The Other McCain

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Rick Santorum On Greta

Posted on | December 27, 2011 | 7 Comments

by Smitty

Rick Santorum appeared “On the Record” last night. What an excellent outing! You can chalk it up to friendly media all you like, but Santorum seems both prepared and pleasant; American, even.

The interview alluded to this retro video:
which is a breath of fresh air. Rick’s Iowa ground game sounds like he’s all in, having supporters at most of the precinct caucuses. I’m wishing that his campaign had had more heft here in Virginia, and made the primary ballot. Hitting all of the rural counties for 400 valid signatures was just a bridge too far, apparently, but I don’t hold that against him. His Tea Party insurgency relies on doing well in Iowa and building momentum toward Super Tuesday.

Mitt, of course, needs to put on a good show, and try to counteract the perception that “the fix is in”. Elsewhere on Greta, mention was made of all the candidates giving Iowa the bus blitz over the next several days.

Virginia’s primary ballot continues to be an issue. In fairness to Mitt, doing the homework to meet the ballot requirements is not “a fix”. There is a risk of a variation on the theme of class warfare if people hate Mitt merely because he has invested the time and the money to staff a rock solid electoral machine.

Does that seem ‘unfair’? Whether or not you think it unfair, hearing Newt Gingrich compare the Virginia situation to Pearl Harbor does not elicit sympathy. Yes, its effect on him might be of similar magnitude, but the comparison simply doesn’t set well. Being caught asleep at the switch is one thing; invoking a military sneak attack in a political context is goofy at best.

If there is any Pearl Harbor comparison afoot, it’s the attack on liberty by creeping government. The over-reaching Federal government is becoming downright inimical to the day to day conduct of private life, sending waves of legislation, regulation, and irritation to bum the American people into submission. You could kill someone by forcing them to read the U.S. Code. We need a Declaration of Independence from this.

Is Santorum the guy to declare that independence, and lead us away from it? Maybe. Newt, Mitt, and Governor Asterisk excite no confidence. As you can tell by the tone of my posts, I want to sympathize with some of Ron Paul’s domestic ideas. I hope the good ideas survive his campaign, and he fades with the bad ones. Besides Santorum, Perry and Bachmann offer some hope.

But really, it isn’t about the election, or who is on the ticket. It is about the involvement level of the American people. The Ruling Class, of which Romney, Gingrich, and Huntsman seem to be anointed members, seem to be more about their own power, making these noises about social safety nets as a modern form of bread and circuses.

Category: Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul

Comments

7 Responses to “Rick Santorum On Greta”

  1. Anamika
    December 27th, 2011 @ 10:21 am

    Exposed:

    http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/153534

    ‘Corporate Personhood’ runs for office; Newt Gingrich entirely composed of pizza dough; Romney suffers from hysteria; Koch Bros cast financial lures to hook conservative/’bagger suckers.

  2. richard mcenroe
    December 27th, 2011 @ 10:30 am

    Actually, Gingrich’s Pearl Harbor comparison is apt: He knew it was coming and he did nothing to prepare for it until it was too late.

  3. Hurling Dervish
    December 27th, 2011 @ 10:53 am

    Good point, Richard.  So in that sense, it could also be called Gingrich’s 9/11.

  4. richard mcenroe
    December 27th, 2011 @ 10:56 am

    Except that we have a hard copy of the SPECIFIC war warning that was sent to the admirals and generals, so their negligence is documented.

  5. richard mcenroe
    December 27th, 2011 @ 10:59 am

    Linked: 
    http://threebeerslater.blogspot.com/2011/12/rick-santorum-wgreta-van-sustren.html

  6. Adjoran
    December 27th, 2011 @ 2:32 pm

    Virginia requires 400 valid signatures in each of its eleven congressional districts NOT “counties” as stated. 

    Alan Keyes made it in 2000.  Denis Kucinich made it in 2008 for the Democrats, and six Republicans qualified that year.  People have been qualifying for the ballot in Virginia for decades under these rules, which require some minimal demonstration of support.  The signing period began in July, giving candidates 24 weeks to collect signatures.

    To those who rail against Virginia’s rules and demand they be retroactively changed (cough, Newt), I recall the sign above a former news editor’s desk:

    “Lack of adequate preparation on your part
    does not necessarily constitute
    an emergency on my part.”

  7. Tuesday Roundup 12/27/11 Santorum Surge Edition | Katy Pundit
    December 27th, 2011 @ 4:34 pm

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