Romney and Santorum: The Warmongers!
If this was the last Republican debate, or the last important one, it was as entertaining and revealing as most of the previous 19. And scary.If this was the last Republican debate, or the last important one, it was as entertaining and revealing as most of the previous 19. And scary.
Politically, Mitt Romney did what he wanted to do. With help from cranky old Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich, who seemed engagingly detached from the whole thing, Romney hung Washington, the Republicans’ favorite punching bag, around his new principal opponent, Rick Santorum. He actually got Santorum, a self-proclaimed outsider, to defend the way Washington works and accuse Romney of being an outsider who does not understand the ways of the hated capital.Paul delivered the knockout punch after Santorum said that as a senator he had supported President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind legislation because:“Sometimes you take one for the team, for the leader.” Then, for good measure, he added: “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”Paul retorted: “He calls this a team sport. He has to go along to get along, and that’s the way the team plays, but that’s what the problem is with Washington.”The obviously conservative, fiercely anti-Washington crowd in Mesa, Ariz., a state that holds its primary on Tuesday, the same day as the more important Michigan primary, was booing Santorum by the end of the evening.Romney’s self-confidence and the homework he obviously did on Santorum’s congressional record carried the night. Santorum was on the defensive most of the time, Paul was also all over the former Pennsylvania senator, and Gingrich, leaning back and smiling or laughing a good deal of the time, did not seem to much care about opponents he clearly sees as less than his intellectual equals. He topped himself when the moderator, CNN’s John King — CNN has done a terrific job on these debates and made them the centerpiece of the Republican primary campaign — asked each man to describe himself with one word. Paul said, “Consistent.” True. Santorum said, “Courageous.” C’mon. Romney said, “Resolute.” Really, you old flip-flopper? Gingrich delighted the crowd by saying, “Cheerful.”That was the second Comedy Central-ready line, or word, in the debate. Paul topped all when King asked him why he called Santorum “a fake,” meaning fake conservative. Paul’s answer: “Because he’s a fake.”© 2012 Universal Uclick
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