Lately it seems that once someone rises in the polls to top two spots, within days there is some sort of controversy unleashed. Examples are easy to find from Herman Cain’s many gaffes and harassment charges to Rick Perry’s hunting lodge name to Michelle Bachmann’s husband and Fannie Mae loans to the latest of Newt Gingrich’s $1.6 million “Advisory” payment from Freddie Mac& Fannie Mae.
Or is it Romney’s camp secretly planting all these conspiracies?
Well with the latest conspiracy hitting the media today, my guess is Gingrich’s poll numbers should drop within the week. Cain’s numbers dropped tremendously as of late to what now looks like a 4 way race between Romney, Gingrich, Cain and Ron Paul.
But lurking behind these 4 is one rejuvenated Rick Santorum, he could be the 2012 version of Mike Huckabee, meaning the candidate no one saw coming.
I’ve watched him over the past few weeks, he’s quietly gaining speed, yet the Media is not paying attention.
Who cares what the polls state, because if polls were right, Santorum should’ve been gone in August!
OK, yes I admit, I believe Santorum is a long shot and should’ve been gone by now as well, but as I stated at the end of September (Rick Santorum’s September Swagger), Santorum has reason to be walking tall these days and I give him and his staff credit for turning his image around.
As of today, it seems the erratic, spastic, clenched jaw, knee jerk reactions that plagued Santorum for so long are gone. A new model Santorum has been introduced for the 2011-2012 campaign season.
Santorum has gone away from the spastic defense of his past and now is explaining his Congressional past and Presidential aspirations in a coherent non-extreme manner and the CBS/National Journal debate proved to be the platform Santorum needed for everyone s to start watching his move.
CBS/National Journal’s decision that a 90 minute debate should be split between television and internet had me scratching my bald head and saying “WTF?” Yet, their format was something I’ve been begging for, a format to which all candidates are given equal time and equal questions.
CBS/National Journal, in my view, did a nice job with the question selections. Ask a candidate a question, give them their 90 seconds and then offer the question in another form with added statement from previous candidate to another candidate. It worked because everyone received face time.
Of course there can’t be a debate without controversy from one of the candidates.
Michelle Bachmann feels she was treated unfairly by CBS/National Journal because she didn’t get a question till 15 minutes into the debate.
Boo-flipping-woo for Michelle Bachmann, equal time for equal questions helps the audience decide. SO pull up your big girl pants and deal with it.
Santorum’s answers, at many times, differed from the others. He may have agreed with some answers, but when he disagreed, his response was coherent and well explained.
When Rick Perry stated he would take Foreign Aid to Zero dollars each fiscal year concerning Pakistan and others, Santorum response was:
“A lot of the Pakistanis and most of the government would say they don't back the Hikani Network and the Hikani Network causes as much trouble in Pakistan as it has caused us in-- in Afghanistan. We need to work with the elements of Pakistan, and there are elements in the government of Pakistan and the military.
We need to continue those joint exercises. We need to continue the-- the aid relationship. And of course, we all know the aid relationship, when it comes to military aid, is all spent in the United States. So it's not giving money away, it's-- it's-- it's sending military hardware, which creates jobs in this country, to those countries, creating nexus and relationships and dependency on our weapon systems that's important for those future relationships.”
Sure, there were a few pauses in some answers however those were results of Santorum’s brain catching his mouth before it babbled incoherently. A problem Santorum has had in the past. The statement above is consistent with past speeches by Santorum, no waffling to be had.
In the past, a statement like that would have been visualized with hands flapping in front of him and excitingly high pitched cracks in his voice as if he were going through puberty. Actions that helped drive Pennsylvania constituents away from the Senator in 2006 during debates and lose to “Sleepy” Bob Casey.
It’s obvious that Santorum has a relaxed convicted demeanor about him, because in his last few interviews with the New Hampshire Union Leader (http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/302574-1) and MSNBC’s Morning Joe, he has showed a side of him many need to respond too.
During an interview with Joe Scarborough on MSNBC’s Morning Joe (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036789/#45286481), Santorum all but thumped his chest and stated “I’ll win Iowa, the polls mean nothing.”
Now that’s confidence from a candidate that everyone keeps overlooking.
Scarborough went on to ask him about his Foreign Aid answer and Santorum calmly answered “Foreign Aid is less than a half percent of the budget and be striking it to Zero wipes out all that has been done.”
I can say I am not a fan of his, yet I find him more appealing than the rest of the GOP candidates and seriously think people should turn off the Jon Stewart wisecracks and actually pay attention and listen to Santorum.
Santorum has more reason then the rest to be walking tall since September for he is the candidate that’s flying under the radar and probably the only one that has less, if any, skeletons in the closet.
I think the only thing that could derail Santorum is if there is some conspiracy link between his alma mater Penn State and Jerry Sandusky and Santorum in some way.
Then again, maybe Romney’s campaign has that conspiracy hiding like the rest.
Well the Guiness has gone dry and I spilled the peanut bowl.. Time to pay the political tab
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/302574-1
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036789/#45286481
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505103_162-57323734/cbs-national-journal-debate-transcript-part-1/
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505103_162-57323735/cbs-news-nj-debate-transcript-part-2/
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