COMMENTARY | Riding high on his wins earlier this month, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum went on the attack this week, taking on President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in what he hopes will spark a wave of momentum that will sweep him into next month’s Super Tuesday primary battle. Here Santorum hopes to emerge as a serious candidate rather than the flash in the pan his critics claim he is.
According to Fox News, late last week Santorum criticized the president while campaigning in Ohio, saying President Obama’s agenda was “not about you. It’s not about your quality of life. It’s not about your jobs. It’s about some phony ideal. Some phony theology. Not a theology based on the Bible. A different theology.” Santorum, known for his social conservatism, has not shied away from expressing his faith on the campaign trail in hopes of winning over the Evangelical vote.
The accusation of Obama promoting a “phony theology” brought a quick response, according to the Associated Press, from the president’s campaign deputy press secretary Ben Labolt who said Santorum’s comment was “the latest low in a Republican primary campaign that has been fueled by distortions, ugliness and searing pessimism and negativity.” He said it was “a stark contrast with the President who is focused everyday on creating jobs and restoring economic security for the middle class.”
On another front, Fox News reported Santorum attacked Romney’s claim that his involvement with the Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002 helped save the event. “He heroically bailed out the Salt Lake City Olympic Games by heroically going to Congress and asking them for tens of millions of dollars to bail out the Salt Lake Games — in an earmark, in an earmark for the Salt Lake Olympic Games,” he said.
The Romney camp was quick to point out then-Sen. Santorum voted for that “earmark” along with many others.
Santorum’s campaign is gaining momentum, but with more exposure comes closer scrutiny. His extreme, socially conservative views may be just what the Evangelical crowd wants to hear, but it all might be a little too far right for mainstream America. His every word will be dissected, and his political record will be magnified for good or bad as the Republican Presidential primary season heads into the spring.
Santorum is gaining ground in the polls, but with Super Tuesday only two weeks away it is still do or die for him on March 6. If he cannot make a showing against Romney and his money, we may see the end of Santorum’s bid.