It's been a good run for Rick Santorum, but all weird things must come to an end. The GOP presidential candidate who's frightened a lot of people on his attempted path to the White House may have just put the final nail in his coffin when he told a rally in Illinois that he really doesn't care about the unemployment rate. With close to 24 million Americans looking for jobs, Santorum might as well have handed the campaign to Mitt Romney on a silver, nay, platinum platter.
It didn't take long for the Romney team to scoop up Santorum's soundbite and hold it against him. I guess when the opposing candidate says something as politically imperfect as that, you have to take advantage. I mean, you might not believe what came out of Santorum's mouth:
We need a candidate who's going to be a fighter for freedom. Who's going to get up and make that the central theme in this race because it is the central theme in this race. I don't care what the unemployment rate's going to be. Doesn't matter to me. My campaign doesn't hinge on unemployment rates and growth rates. It's something more foundational that's going on.
Is there anything more fundamental than being able to provide food, clothing, and shelter for your family? I think that a lot of Americans care deeply about freedom, but also care about finding jobs, and the promise of more job opportunities. To callously dismiss the unemployment rate is not only dim, it's irresponsible.
Romney's already capitalizing on Santorum's mistake -- a spokesperson for his campaign released a statement that dug at Santorum and reaffirmed Romney's commitment to getting Americans back to work.
Santorum tried to clarify his comments and said that he doesn't believe that any president can fix the economy, a notion many Republicans agree with. However, the fact that he said he doesn't care about joblessness might give Romney the edge. Once you open your mouth and literally say that you don't care about something so many people do, your swim upstream begins. And it's going to be one long, choppy river.
What do you think about Santorum's comment on unemployment?
Photo via marcn/Flickr
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Comments 13
I think it's pretty much on par with everything else he has said. It seems to me that all Ol' Ricky cares about sex. What kind, how much, gay, protected, you name it. It's completely ridiculous.
I think it's going to be a Democratic sweep this November. I think the GOP is on its last legs, yet they continue to paint themselves into a corner by deflecting from the real issues (jobs, economy, etc) and focussing on trying to strip people of rights they already have. I read that Republicans (federal, state, etc) had introduced over 1000 pieces of legislation in the last year that focus on contraception, abortion, personhood and other women's rights. I cannot wait to see President Obama debate one of these clowns (Santorum OR Romney, doesn't matter) and mop the floor with them. They are a joke.
What unemployment rate? I thought Obama took care of that with his "shovel ready" jobs?
Is foundational even a word?
Santorum did not choose his words wisely in this instance. What he meant was: this election is about freedom and liberty, and he's right.
If he truly didn't care about the unemployment rate, he'd be just like obama.
Santorum has spent a lot of time not choosing his words wisely. I believe the man. He said what he meant to say. Once again, thanks for letting us know what you care about, Rick. Keep that out of touch crazy coming!
Oh, and texasmama- Santorum called. He said he's relieving you from your post as Minister of Disinformation.
Todd Vrancic - yes, foundational is a word.
He is anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-choice. He's like that preacher in the Scarlet Letter who had an affair with Hester and when she got pregnant, let her take the fall. What a pig!
Thank you, Libby261.
Clearly Obama cares about the unemployment rate -- not just because he's a decent person like the rest of us, but because his job kind of hinges on people being happy with his performance. That includes a low-ish unemployment rate.
To say that you plain don't care about unemployment because it isn't convenient to your platform is callous, stupid, and will cost you the nomination.