One problem: Rick Santorum never said he would ‘rather have Barack Obama as president’

Daily Caller ^ | March 23, 2012 | Matt K. Lewis

[God'sgrrl]

Rick Santorum is getting grief — even from some of his supporters — for saying we’d be better off sticking with Barack Obama.

The only problem is…he didn’t say that.

Here’s what Santorum actually said:

“You win by giving people a choice. You win by giving people the opportunity to see a different vision for our country, not someone who’s just going to be a little different than the person in there. If you’re going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk with what may be the Etch A Sketch candidate of the future,” Santorum told a crowd at USAA.

more...

[throwback]

The Gingrich supporters make me think that we’re like two guys trapped in a lifeboat dying of thirst. We’re both dying, but the one guy insists on continually pointing out that the other guy is dying to make himself feel better. Pretty funny if you think about it. My only response is, we’ll see how Newt does in LA.

[Skeez]

It still sounds to me like he said its better to have Obama than Romney.

[Servant of the Cross]

I agree that Rick Santorum is a good and moral man. I also agree that he has been attacked and lied about in an unjust fashion by the media because he is a good and moral man.

I also believe that in running for POTUS he is in way over his head, inexperienced, a neophyte who has constantly shot himself in the foot and has demonstrated that he is not ready for primetime.

As stated well elsewhere on the thread, Santorum has a knack of making himself look bad. He's often so poorly spoken, even when he's right and well meaning, he bungles it so badly that it writes the media caricature of himself and conservatives as blithering idiots.

[petercooper]

It’s amazing this clown ever got elected to the Senate.

[BTCM]

You must give him credit, he’s trying as hard as little ‘possum eating feces grin can take him to become the Walter Mondale of the Republican Party.

[Sola Veritas]

“Yep. Lost re-election to the Senate in his own state by a LANDSLIDE. He isn’t going to be our nominee. He isn’t going to be president. All he is doing is helping Obama. Same with Gingrich.”

I vehemently disagree. I WILL NOT VOTE FOR ROMNEY IN A GENERAL ELECTION. There is NO real difference between him an Obama. I WILL NOT unite behind someone I consider the enemy.

I’m not going to vote for Obama - NEVER. However, I want a clear cut conservative to vote FOR on the GOP side. Romney is NOT that person, and I’m not going for it.

I have voted for the GOP nominee in EVERY election since 1976....but this year I stay home or leave the ballot blank.

Until the RNC gets their heads on straight and returns to the Reagan approach...they are losing voters like myself.

Anyway, IF the GOP cannot pick a Newt, Rick, or Sarah...I won’t support them anymore. If that means Obama wins another term...then so be it. Give ME a CLEAR CUT CHOICE or be greeted with apathy.

[caww]

Like him or not, its time to get behind Romney

You're having a problem with timing.....and with your candidate choice Romney.

How about you visit DU because you sound just like them.

[bestrongbpositive]

Amen Astronaut, we have to defeat Obama and while I'm not a big Romney fan, I will vote for him and pray he wins.

If for no other reason we need an “R” in the WH because there will most likely be one or two Supreme Court judge's appointed in the next 4 years. I can't believe Romney would nominate a flaming liberal and I know Obama would.

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

At this point, your vote won’t matter anyway. It will serve the purpose of forcing a Brokered Convention, which is our last option, and then it is very distant that it will wind up in our favor.

Face it, the Conservative base is nothing but a herd of Cats. It’s impossible to win when you misuse the sword you are given to fight with, as a means to commit self inflicted suicide by falling on it, in the name of “Pure Conservative Principles”.

[God'sgrrl]

No....YOU have a knack of making yourself look bad every single time you post against Santorum.

[oldbrowser]

Santorum has a knack of making himself look bad. He makes statements which may hold some truth but never thinks about the future ramifications of what he says.

I was thinking that at this stage our best hope was for Romney to unify the GOP by bringing in Santorum. This way Santorum could help keep Romney pointed in right direction. Romney strong on financial issues, Santorum strong on social matters, I thought it could work.

I think Santorum just blew up that idea.

[detective]

“it would be a daily carnage by media”

In case you haven't noticed any honest man or true conservative in the public arena is always subject to “daily carnage by the media.” Look at
Sarah Palin. Look at Rush Limbaugh.

I do not think we should choose our candidates based on the cowardly standard that we are afraid the media will lie about them or attack them. Choose the man with the strongest moral principles. Choose the man who sticks to his principles and is not afraid of dishonest attack after dishonest attack. Choose the man who is not afraid of “daily carnage by the media.”

[AmericanInTokyo]

In case you have not noticed, unfortunately your stock (value) in these matters has diminished significantly over the weeks, and the effectiveness of your voice has become a shadow of its former self. The reason is very clear. Your overarching mission in life--it would seem-- is to show up on nearly most every Santorum Supportive thread, purveying generally bad FReeper manners, naysay, mock, call names, insult, upset people sincere in their support, step on and render asunder your feet the things of value to others, be negative, not say near a darned good thing on behalf of your man, and basically engage nonstop in a particularly nefarious, negative and nasty brand of politics on FR that quite frankly many of us have indeed grown rather weary of. I wish you could step out of yourself just for a moment to realize who, through overkill and Johnny-One-Note-ism, you've truly subverted your own cause and watered down your own anti-Santorum narrative and are in a zone of diminished returns.

