Romney Vs. Santorum Vs. Obama

[BoSoxGal]

LJ, what's your confusion about Santorum?

The man is an idiot obsessed with other peoples' sexuality and is unfit for the Presidency.

Is that so hard to figure out, given the evidence?

[Gob]

I can see the confusion, how is Santy different to any other Repubbie candidate? They are all the same as far as I can see.

[Gob]

Romney's advisers claim it would take an "act of God," as one put it, for Santorum to take the lead in the delegate count. "If he is able to pull off a miracle so be it. He'll be the nominee," Romney said.

Santorum, whose Catholic faith is central to his campaign, was not amused. "I don't know about him, but I believe in acts of God," Santorum said.

And people vote for this lunatic?

[Lord Jim]

That was a joke, Strop....

[Grim Reaper]

We hope it was a joke anyway.

[Econoline]

I've got a theory, Jim, that would answer your questions about Santorum. I think that he (like most of the U.S. population ) doesn't REALLY believe he would make a good President, and doesn't REALLY want all the responsibilities that would go with that job. His main purpose in entering the race was to draw the debate, and the other candidates, and the whole of the Republican party as far to the right as possible in terms of the social issues. He may well have been as surprised as everyone else when he became a true front runner.

So he hasn't been inadvertantly sabotaging his chances and he hasn't been forgetting to stay "on-message": far from it. Once you realize that Santorum--unlike Romney, whose only real message is "I deserve to be President and will do or say anything to get there"--has never wavered from his original purpose and his original message, then it all makes sense. Much like Ron Paul, actually.

A classic case of I'd rather be too far right than President.

[Gob]

Rick Santorum delivered yet another gaffe about Puerto Rico on Sunday as voters there head to the polls for the Republican primary.

The former Pennsylvania senator referred to the United States commonwealth as a “Spanish-speaking country” on ABC’s “This Week.”

Although Santorum was quick to fix his mistake, it was yet another example of how the presidential wanna-be has stumbled in his efforts to gain support among the island’s Republican voters.

Santorum made the error while he was trying to explain his previous comments that Puerto Rico's residents would have to speak English as a condition of being admitted as the U.S.'s 51st state.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/electio ... z1pVdbIvIq

[Lord Jim]

I don't know about that theory Econo....

Santorum has worked damn hard for a guy who didn't really want to be President; he practically lived Iowa for two years for a start....

I think your description would be more applicable to Gingrich....

[Lord Jim]

BSG:

Santorum is not an idiot. He was elected twice to Congress and twice to the US Senate in a purple state; he couldn't do that if he were an idiot.

And Santorum did not have a hard right voting record either. As a matter of fact he had a record for working across the aisle. He didn't even become associated with "social issues" until his book came out in 2005. I don't believe he's genuinely "obsessed" with people's sex lives; he's made clear over and over again that his personal religious-based views are not things he would try to put in to law.

Plus there's the fact that Santorum has shown, (because he's done it part of the time) that he knows what message he ought to be delivering....

He just lacks the discipline to do it consistently....

[BoSoxGal]

Let me clarify; I didn't mean idiot in terms of IQ, I meant political idiot.

He clearly can't grasp what's required to win his party's nomination and the general election. As you've pointed out, he has some great personal history he could run on and appeal to the average voter - but talking about banning BC is going to alienate him to most of the voting populace, including most of his fellow Catholics.

[Lord Jim]

I think its kind of funny that in both the case of Romney and Santorum, it is their wives, who have never run for elective office, who both have far better attuned political ears than their hubbys do...

[dgs49]

BSG, please provide ONE statement Santorum has ever made where he indicates that he would like to ban artificial birth control as a matter of public policy.

Just one. Either during the current campaign, or EVER in his political or personal life. Feel free to quote anything he might have said at a Catholic university or in a private meeting. At the dinner table. It doesn't matter.

Just provide one such quotation. That's all I want.

And if you are able to do so, I will provide a sampling of statements that he has made over the past six months when he has emphasized that this is NOT his position. On the contrary he has clarified the point literally hundreds of times.

Are you not paying attention? Are you intentionally misrepresenting his position in this microsocopic, insignificant, little BBS - for what I reason I cannot possibly fathom? Do tell.

[Grim Reaper]

And if you are able to do so, I will provide a sampling of statements that he has made over the past six months when he has emphasized that this is NOT his position. On the contrary he has clarified the point literally hundreds of times.

