Posted on 03/19/2012 7:03:28 PM PDT by Josh Painter
Rick Santorum is coming under fire for saying that the unemployment rate and economic growth are secondary issues to that of freedom in his campaign, a statement that rival Mitt Romney's campaign quickly seized on as being tone-deaf to the plight of out-of-work Americans.
"We need a candidate who's going to be a fighter for freedom. Who's going to get up and make that the central theme in this race because it is the central theme in this race," Santorum told a crowd of about 200 voters during a rally here on Monday. "I don't care what the unemployment rate's going to be. Doesn't matter to me. My campaign doesn't hinge on unemployment rates and growth rates. It's something more foundational that's going on."
The event had barely ended when Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul e-mailed reporters to offer up the statement as evidence of Santorum being an "economic lightweight," a charge that Romney has been making in recent days. The former Massachusetts governor gave a speech in Chicago on Monday attacking President Obama's stewardship of the economy.
"Wow. Sen. Santorum may not care about the unemployment rate in this country or the nearly 24 million Americans struggling for work, but Mitt Romney does and is running to get people back to work," Saul said. "If anyone needed evidence that Rick Santorum is an economic lightweight, they needn't look any further than his various statements today. We're not going to turn around this economy by replacing one former senator with zero job-creating experience with another senator with zero job-creating experience. He has proven it once again," she wrote.
Romney himself, in a subsequent appearance at Bradley University, reaffirmed his concern for unemployment.
[...]
Santorum sought to clarify his comments to reporters after the event...
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
This website is invested
with stealth Romney bots and Paul bots spreading a heavily edited clip which far left CBS is eager to promote.
The Obama media wants Romney and will spread Mittens
AstroTurf .
Rick should have articulated better the idea that more freedom means more jobs.
Saying that he doesn't care what the unemployment rate is going to be would suggest the possibility that less employment may occur when you have more freedom.
Probably just a miscommunication on his part.
Doesn't matter though.
The self inflicted carnage this campaign season by conservatives is irreversible.
Thank you for your thoughtful reply.
I agree with you. And wasn’t Herman better than these two clowns?
Rick Perry stuttered. Once. That destroyed his candidacy. These two smooth talkers won’t stutter stating their idiotic positions.
Hurray!
Romney didn't even have to do a thing....this gift was handed to him!
Not good to say this while people are out of work! Romney will jump on this. Newt can say as he has that Rick is too inexperienced.
Sorry, folks, but Santorum is right, as Rush, Levin, Malkin, and many others are saying. Freedom is the main issue here in this campaign. Romney has basically said in not so many words, but inferences, that the economy is first and he will not change much else. His campaign is already putting out notices that high gas prices and other entrenched things will probably continue on. If our freedoms continue to erode and are not dealt with it will not matter what economic plan they try. Freedom is a LOT more important than economics. We have almost nothing left to lose. When that final nail is in place, you can have the best economic plan but it will be too late. This is what the founding fathers feared, that we would exchange freedom for economic security. They are handing it to you on a silver platter and we are jumping at it. This is insane. There will be no real economic gains without true freedom. Don’t be duped! Many in the GOP have fallen for the carrot of economics, forgetting that without freedom it is just that, a carrot dangled in our faces, but meaningless. That’s why the “It’s the economy, stupid!” is so powerful. When everybody is on the bandwagon for the economy, freedoms disappear right under our noses. Wake up! Smell the carrot and reject it.
It was pretty disgusting. And a lot of those people are now on the Santorum side, wondering why we all cant get along.
So Josh why are you peddling a Romney heavily edited AstroTurf bs that far left CBS is peddling ??
Romney bot?????
He’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
What I want to know is... is Santorum really saying something stupid every day or is this a concerted effort by the media and pushed along by Santorum haters on this forum to make him look stupid?
I mean it’s really hard to know.
I think this whole idiotic effort is going to give us Romney.
I wanted Gingrich, but he’s so far behind, I really don’t see him catching up.
The hatred I see here for one candidate after another is disturbing.
What’s going on????
Notice how Santorum often has to correct the reporters mis-reporting of his statements. His statement, as originally quoted, is absolutely correct. He can’t be concerned with where the unemployment rate will be when October runs around. His campaign message isn’t tailored toward one unemployment rate, which can be manipulated by the administration.
It doesn’t matter if the unemployment rate in October is 9%, or 8%, Obama still needs to be defeated.
I’m surprised, Josh, that you are falling for this. You are way more savvy usually.
I don’t agree that Santorum is “an idiot”, but he’s certainly taking an odd path. The economy has been served up on a silver platter for any of the GOP candidates, but Rick seems to be the only one who doesn’t want to consistently hammer our Dear Leader on it. Newt hits all the right points and, like it or not, Romney has been scathing on Obama.
Exactly. Vast number of Americans are out of work, Losing their entire life savings. Struggling wondering how they are going to put food on the tables for their loved ones.
Santorum can probably kiss that win in IL goodbye and all without Newt Help.
Glad we still got Newt in the Race.
No, the media inflicted the carnage. They wait at every event hoping for the nuclear sound bite. But only for candidates who threaten their agenda.
God knows what Mitt or Obama has let slip and God's the only one who will know. It's not in the msm interest to follow them around and parse every sentence. They want to prop them up not destroy them.
Knowing this should be a no brainer.
The death knell for the Santorum Surge has been ringing in the background for some time but it just got a lot louder.
I'm a Newt supporter who has said conservatives should unite behind Santorum now. I'm sick of the fratricide between supporters of two good conservatives.
Having said that, when I read comments like yours, I can't help but reflect with a bit of anger at the number of times Santorum supporters did this very thing to Newt. Cheap shots about the "moon station." Ripping on him for perfectly legal consulting work for Fannie Mae.
The hypocrisy all around has me sick. Newt's by far the best guy in my humble opinion, but he has been damaged by the Romney smear machine - with some help by Santorum. Now Newt supporters seem all too willing to do the same to Santorum.
I give up.
Hank
“Why didnt he say that? How is anyone supposed to know?”
He did say that. You confuse distorted MSM reporting of what he said, repeated by scumbags here on FR, with what he actually said.
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