It is now to the point of really pitiful embarrassment when it comes to the posts of Mr. PSYCHO-FREEP on these Santorum threads, and I challenge each and every of my fellow Santorum supporters here to donate exactly ONE DOLLAR on line to Rick Santorum over the next two weeks for each negative, unproductive comment you place on a Santorum thread causing trouble and disruption. I hope you can see that your negative energy is only going to come full circle. And I myself will be the first to open my credit card particulars to RICK online tomorrow with your chronic, almost maniacal pettiness in mind. A ceasefire is meaningless with you, so I am going to convert this into good energy as positive wind at the back of Mr. Santorum to further him down the road to1600 even more so, like it or not.　心からの約束です。

[Cicero]

Thanks for this post. That was my thought when I saw the post on Drudge and then read the thread here.

This forum is filled with with crazed Santorum haters. I have nothing against those who prefer Gingrich, although given his record, I disagree with them. But the kind of insane hate on display is very discouraging.

What he said is exactly what I think. We have a Communist, Muslim, totalitarian, baby-killing illegal alien in the White House, and what does the GOP want to run against him—someone nearly as bad. Someone as much like him as they could find. And then everyone sucks up the koolaid and bashes Rick for pointing this out. Even on this thread we see the same behavior.

I expect no better from the GOP establishment, which would rather lose than give up their pork and power. But I am very disappointed in allo the Freepers who have fallen for the enemy’s tricks like this. We need to coalesce and line up behind someone who can save our country, but it’s evident that too many of us would rather spend all their energy bashing the other conservatives in the race.

Well, this will probably finish Rick. And Newt already seems to have faded. So, that leaves Romney.

I will never vote for Romney. The only alternative will be a write-in candidate, but it’s becoming obvious that conservative voters will have to be dragged kicking and screaming before they will agree on one.

[conservative98]

Not a Newbie. I have been here since at least 1997 or 1998. It doesn’t matter who I am for but I am for Palin and Newt.

[God'sgrrl]

Brokered Convention Brokered Convention Brokered Convention Brokered Convention Broken Record

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

PA is a very moderate to liberal state. It’s easy to see why Santo was elected there.

[ncdave4life]

I sent the following email to Matt Drudge, but got no reply:

---

Matt, I do not begrudge you the right to support Romney. That’s fine. But there are honorable and dishonorable ways of supporting a candidate.

I always thought you would choose the honorable ways. I’ve always respected you, and never expected that you would misrepresent the truth.

But that’s what you did today, with your deceptive headline, “Santorum snaps: Obama preferable to Romney.”

That’s not what Santorum meant, that’s Romney’s ridiculous attempt to spin what Santorum said into something he obviously didn’t mean. Anyone who reads what Rick said can see that he was talking about how the voters will view the race. He wasn’t saying that he thinks Obama would be preferable to Romney, he’s saying that voters will think that, if there’s little contrast between the candidates. He was talking about how the GOP can win - or lose. If the GOP candidate is only a little different from Obama, voters will think, “better the devil I know than the one I don’t,” and the GOP will lose again, just like we did with McCain and Dole. Santorum said:

“You win by giving people a choice, you win by giving people the opportunity to see a different vision for our country, not someone who’s just going to be a little different than the person in there.”

I think Santorum’s right, and that’s why I believe he would be a stronger candidate against Obama than Romney would be.

I don’t ask that you agree with that, but I do ask that you not misrepresent what Rick said, as meaning something different from what he obviously meant.

I’m confident that Romney knows perfectly well what Rick meant. It doesn’t surprise me that Romney misrepresented it, but I’d thought better of you, Matt.

Please, Matt, make it right: apologize to your readers for misrepresenting what Santorum said and meant.

Sincerely, but sadly, yours,

Dave Burton
Cary, NC

[Leaning Right]

If for no other reason we need an “R” in the WH because there will most likely be one or two Supreme Court judge's appointed in the next 4 years.

Very true. And don't forget all the Federal district judges that are likely to be appointed in the next four years.

I shudder to think who Obama will appoint should he get four more years.

[caww]

I also believe that in running for POTUS he is in way over his head, inexperienced, a neophyte who has constantly shot himself in the foot and has demonstrated that he is not ready for primetime. As stated well elsewhere on the thread, Santorum has a knack of making himself look bad. He's often so poorly spoken, even when he's right and well meaning, he bungles it so badly that it writes the media caricature of himself and conservatives as blithering idiots.

That's very apparent to the liberals....their sites are loving the "entertainment" and laughing their butts off. Santorum would do better if he'd "think" while responding but he doesn't have the knack to do so.