You try and find one.

It is his position, he just says he won't let his position influence how he would treat the subject if elected. Which is flimsy at best.

[Scooter]

The extent of the power and prestige of Opus Dei in today’s Catholic church was on full display during a high profile Jan. 7-11 congress here marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of founder Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer...

Though the sprawling congress touched on many topics, one recurrent theme was the relationship between public life and faith. While speakers stressed that neither Escriva nor Opus Dei impose a particular political option, they also insisted that Catholicism must shape one’s approach to public policy.

Speakers cited a famous saying of Escriva: “Have you ever bothered to think how absurd it is to leave one’s Catholicism aside on entering a university, or a professional association, or a scholarly meeting, or a congress, as if you were checking your hat at the door?”

In contemporary Western debates, this idea of unity between faith and political allegiance often puts Opus Dei-inspired politicians on the right.

Santorum was a forceful champion of this view. He told NCR that a distinction between private religious conviction and public responsibility, enshrined in John Kennedy’s famous speech in 1960 saying he would not take orders from the Catholic church if elected president, has caused “much harm in America.”

“All of us have heard people say, ‘I privately am against abortion, homosexual marriage, stem cell research, cloning. But who am I to decide that it’s not right for somebody else?’ It sounds good,” Santourm said. “But it is the corruption of freedom of conscience.”

Santorum told NCR that he regards George W. Bush as “the first Catholic president of the United States.”

“From economic issues focusing on the poor and social justice, to issues of human life, George Bush is there,” he said. “He has every right to say, ‘I’m where you are if you’re a believing Catholic.’ ”

link

He does not specifically mention birth control, but his message is very clear - you cannot be a good Catholic if as a politician you are not prepared to govern in accordance with your faith.

[BoSoxGal]

[Sue U]

Davey's whining and carping about the liberal media is really quite beside the point...

Any conservative running for high office is going to face that, it's just a fact of life...

It's true that they will bait you, and distort, and take things out of context but that's something you just have to deal with...

Wow, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are the "liberal media" who have it in for "any conservative running for high office!" Talk about yer sleeper cell closet commies hidin' under the bed!



Wingnuttia just keeps getting funnier and funnier.

[dgs49]

So let me see if I have this straight: Santorum says over and over that his personal views about artificial birth control do not reflect his views on public policy, and in fact he would NOT seek to impose his views on anyone else. He votes in Congress to fund artificial birth control through Medicaid and elsewhere.

And this is your proof that he would seek to abolish public access to birth control pills as President.

Seems a little shaky to me. Regardless of the fact that the President does not have the power to make such an edict (although it is clear that THIS President is seeking to turn his personal "moral" principles into law).

So Santorum also believes that it is immoral to eat meat on Fridays in Lent. He believes that gluttony is sinful. He believes that it is sinful to covet your neighbor's possessions.

Do you also fear that he will make these things unlawful?

He is truly a beast, isn't he?

Any luck yet, BSG? You keep writing that Santorum wants to remove public access to artificial birth control; can you find anyplace where he said it?

[Gob]

He does not specifically mention birth control, but his message is very clear - you cannot be a good Catholic if as a politician you are not prepared to govern in accordance with your faith.

Of course, taking your stance on such things as abortion, contraception and gay rights from an ageing celibate ex-nazi youth who believes in a sky fairy is such a sensible thing to do!

[Scooter]

So let me see if I have this straight: Santorum says over and over that his personal views about artificial birth control do not reflect his views on public policy, and in fact he would NOT seek to impose his views on anyone else. He votes in Congress to fund artificial birth control through Medicaid and elsewhere.

And this is your proof that he would seek to abolish public access to birth control pills as President.

Then either he was lying at that conference or he has been lying to the press. Take your pick.

[Lord Jim]

Wow, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are the "liberal media" who have it in for "any conservative running for high office!" Talk about yer sleeper cell closet commies hidin' under the bed!

Look, I have said over and over again, that part of what has happened to Santorum is entirely self inflicted, (nobody told him to talk about internet pornography, or how JFK's separation of church and and state made him want to "throw up" etc)

And part are things that have been taken out of context that he should have known full well would be taken out of context...

He should have stayed focused laser like on the economy...

Joe Scarborough is exasperated with Santorum; so am I....

And yes, Mika Brzezinski is a liberal....