bandwagon and attack the GOP’s losing candidates. Goal: NOT win elections, NOT learn how to win elections, but simply for personal aggrandizement by Rick Santorum.
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On September 21, 2010, Rick Santorum defended Christine O’Donnell as a candidate on Greta Van Sustren’s “On the Record” Rick Santorum
Santorum — famous for dumping Pat Toomey overboard in 2006 in favor of Arlen Specter — was clearly trying to have it both ways in Greta Van Sustren’s interview. But pressed by Greta, Rick Santorum was forced to line up behind Christine O’Donnell shortly after Christine O’Donnell’s September 14, 2010, primary victory.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOMK8dJVmvE
RICK SANTORUM SAID ON SEPTEMBER 21, 2010:
o Santorum started to praise Christine O’Donnell’s qualifications and abilities saying “LOOK, I’VE KNOWN CHRISTINE O’DONNELL FOR YEARS…” (before Greta interrupted) clearly with a tone of praising Christine’s abilities and qualifications.
o Santorum said that Christine’s challenge in the US Senate race in Delaware was:
“So, the question is whether Christine O’Donnell in a very compressed window — Sharon Angle had MONTHS, Christine O’Donnell has WEEKS — can she do the same thing [as Sharon Angle]?
o Santorum said that Sharon Angle had SEVERAL MONTHS in which to convince and win over voters.
o Santorum said that Christine faced a difficult challenge of “a very compressed window” and “Christine O’Donnell has WEEKS” (only) to accomplish what other candidates had MONTHS to do in other States.
o Santorum said that Christine’s challenge in the election was Republicans not supporting the Republican nominee
o Santorum implicitly endorsed Christine O’Donnell as qualified, while discussing Greta’s question “What does it mean to be qualified?” Santorum explained Christine O’Donnell is qualified if the voters believe she is qualified…. it is up to the voters.
o Santorum said that Christine O’Donnell’s challenge was that “They are trying to discredit her.“
And: “If you look at what they’ve done to Christine. They have put her outside of that. They’ve said no, she’s a … she’s a, you know, she’s a whacko. She’s someone who is out there on the extreme. She’s NOT. And people will find that out.”
In response to those precise criticisms, Santorum said “SHE’s NOT. And people will find that out.”
o Santorum said: “If she is given the opportunity to do it, which she will be.” Greta interrupts: “She may.” “I think she will [turn it around]. And tonight’s interview from everything I’ve heard [interrupted]“
o So Rick Santorum predicted that Christine O”Donnell would be able to turn it around and overcome the negative attacks against her, and Rick Santorum predicted that Christine O’Donnell would “turn it around.”
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Apparently there are two theories on elections in the Republican Party:
(a) Hard work, application of mental and physical effort the old fashioned way to win over supporters and do work
(b) DO NOTHING, sit back, and then fight over the credit for the winners and throw stones at the losers.
Choice (b) is dangerous because it FAILS to actually win elections. Republican elites are not interested in doing the hard work of rolling up their sleeves and running election campaigns. They simply want to posture for the maximum personal benefit.
Republican elites have abandoned the task of running successful election campaigns and instead are simply sitting back and throwing stones at their own candidates, and attacking those with the courage to go into the arena and fight for what we believe.
While this hypocrisy among Republicans is wrong and unfair to those who valiantly try to take power from liberals, it is also destructive to the Republican party because the elites are abandoning the efforts needed to actually win at the ballot box.
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o Sharon Angle took on the Senate Majority leader — the most powerful Democrat in the country besides the President. For any Republican to unseat the incumbent Senate Majority Leader was the longest of long shots. The fact that the tea party movement (even before Sharon Angle’s nomination) made Harry Reid unpopular and brought Sharon Angle close to winning is incredible.
o Christine O’Donnell ran for US Senate in Delaware with 110,000 more Democrat than Republican registered voters. GOP elites in Delaware sat on their hands while the Democrat party increased Democrat voter registration by a stunning 11% from 2008 to 2010. While people note that Christine O’Donnell has run before without success, Christine O’Donnell took on JOE BIDEN in 2008 — an almost impossible target.
In 2010, Christine O’Donnell again sought to win the last 4 years of Joe Biden’s 6 year terms won in 2008 in a special election on November 2, 2010. Joe Biden is the Vice President of the United States, and it was his seat in his home state that Christine O”Donnell was seeking. Why did the IRS issue an erroneous tax lien, and then promptly admit they were wrong and withdraw it — but damage done? Why did the national news media come down so hard on Delaware? Having the Vice President of the United States potentially embarrassed in his own home State had nothing to do with this?
Those willing to hunt the big game in blue states deserve our greatest honor and utmost respect. Those who aimed for the easy victories in Republican-leaning States are heros, too. But no one deserves greater honor and greater respect than Christine O’Donnell and Sharon Angle who charged the beach at Normandy. While others picked off easy victories, Angle and O’Donnell stormed the “enemy” at their strongest points and put pressure on the Democrats on their home turf.
We used to fly the same flight to DC for years, before he moved his family to DC.
He was a very sincere, honest, young congresscritter with real values.
Unfortunately, young Rick, the honest congresscritter, has lived too long in DC and has too much political dogshit on his shoes.
I think that the old saying, that laying down with dogs will earn you fleas, is too true.
I don't say he is corrupt, but he has certainly become more of a DC "Lifer" than a young man with principles.
Ricki Santorum is a wimpish Loser! Don’t ever consider him for a national office,EVER!
I believe those two... especially O'Donnell, kept the glare of media off Rand Paul, giving him some needed breathing room so he could steady his campaign against Conway. COD had better be on Rand's Christmas gift list.
So was the "I am you!" ad.
Who wrote her stuff?
We have to remember, though, it was 2006 -- a "wave" election -- that carried a lot of weight toward his loss. We lost a high number of GOPers that year. Plus.. Bob Casey disguised himself as a pro-life "moderate," giving PA voters an illusory alternative to Santorum.
True. But I remember a lot of Freepers back before that election were saying that they refused to vote for Rick. And I was saying that Bob Casey was not his father’s son when it came to abortion, that he was lying on several issues, so they should hold their noses and vote for Rick. But they didn’t.
He made a big mistake agreeing to endorse Specter. But his voting record was good as long as he was in the Senate.
YOu would have liked it better if he had said she had no chance of winning? No, he said exactly what people say when they are trying their best NOT to be fingered as someone who is hurting a candidate’s chances.
She was NOT a good candidate. She proved it. She may be a great person, but she has not been, and was not, and probably will never be, a good candidate for Deleware.
But she will enjoy playing with the almost $1 million she still has in the bank after her campaign ended.
If McCain turned against republicans in 4 years, and became a democrat, I doubt anybody here would hold it against Sarah Palin, so I don’t know why they don’t understand what you explained about Rick Santorum.
I don’t think he’s the best conservative in the world, but he seemed a good enough guy not to be dumped on by conservatives like he is.
Sharon Angle WAS electable, she simply made too many mistakes against a well-oiled democratic machine. Appealing to hispanic voters by telling them they look asian was probably just the last straw.
O’Donnell never had a chance, both because of her lack of any experience at all, and her inability to stand up to scrutiny, defend herself, and articulate a message. Which was wierd because she was a great speaker, she just didn’t speak the message.
When your first words to introduce yourself to the general election audience is “I am not a witch”, you have already lost the race. (I know, Nixon managed to come back after his “I am not a crook” speech, but that wasn’t a campaign advertisement, and it took a while).
But she never had a chance. She was 16 points down before she stepped out of the gate, and then she decided to hang around in the gate for 3 weeks, collecting millions and cementing “Senator Coons” in the voter’s minds.
stupid is as stupid does.
Santorum must want the RINO insider support.
“Gosh you guys. Maybe he is disappointed in the way she ran the campaign. He supported her when it counted and now thinks she either could have done better or ran a poor campaign. I don’t see why this is news or that he should be bashed...”
I agree with you entirely. Personally I thought O’Donnell was an inadequate candidate who had no chance of winning, but once she won the nomination you shut up, be a good team player, and get behind her and support her like Santorum did, no matter what you think, not throw stones like Rove or Krauthammer.
We’d be better off with half a conservative than no conservative at all. Castle was a lock to win, and had a 54% rating from American Conservative Union. Coons is 0% conservative with 100% chance of beating O’Donnell; O’Donnell is a 100% conservative with 0% chance of beating Coons. Either way it works out to Zero.
O’Donnell should have run for mayor of something and built at least a minimal record of achievement, not going straight from Kindergarten to the Major Leagues. Then go after the Senate slot when Castle retired.
I don’t know who wrote her stuff. Worse yet, he/she got paid partially with money I sent to O’Donnell campaign :-(
Cheer up. Maybe O’Donnell’s advertising person does not have your money.
It was announced yesterday that she is still sitting on a million dollars of campaign donations.
Do you know if they are going to pursue charges against her or drop them since she lost?
Whether a candidate has won or lost will have nothing to do with whether charges are pursued.
Charges will not be pursued because they are totally frivolous and without any merit.
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